Monetary Theory and Policy
Course: Economics 607
Professor: Mark Thoma
Office/Hours: PLC 471 on M/W from 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Phone/Email: (541) 346-4673, mthoma@uoregon.edu
Web Page: http://economistsview.typepad.com/economics607monetary/
Text: Carl E. Walsh, Monetary Theory and Policy, 2nd ed., MIT Press
Tests and Grading: There will be a midterm and a final. The midterm will be given on Monday, February 8th. The final will be given on Monday, March 15th at 3:15 p.m. No make-up exams will be given. The midterm is worth 35% and the final is worth 45%. The remaining 20% will come from the duplication exercise and homework described below. Grades will be assigned according to your relative standing in the class.
Homework: Problem sets will be assigned periodically. These will be worth 10%.
Duplication Exercise: For this assignment, choose a paper with theoretical content related to monetary economics, either a working paper or something published, duplicate one of the main results in the paper, explain the importance of the result, and write a referee's report on the paper. This is worth 10% of your grade. I will talk more about this in class.
Course Outline: [Tentative]
| Topic | Walsh Text |
| Empirical Evidence on Money, Prices, and Output | Ch. 1 |
| Money-in-the-Utility Function | Ch. 2 |
| Money and Transactions | Ch. 3 |
| Money and Public Finance | Ch. 4, pgs. 135-144 |
| Midterm | |
| Money, Output, and Inflation in the Short-Run | Ch. 5 |
| Discretionary Policy and Time Consistency | Ch. 8, pgs. 363-378 |
| Monetary Policy Operating Procedures | Ch. 9 |
| Interest Rates and Monetary Policy | Ch. 10, pgs. 473-488 |
| Policy Analysis in New Keynesian Models | Ch. 11 |
