Course Syllabus
Macroeconomics • Shanghai Winter Program 2025
Course Overview
Economics is a social science that studies choice behavior. Macroeconomics is a branch of economics in which the focus of the analysis is on the "macro," i.e., big economic objects. It typically bypasses the analysis of individual decisions (which would be the topics of microeconomics) and studies directly the behaviors and interactions of aggregate economic objects, such as the GDP, economy-wide consumption, national saving, inflation, and unemployment.
This introductory course will expose you to the fundamental concepts in macroeconomics and introduce you to the state-of-the-art understanding of what drive the economy to grow, what cause the inflation, why there is unemployment, and how government policies may influence it.
Course Goals
Demonstrate understanding of the basic concepts in macroeconomics.
Demonstrate understanding of the basic mechanisms driving the movements of macroeconomic variables.
Demonstrate the ability to apply the basic tools of macroeconomics to analyze and understand current macroeconomic events.
Course Information
| Term | December 22, 2025 – January 9, 2026 |
| Schedule | Monday through Friday (+ Sunday Jan 4) |
| Delivery Format | In-person lectures + TA discussion sessions |
| Contact Hours | 66 contact hours (2h 40min class + 3h 20min TA sessions/week) |
| Credits | 4 units |
| Self-Study | 21 extra hours per week for independent reading and research |
| Prerequisites | None |
Required Texts
Macroeconomics
N. Gregory Mankiw
Macroeconomics
Olivier Blanchard
Macroeconomics
Charles I. Jones
Assessment
Grading Scale
| Number Grade | Letter Grade | GPA |
|---|---|---|
| 90–100 | A | 4.0 |
| 85–89 | A- | 3.7 |
| 80–84 | B+ | 3.3 |
| 75–79 | B | 3.0 |
| 70–74 | B- | 2.7 |
| 67–69 | C+ | 2.3 |
| 65–66 | C | 2.0 |
| 62–64 | C- | 1.7 |
| 60–61 | D | 1.0 |
| ≤59 | F | 0.0 |
Weekly Schedule
Week 1: Growth & Unemployment
December 22–26
Week 2: Monetary Policy & Midterm
December 29 – January 2
Week 3: Financial Markets & Fiscal Policy
January 4–9