Last update: doc. Petr Janský, M.Sc., Ph.D. (13.11.2019)
This course introduces economic thinking and basic principles of macroeconomics for economics students as well as for non-economists.
Last update: prof. Roman Horváth, Ph.D. (02.02.2024)
This course introduces economic thinking and basic principles of macroeconomics for economics students as well as for non-economists.
Principles of Economics II is attended by students of: (i) Bachelor in Economics and Finance (mandatory course); (ii) Bachelor of Science in Economics (mandatory course, an alternative is Ekonomie II); (iii) International Economic and Political Studies; and (iv) students of any other degree at the Charles University with an interest in macroeconomics or economic policy.
The course is taught in person.
For more information on the content of the couse, please see the syllabus above.
Literature -
Last update: PhDr. Miroslav Palanský, Ph.D. (30.01.2020)
Readings
The course follows the material that is present in almost identical form in either of the following two textbooks: Mankiw, N.G., Taylor, M.P.: Economics (4th edition) or Mankiw, N.G.: Principles of Economics (7th edition). In addition to attending lectures and seminars, students are encouraged to read one of these textbooks. There are a number of copies of these textbooks available in the IES library (and some in the CERGE-EI library). The supporting web pages of this course include the webpage of the Principles textbook, which has useful student hand-outs and other student resources. Also, there is a Czech-English dictionary specifically designed for you by one graduate of the Principles course, Michal Spišiak. It includes a translation of every key word from the Principles textbook and you can access it at http://dictionary.fsv.cuni.cz.
Please note that a number of other introductory economics texts provide almost equivalent service to the student as the above listed textbooks. Especially, please consider visiting the webpage of CORE with an excellent free online textbook.
Last update: prof. Roman Horváth, Ph.D. (02.02.2024)
Readings
The course follows the material that is present in almost identical form in either of the following two textbooks: Mankiw, N.G., Taylor, M.P.: Economics (the chapter numbers in the weekly schedule below relate to this textbook’s 3rd version) or Mankiw, N.G..: Principles of Economics. In addition to attending lectures and seminars, students are encouraged to read one of these textbooks. There are a number of copies of these textbooks available in the IES library (and some in the CERGE-EI library). The supporting web pages of this course include the webpage of the Principles textbook, which has useful student hand-outs and other student resources. Also, there is a Czech-English dictionary specifically designed for you by one graduate of the Principles course, Michal Spišiak. It includes a translation of every key word from the Principles textbook and you can access it at http://dictionary.fsv.cuni.cz.
Please note that a number of other introductory economics texts provide almost equivalent service to the student as the above listed textbooks. Especially, please consider visiting the webpage of CORE with an excellent free online textbook.
Requirements to the exam -
Last update: PhDr. Miroslav Palanský, Ph.D. (11.03.2021)
Please see the file "Syllabus Principles of Economics II 2021.pdf" above
Last update: prof. Roman Horváth, Ph.D. (18.04.2024)
Students attend lectures and seminars, which are organised for their benefit. Students are encouraged to provide feedback during the semester so that teaching in ongoing seminars and lectures can be improved.
The main course requirement is a final exam at the end of the semester (100% of the grade) In addition, students can obtain up to 10 extra points during the seminars and lectures.
To pass the course, students are required to score more than 50% of points on the final exam.
The grading follows these rules. Students’ total points obtained correspond to the grades A-F according to the following intervals: A: [100-90); B: [90-80); C: [80-70); D: [70-60); E: [60-50); F (Fail): 50 and less.
For more information on grading, please see the syllabus above.
Last update: doc. Petr Janský, M.Sc., Ph.D. (22.01.2016)
Principles of Economics II
Summer Semester 2015, JEB102
Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences
This course introduces economic thinking and basic principles of macroeconomics for first-year economics students as well as for non-economists. Principles of Economics II is an introductory economics course with lectures and seminars for students of:
Bachelor in Economics and Finance (mandatory course).
Bachelor of Science in Economics (mandatory course, an alternative to Ekonomie II).
International Economic and Political Studies and any other degree at Charles University with interest in economics or economic policy.
The course begins with the first lecture on Wednesday, 19th February at 8 am in room no. 314. The location of all lecture and seminar rooms is the Institute of Economic Studies.
During the semester, there will be a number of guest lectures in combination with the standard lectures. The guest lecturers will provide insights on macroeconomic issues from their work in business, finance, research or the government.
Seminars and tutors
Seminar
Day
Time
Room
1
Wednesday
14:00-15:20
109
2
Wednesday
15:30-15:20
105
3
Wednesday
17:00-18:20
105
Hana Džmuráňová (web, email), Tomáš Adam (web, email) and Jan Šolc (web, email) share the responsibility for the three seminars.
Furthermore, Hana and Tomáš are responsible for midterm and final exams. Jan is responsible for the topics of seminar presentations and for Aplia. Please do not hesitate to contact them in case you have questions related to these issues.
Readings
The course follows the material that is present in almost identical form in the following three textbooks (and also their earlier or later editions):
§ Mankiw, N.G., Taylor, M.P.: Economics (2nd or 1st edition, the chapter numbers in the weekly schedule below relate to the 2nd edition of this textbook).
§ Mankiw, N.G..: Principles of Economics (6th edition or earlier edition).
§ Mankiw, N.G..: Principles of Macroeconomics (6th edition or earlier edition).
Students are encouraged to read the relevant chapters (listed in the weekly schedule below) in one of these textbooks. There are a number of copies of the Economics textbook available in the IES library (and some in the CERGE-EI library). Also please note that a number of other introductory economics texts provide almost equivalent service to the student as the above mentioned textbooks.
Requirements and assessment
Students attend lectures and seminars, which are organised for their benefit. Students are encouraged to provide constructive feedback during the semester so that teaching can be improved accordingly. Experience shows that there is a positive correlation between attendance at lectures and seminars and final grades.
This course offers two main alternatives for final examination. Students can decide either to fulfil assignments in an online Aplia system during the semester or to sit in for a final exam at the end of the semester. The final exam is a test with various questions such as problem sets and multiple choices and is an open book exam (you can have a textbook and any notes written by yourself). It is also possible to sit in for the final exam after trying Aplia (Aplia counts as the first attempt at a final examination). Aplia assignments are submitted on a weekly basis (more on how to purchase it is at the end of this syllabus). For both Aplia and the exam, the grading follows this simple rule: the total number of points received is divided by the maximum number of points that could have been received.
If students opt for the final exam, it accounts for 80% of their grade. If students opt for Aplia, Aplia accounts for 40% of their final grade. Additionally, they have to pass a midterm test in the second half of the semester, mainly to demonstrate their basic knowledge (a minimum of 50% of total points is required, but it the midterm’s results account for 40% of the final grade). The midterm test is based on lectures and seminars and it is a closed book exam with mostly multiple choice questions and short answers.
The remaining 20% are awarded on the basis of student teams’ performances in presentations at seminars (15%) and reviews’ of other team’s presentations (5%). At the beginning of the semester, students in each of the seminars are required to form teams of up to 5 members and prepare together a presentation on the macroeconomic situation in one country, for which they are all awarded the same grade. This presentation should not take more than 20 minutes and it should include the discussion of the country’s structure of GDP growth (both production and expenditure side), development of inflation and of labour market variables as well as assessment of monetary and fiscal policy. Countries are assigned to the following ten weeks: the Czech Republic (4.3.), the Slovak Republic (11.3.), Germany (18.3.), Spain (25.3.), Sweden (1.4.), USA (8.4.), China (15.4.), United Kingdom (22.4.), France (29.4.), Russia (6.5.). The group should assign one member to reserve the chosen topic by mailing it to Jan together with the names of the team members and preference for one of the three weekly seminars. The first-come, first-served principle applies. Recommended literature is the country reports provided by IMF available at http://www.imf.org/external/country/index.htm.
The grading is same for all students. Total values higher than 90% correspond to grade 1 (výborně in Czech), between 80% and 90% to grade 2 (chvalitebně), between 70% and 80% to grade 3 (dobře).
A brief summary of requirements and grading
Option
Condition
Grade
Aplia
A minimum of 50% points at midterm exam
Aplia (40% of the final grade), midterm (40%), team presentations (15%) and reviews (5%)
Final exam
Final exam (80% of the final grade), team presentations (15%) and reviews (5%)
Weekly schedule
Week (Winter)
Day (2015)
Themes
Economics chapters
1
18th February
Measuring a Nation’s Income and course introduction
23
2
25th February
Measuring the Cost of Living; a guest lecture by Pavel Hait
24
3
4th March
Production and Growth; a guest lecture by - Petr Bouchal
25
4
11th March
Saving, Investment and the Financial System and the Basic Tools of Finance; a guest lecture by Petra Kolouchová
26 + 27
5
18th March
Unemployment and Its Natural Rate; a guest lecture by Aleš Chmelař
28
6
25th March
The Monetary System; Money Growth and Inflation; a guest lecture by Matěj Turek
29 + 30
7
1st April
Open-Economy Macroeconomics: Basic Concepts; A Macroeconomic Theory of the Open Economy; a guest lecture by Jiří Skuhrovec
31 + 32
8
8th April
The Short Run Tradeoff between inflation and Unemployment; a guest lecture by Vilém Semerák
36
9
15th April
Keynes and IS-LM Analysis; Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply; The Influence of Monetary and Fiscal Policy
33 + 34 + 35
10
22nd April
The Financial Crisis
37
11
29th April
Common Currency Areas and European Monetary Union
38
12
6th May
Five Debates over Macroeconomic Policy
39
Last update: doc. Petr Janský, M.Sc., Ph.D. (22.01.2016)
Principles of Economics II
Summer Semester 2015, JEB102
Charles University, Faculty of Social Sciences
This course introduces economic thinking and basic principles of macroeconomics for first-year economics students as well as for non-economists. Principles of Economics II is an introductory economics course with lectures and seminars for students of:
Bachelor in Economics and Finance (mandatory course).
Bachelor of Science in Economics (mandatory course, an alternative to Ekonomie II).
International Economic and Political Studies and any other degree at Charles University with interest in economics or economic policy.
The course begins with the first lecture on Wednesday, 19th February at 8 am in room no. 314. The location of all lecture and seminar rooms is the Institute of Economic Studies.
During the semester, there will be a number of guest lectures in combination with the standard lectures. The guest lecturers will provide insights on macroeconomic issues from their work in business, finance, research or the government.
Seminars and tutors
Seminar
Day
Time
Room
1
Wednesday
14:00-15:20
109
2
Wednesday
15:30-15:20
105
3
Wednesday
17:00-18:20
105
Hana Džmuráňová (web, email), Tomáš Adam (web, email) and Jan Šolc (web, email) share the responsibility for the three seminars.
Furthermore, Hana and Tomáš are responsible for midterm and final exams. Jan is responsible for the topics of seminar presentations and for Aplia. Please do not hesitate to contact them in case you have questions related to these issues.
Readings
The course follows the material that is present in almost identical form in the following three textbooks (and also their earlier or later editions):
§ Mankiw, N.G., Taylor, M.P.: Economics (2nd or 1st edition, the chapter numbers in the weekly schedule below relate to the 2nd edition of this textbook).
§ Mankiw, N.G..: Principles of Economics (6th edition or earlier edition).
§ Mankiw, N.G..: Principles of Macroeconomics (6th edition or earlier edition).
Students are encouraged to read the relevant chapters (listed in the weekly schedule below) in one of these textbooks. There are a number of copies of the Economics textbook available in the IES library (and some in the CERGE-EI library). Also please note that a number of other introductory economics texts provide almost equivalent service to the student as the above mentioned textbooks.
Requirements and assessment
Students attend lectures and seminars, which are organised for their benefit. Students are encouraged to provide constructive feedback during the semester so that teaching can be improved accordingly. Experience shows that there is a positive correlation between attendance at lectures and seminars and final grades.
This course offers two main alternatives for final examination. Students can decide either to fulfil assignments in an online Aplia system during the semester or to sit in for a final exam at the end of the semester. The final exam is a test with various questions such as problem sets and multiple choices and is an open book exam (you can have a textbook and any notes written by yourself). It is also possible to sit in for the final exam after trying Aplia (Aplia counts as the first attempt at a final examination). Aplia assignments are submitted on a weekly basis (more on how to purchase it is at the end of this syllabus). For both Aplia and the exam, the grading follows this simple rule: the total number of points received is divided by the maximum number of points that could have been received.
If students opt for the final exam, it accounts for 80% of their grade. If students opt for Aplia, Aplia accounts for 40% of their final grade. Additionally, they have to pass a midterm test in the second half of the semester, mainly to demonstrate their basic knowledge (a minimum of 50% of total points is required, but it the midterm’s results account for 40% of the final grade). The midterm test is based on lectures and seminars and it is a closed book exam with mostly multiple choice questions and short answers.
The remaining 20% are awarded on the basis of student teams’ performances in presentations at seminars (15%) and reviews’ of other team’s presentations (5%). At the beginning of the semester, students in each of the seminars are required to form teams of up to 5 members and prepare together a presentation on the macroeconomic situation in one country, for which they are all awarded the same grade. This presentation should not take more than 20 minutes and it should include the discussion of the country’s structure of GDP growth (both production and expenditure side), development of inflation and of labour market variables as well as assessment of monetary and fiscal policy. Countries are assigned to the following ten weeks: the Czech Republic (4.3.), the Slovak Republic (11.3.), Germany (18.3.), Spain (25.3.), Sweden (1.4.), USA (8.4.), China (15.4.), United Kingdom (22.4.), France (29.4.), Russia (6.5.). The group should assign one member to reserve the chosen topic by mailing it to Jan together with the names of the team members and preference for one of the three weekly seminars. The first-come, first-served principle applies. Recommended literature is the country reports provided by IMF available at http://www.imf.org/external/country/index.htm.
The grading is same for all students. Total values higher than 90% correspond to grade 1 (výborně in Czech), between 80% and 90% to grade 2 (chvalitebně), between 70% and 80% to grade 3 (dobře).
A brief summary of requirements and grading
Option
Condition
Grade
Aplia
A minimum of 50% points at midterm exam
Aplia (40% of the final grade), midterm (40%), team presentations (15%) and reviews (5%)
Final exam
Final exam (80% of the final grade), team presentations (15%) and reviews (5%)
Weekly schedule
Week (Winter)
Day (2015)
Themes
Economics chapters
1
18th February
Measuring a Nation’s Income and course introduction
23
2
25th February
Measuring the Cost of Living; a guest lecture by Pavel Hait
24
3
4th March
Production and Growth; a guest lecture by - Petr Bouchal
25
4
11th March
Saving, Investment and the Financial System and the Basic Tools of Finance; a guest lecture by Petra Kolouchová
26 + 27
5
18th March
Unemployment and Its Natural Rate; a guest lecture by Aleš Chmelař
28
6
25th March
The Monetary System; Money Growth and Inflation; a guest lecture by Matěj Turek
29 + 30
7
1st April
Open-Economy Macroeconomics: Basic Concepts; A Macroeconomic Theory of the Open Economy; a guest lecture by Jiří Skuhrovec
31 + 32
8
8th April
The Short Run Tradeoff between inflation and Unemployment; a guest lecture by Vilém Semerák
36
9
15th April
Keynes and IS-LM Analysis; Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply; The Influence of Monetary and Fiscal Policy
