8/18/2019 Econ 319

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Concordia University

Department of Economics

ECONOMICS 319INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY AND INSTITUTIONS

Summer 2012

Section CA

Instructor: Carol Lau Office: H 1155-07E-mail: clau@alcor.concordia.ca Office Hours: TJ 10:00-11:00

Schedule: TJ 12:30-15:00 Location: MB 5.265

Course objectivesThis course will provide an introduction to the theories, policies and institutions concerning international trade and

finance. The first portion of the course would examine some traditional and contemporary trade models that would

answer the questions concerning why countries trade, what they trade, how trade affects factor prices (income

distribution), why countries intervene in trade and what consequences arise from their intervention. The trade section

would end with discussions on some trade agreements and organizations. In the finance portion, we will cover topicssuch as the balance of payments, theories of exchange rates and exchange rate systems, and some recent financial crisis.

The course would end with discussions on some international financial institutions.

Required Textbook and Course MaterialThe electronic textbook package for this course is available online, supported by Kendall-Hunt Publishing and Great

Rivers Technologies. You can buy the access codes from http://webcom3.grtxle.com/international, or from the

Concordia Bookstore. Note that online purchases are non-refundable. All textbook royalties are used to support micro-

finance projects through Kiva - http://www.kiva.org/lender/chuihacarol7266.

The text chapters, study problems, weekly labs and forum threads are available through the course website. The contentof the website will be updated throughout the semester. The midterm and final exam may cover current events and

topics that are not posted on this course website. Hence, class attendance is crucial.

Up until June 28th

 2012, the add/drop deadline, students can download the text chapters, study problems and class notes

for Chapters 1, 2 and 3 from our temporary course site at http://alcor.concordia.ca/~clau. Students will not be able toaccess the labs and forum via this temporary site. After this date, should students decide to continue with the course,please purchase the access codes to gain full access to the course materials. No labs or any graded work will be due prior

to June 28th

 2012.

Grading PolicyTen Online Labs: 15% (plus two bonus labs, so students can earn more than 15% for this grade component.)

Forum Online “Class” Participation: 10% (due July 29th

 midnight and the midnight before our final exam.)

Midterm Exam: 25%, July 24th

 Tuesday, in class, 12:30-14:30.Final Exam: Cumulative, 50% (To Be Scheduled by the Examination’s Office.)

MidtermNumerous past midterms and answers will be posted on our course site for reference. Because July 25

th Wednesday is

the DISC deadline, our midterm and answers will be posted on our course site on the evening of July 24th so thatstudents will have an idea of how they have performed in their midterm. The graded midterms will be returned to thestudents after July 25

th.

Weekly Labs (OPEN BOOK Quizzes) Students are required to submit one lab for each chapter, with the exception of Chapter 4 where there will be two labs.

Each lab consists of randomly chosen true/false and multiple-choice questions that are electronically graded. Each lab isalso timed, similar to the traditional in-class quizzes. These questions may appear in the exams.

Online Forum Discussion (Blog)Discussion questions are created to accompany each chapter. Students are encouraged to actively participate in the

online discussion, given our limited lecture duration. Students must list their full name when they post an entry.

Instructions on how to post entries and samples of poor/good/excellent entries will be posted on our course site.