This is a Principles of Macroeconomics Course developed through the Ohio Department of Higher Education OER Innovation Grant. This work was completed and the course was posted in January 2019. The course is part of the Ohio Transfer Assurance Guides (TAGs) as OSS 005. For more information about credit transfer between Ohio colleges and universities, please visit: www.ohiohighered.org/transfer.Team LeadAmyaz Moledina                                  College of WoosterContent ContributorsRosemarie Emanuele                          Ursuline CollegeKenneth Fah                                        Ohio Dominican UniversityDarcy Hartman                                    Ohio State University – NewarkLibrarianNathan Wolfe                                       Kenyon CollegeReview TeamSeth Kim                                              Central Ohio Technical CollegeJoe Nowakowski                                  Muskingum University 

The aggregate demand and supply model provides a comprehensive and intuitive explanation of changes in the price level, actual real GDP, and potential real GDP.  Students will employ the AD-AS model to examine short-run cyclical changes in the economic and long-run changes in potential real GDP. The AD-AS graphs give the students an analytical tool by which to illustrate how changes in several economic variables and policy will impact important economic indicators and overall economic performance in the short run and long run.

The learning objectives below refer to the typical goals one would have for an introduction to macroeconomics.  Most economists consider the discipline as “a way of thinking”. The key question we answer is “how we make choices under scarcity”. However, we encourage you to consider other alternative ways to conceptualize and teach economics or even introduce pluralistic ideas into your course. For example, the CORE Economics project describes economics as, “The study of how people interact with each other and with their natural surroundings in providing their livelihoods, and how this changes over time.” The “economy is part of society, which in turn is part of the biosphere.” (Chapter 1.11). More importantly, many of the factors and commodities that give us economic growth are socially (re)produced and uncompensated. Consider alternative conceptualizations of the macroeconomy such as the one proposed in UNDP (2012): Gender and Economic Policy Management Intitiave, page 30 outlined in the figure above. The supplemental content is an excellent place to find videos to enliven your classes. Listed alternative resources can be used to familiarize yourself with material that goes beyond the standard treatment.

A study of inflation, its measures, and consequences.  Students will understand how price information is collected and used to construct an index of the price level.  It is important that households and economic agents have a good understanding of the impacts of general price level changes on various economic units.  Policy makers use inflation information to understand the consequences of policy changes and as a guide to current and future policy.

This lesson concerns how economic growth is measured and defined, the benefits of economic growth over time, and the determinants of a nation’s economic growth, including policy. Students will examine the importance of sustained economic growth over time.  Students will understand the meaning and determinants of economic growth. Comparative information and data for different economies over time will be utilized to examine the importance of policy and several factors as economic growth drivers. Students will examine the aggregate production function as a tool to understand the relationship between inputs and aggregate output.  The importance of technological progress will be emphasized. 

This is an introduction to money and its functions.  It explains the role of the central bank in money supply and the money creation process.  Money demand and its determinants are essential to an understanding of equilibrium interest rates, when combined with a discussion of money supply.  An alternative explanation of bond demand and equilibrium interest rates is introduced through a discussion of the bond market.