NUS Economics Module Review: EC2102 Macroeconomic Analysis I

Assessment:

15% Class Participation

35% Midterm

50% Finals

Textbook: Macroeconomics, 9th Ed by Abel, Bernanke, and Croushore, as well as part of Macroeconomics, 6th Ed by Williamson (textbooks are supplementary readings since lectures notes are largely self-contained. I personally found them to be decent readings that compliment the lecture notes pretty well.)

This is the first of the 2 intermediate macroeconomics modules offered in NUS, aimed at developing models that help explain the competing theories behind business cycles in the economy in a closed-economy setting. The first part of the module uses microeconomic concepts that you may have encountered in EC2101 to create microfoundations for the labour, goods and asset markets. This would later be extended in the second part of the module after the midterm, as the basis of a simple IS-LM-FE model that can also be extended to an AD-AS model. Changes in key assumptions of the model then help explain differences between Classical and Keynesian interpretations of business cycles.

Compared to EC2101, the math in this module is far less involved, and is perhaps only slightly more difficult than EC1101E/EC1301, especially if you’re taking the module under Dr Seet, who really emphasises on intuitive and graphical understanding of the models.

Dr Seet is quite a funny lecturer, but he is also patient in his elaboration of the concepts, to the point in which he could be repeating himself at times. Your mileage might vary, but I liked his lectures, and he was definitely very approachable for consultations and discussions after lecture.

Like most Econs tutorials, expect to present solutions for the tutorial questions a few times. Most of the tutorial questions are quite straightforward, mostly either about explaining key concepts covered in lecture (which you can lift directly from the lecture notes), or about applying the models and ideas covered in lecture.

Midterms and finals are of a similar standard to the tutorial questions. Don’t expect difficult math, but do have a good grasp of the content and the models. Make sure you have practice drawing the models a few times.

Head over to our Shop for more module content!