Course

Canadian Macroeconomic Policy

Faculty
Commerce & Business Administration
Department
Economics
Course Code
ECON 2491
Credits
3.00
Semester Length
15 Weeks X 4 Hours per Week = 60 Hours
Max Class Size
35
Method(s) Of Instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Typically Offered
To be determined

Overview

Course Description
Canadian Macroeconomic Policy utilizes the principles of macroeconomics to examine current macroeconomic policy issues. A variety of issues such as the cost of inflation and unemployment, the causes and effects of the government deficit and debt, the relationship between inflation, interest rates, and the exchange rate, and the macroeconomic effects of free trade agreements will be examined. Recent monetary, fiscal, and exchange rate policies will be discussed thoroughly. Practical applications of basic macroeconomic theory will be stressed in this course.
Course Content
  1. Review of national income and price level models
  2. Recent Canadian economic performance
  3. The problem of unemployment and inflation
  4. Fiscal policy
  5. Government deficits and debt: Causes and Consequences
  6. The Bank of Canada and monetary policy
  7. The debate of Disinflation
  8. Balance of Payments issues and Exchange Rate policies
  9. The macroeconomic effects of North American Free Trade.
Learning Activities

Lecture and seminar.

Means of Assessment
Final Examination        30% - 40%
Term Tests  40% - 70%
Assignments   0% - 20%
Participation    0% - 10%
Total          100%

THERE WILL A MINIMUM OF THREE (3) EVALUATIONS.

Students may conduct research as part of their coursework in this class. Instructors for the course are responsible for ensuring that student research projects comply with College policies on ethical conduct for research involving humans, which can require obtaining Informed Consent from participants and getting the approval of the Douglas College Research Ethics Board prior to conducting the research.

Learning Outcomes

At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

  1. utilize aggregate demand-aggregate supply models to examine the recent performance of the Canadian economy;
  2. analyze the relationship between inflation, interest rates, and exchange rates;
  3. evaluate the government deficit and debt problem;
  4. examine recent monetary policy and its impact on inflation, interest rates and the exchange rate;
  5. analyze the impact of the North American Free Trade Agreement on the Canadian economy
Textbook Materials

Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students

 

The main texts are to be chosen from the following, as determined by the instructor:

 

Carson, Robert.  Economic Issues Today, Latest Ed.  St. Martin's Press.

Laidler, D. and W. Robson.  The Great Canadian Disinflation:  The Economics and Politics of Monetary Policy in Canada, 1988-1993, Latest Ed.   C.D. Howe Institute.

Luciani, Patrick.  Economic Myths: Making Sense of Canadian Policy Issues, Latest Ed.  Addison-Wesley.

Schultze, C.L.  Memos to the President: A Guide Through Macroeconomics for the Busy Policymaker, Latest Ed.  Washington:  Brookings Institution.

 

Supplementary material may be chosen, as determined by the instructor.

Requisites

Prerequisites

ECON 1150 and ECON 1250

Corequisites

No corequisite courses.

Equivalencies

Courses listed here are equivalent to this course and cannot be taken for further credit:

  • No equivalency courses

Course Guidelines

Course Guidelines for previous years are viewable by selecting the version desired. If you took this course and do not see a listing for the starting semester / year of the course, consider the previous version as the applicable version.

(Current)

Course Transfers

These are for current course guidelines only. For a full list of archived courses please see https://www.bctransferguide.ca

Institution Transfer Details for ECON 2491
Alexander College (ALEX) ALEX ECON 291 (3)
Capilano University (CAPU) CAPU ECON 291 (3)
Langara College (LANG) LANG ECON 2XXX (3)
Simon Fraser University (SFU) SFU ECON 291 (3)
Thompson Rivers University (TRU) No credit
Trinity Western University (TWU) TWU BUSI 2XX (3)
University of British Columbia - Okanagan (UBCO) UBCO ECON_O 2nd (3)
University of British Columbia - Vancouver (UBCV) UBCV ECON_V 211 (3)
University of Northern BC (UNBC) UNBC ECON 2XX (3)
University of the Fraser Valley (UFV) UFV ECON 215 (3)
University of Victoria (UVIC) UVIC ECON 3XX (1.5)
Vancouver Island University (VIU) VIU ECON 2nd (3)

Course Offerings

Winter 2025

CRN Days Instructor Status
Maximum Seats
35
Currently Enrolled
0
Remaining Seats:
35
On Waitlist
0
Building
New Westminster - North Bldg.
Room
N4308
Times:
Start Time
12:30
-
End Time
15:20