The Global Economics and Political Influence (Featuring Steve Forbes) course introduces skills and perspective necessary to understand domestic and international macroeconomic events. The course will provide an overview of macroeconomic topics including, unemployment, inflation, money supply, and the tools employed by the Federal Reserve System and the federal government to create and implement monetary and fiscal policies. This course will also include international trade and the foreign exchange markets. Finally, real life important policy debates such as government spending and taxes, social security, the role of government with contrasting views from Keynes and Hayek, the importance of a sound money system, and the causes of the Great Recession of 2008-2009 will be critically explored.
COURSE AT A GLANCE
COURSE DESCRIPTION
The Global Economics and Political Influence (Featuring Steve Forbes) course introduces skills and perspectives necessary to understand domestic and international macroeconomic events. The course will provide an overview of macroeconomic topics including, unemployment, inflation, money supply, and the tools employed by the Federal Reserve System and the federal government to create and implement monetary and fiscal policies. This course will also include international trade and the foreign exchange markets. Finally, real life important policy debates such as government spending and taxes, social security, the role of government with contrasting views from Keynes and Hayek, the importance of a sound money system, and the causes of the Great Recession of 2008-2009 will be critically explored.
COURSE DESIGN
This course is designed to examine and understand macroeconomic concepts and apply them to the real world. As the course begins, students will learn the terms used by economists to understand the general economics lingo. Students will gain knowledge in macroeconomic concepts such as capitalism versus socialism, gross domestic product (GDP), taxes, government price controls, unemployment, national debt, Federal Reserve Bank, sound money system, tariffs, exchange rates, and trade deficits. Students will gain an understanding of fiscal policy and how government spending and tax policies impact the overall economy. Students will also study monetary policy and how the central bank attempts to strengthen the overall economy. Important real-life policy debates, such as government spending and taxes, social security, the role of government with contrasting views from Keynes and Hayek, the importance of a sound money system, and the causes of the Great Recession of 2008-2009 will be critically explored. The course is designed so that students also consider how politics plays a role in the economy. The course features Steve Forbes, chairman and editor-in-chief of Forbes Media. Mr. Forbes has authored a number of thought-provoking books, one of which is featured in this course. Mr. Forbes’s thoughts and opinions are greatly sought out and he appears regularly on various television news programs, and we are pleased to have his input in this course. The course also features John Tamny, the political economy editor at Forbes and editor of RealClearMarkets.com. Mr. Tamny frequently writes about the securities markets, along with tax, trade, and monetary policy. He is the author of several interesting books, one of which is featured in this course. The course is designed to encourage critical thinking to challenge conventional economists’ views on both fiscal and monetary policies. The course resources include textbooks, business books, the MindTap learning platform, articles, videos, and a documentary. In addition, the discussions, audio recording, case studies, and written assignments are designed to promote a greater understanding of macroeconomics.
COURSE LEARNING OUTCOMES
Upon successful completion of this course, students will be able to
- Determine causes and consequences of the money supply, unemployment, inflation, and economic growth.
- Compare the roles of fiscal and monetary policy in influencing and stabilizing the economy.
- Interpret the political environment and actions, noting the impact on the economy.
- Assess the influence of international balance of payments on exchange rates, purchasing power, and comparative interest rates.
- Debate real life important policies including government spending and taxes, social security, the role of the government, the importance of a sound money system, and the causes of the Great Recession.
COURSE GRADING
Multiple measures of assessment are used in the course, allowing students opportunities to demonstrate their learning in more than one way and giving consideration to individual learning styles. Course components that will be assessed are noted below.
DISCUSSION FORUMS
Each week students will participate in the online discussion forum with classmates, as related to the week’s content. Activities and assessments that take place in the discussion forum replace the interactive dialogue that occurs in the traditional classroom setting. These activities include, but are not limited to, the following:
• Debates
• Role-Play
• Reflection
Each week, students’ initial discussion forum posts are due by 11:59 p.m. (in the time zone in which each student resides) on Day 3 (Thursday). Students will have until 11:59 p.m. on Day 7 (the following Monday) to make the required minimum number of response posts to classmates. Discussion forums represent 34% of the overall course grade.
QUIZZES
In Weeks 1, 2, 3, 5, and 6, students will demonstrate and reinforce their understanding of the week’s content by taking open-book quizzes. The quiz must be completed in one sitting, by Day 6 of the week in which it is due. The questions are multiple choice. Quizzes represent 10% of the overall course grade.
LEARNING ACTIVITY
There is one learning activity due in Week 1 of this course. This learning activity will provide an opportunity for students to engage directly with content, resulting in the achievement of learning outcomes. This activity is an interactive. The learning activity represents 2% of the overall course grade.
ASSIGNMENTS
There are written assignments due in Weeks 1 through 5 of this course. These assignments must reflect college-level writing. Assignments represent 34% of the overall course grade.
FINAL PROJECT
The final assignment for this course is an analysis of case studies that provide real-world application to concepts students have studied during this course. The purpose of the Cases: Applying Economics to the Real-World Final Project is to analyze government spending and taxation, the economics of social security, and economists Keynes’s and Hayek’s contrasting views on sound economics and the role of government. The Final Project represents 20% of the overall course grade
