Econ 120 Syllabus

Course Description: Introduction to macroeconomics, including basic economic concepts, analysis of markets, national income accounting, employment, short run business cycle fluctuations, long run growth trends, monetary and fiscal policies, and international economic issues. Intended for economics, business, and certain engineering/computer science majors. Prerequisite: Mathematics 083 or Mathematics 084 with a minimum grade of C.

Textbook Information:  Macroeconomics, 10th Edition by David Colander. McGraw-Hill Connect.

Additional Course Information:  This class also helps students who intend to take Econ 121.

Course Learning Objectives: 

• Use economics reasoning, supply, demand, and economic institutions to explain basic economic concepts.
• Understand and explain how economic growth and business cycles are vital in the economy.
• Distinguish and differentiate between two schools of Keynesian and Classical economics.
•  Understand and explain the importance of financial sector in the economy.
• Explain and demonstrate how monetary and fiscal policies work in the economy.
• Explain and demonstrate how macroeconomic policy tools are used to fight unemployment, promote price stability, and foster economic growth.
• Explain the important of an open economy: international trade and international finance.

Student Learning Objectives: 

• Identify and explain fundamental economic problems graphically, mathematically, and verbally. Use economics reasoning to understand costs and benefits to explain rational decisions.

•  Apply analytical reasoning and problem solving skills to model cause and effect relationships and formulate predictions at the aggregate economic level.

•  Communicate by using basic economic terminology, interpret relevant economic data, and construct fundamental economic arguments.

•  Explain the processes through which a market system allocates scarce resources at the aggregate level and analyze the efficiency of and the effects of government policies on the resulting allocation.

Meet Your Instructor:  Huy Do. Instructor Do graduated from UCSB with a BA in statistics and a BS in biology. He also earned a master's degree in economics from Cal Poly Pomona. Instructor Do is very interested about financial and economic news especially the stock market. He has been teaching part-time at Santa Ana College since 2015. In his spare time, Instructor Do enjoys watching and rooting for local sport teams.

Course Syllabus:  click Fall 2017 Econ 120 Syllabus to download.