Textbook:
The required text is Economic Fluctuations and Forecasting by Vincent Su. It is copyrighted 1996 by Harper Collins College Publishers.

Objectives: You will learn about the theories of the business cycle. You will understand what the many variables that describe the economy mean and the weaknesses of them. You will be able to do economic forecasting given the values of variables over time. You will also be able to interpret the meaning in changes in non-econometric forecast variables such as the index of leading economic indicators.

Grading:
There will be daily class participation, weekly homework assignments, four exams, and a final exam. Because the topics covered require analytical thought, rather than memorization, the majority of the questions will be short-essay. There may be one or two definition type questions on the exams, but, they will be rare. There are 1000 points available during the semester. The grades are calculated as follows:

Class participation	3%	30 points
9 homework assignments combined	9% (1% each)	90 points (100*1/10 = 10 each)
The four exams combined	68% (17% each)	680 points (170 = 100*1.7 each)
Final exam	20%	200 points (240*(5/6))

The minimum scores necessary to get each grade will be:

	A 93% = 930 points	A- 90% = 900 points
B+ 87% = 870 points	B 83% = 830 points	B- 80% = 800 points
C+ 77% = 770 points	C 73% = 730 points	C- 70% = 700 points
D+ 67% = 670 points	D 63% = 630 points	D- 60% = 600 points
	F 0% = 0 points

The borders are not firm. Any student near the border of two grades will have their case looked at on a case by case basis after the final exam has been graded.

Missed and Late Exams and Assignments:
If you miss an assignment or test because of unanticipated event like an illness, you have two choices. The first is to get me an Explanation of Absence Form signed by the appropriate person, or you can tell me what the problem was and I will decide whether or not it is a valid reason for missing the assignment. You do not have to tell me why you are absent, but if you want more time than the Explanation of Absence Form provides, you can tell me your reason and I will decide.  If you know beforehand that you will be missing an exam and have a valid reason to do so, then contact me beforehand to determine how it will be made up. I may ask for external verification of your reason, so do not wait until the day before the exam. Either the Explanation of Absence Form or my personal decision can be used to determine if you have a valid explanation for missing the assignment.

If you have no valid explanation, then there will be a 10% penalty per day, including the weekend. The assignment is considered late if it is not handed in at the start of class on the day it is due and the day we go over it. Otherwise, it is considered to be handed in the next day if it is handed in after I leave to go home. Makeup exams require 24 hour advance notice so that I can write another exam. Suppose that an assignment is due on a Wednesday and you are sick and I determine that you have a valid reason for Wednesday and Thursday. If you turn it in on the following Monday after class has met, then it will be considered four days late. Those days are Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday because it was the day that we went over it in class, so it was due at the start of class.

Class Participation:
Because of the class participation grade, it is expected that you will attend all classes and actively participate. That means you will answer questions that I ask, or that other students ask, and you will ask questions when you are uncertain about something. If you miss a large number of classes, then you will have a poor participation grade, and more importantly, you will not have heard the material. Not hearing the material will hurt your grade more than the lower participation grade. Showing up late will lower your participation grade. A valid reason for missing class, as explained in Missed and Late Exams, will not hurt your participation grade.

Homework Assignments:
Homework assignments are the only area that I allow students to work together. In fact, I recommend that you work together on the homework assignments because the better students learn the material better by teaching it and the poorer students get another person teaching it and may learn it better. However, if I find that students have worked together on any assignment other than the homework assignments, I will consider it as cheating. See the paragraph below this.

Cheating:
I have zero tolerance for cheating, lying, copying, plagiarism, etc. The first time that I find you doing any of the above, I will definitely give a zero for the assignment. I may also flunk you for the whole course. I have done it many times in the past at other schools.

My Web Page:
My web page is http://www.bethanywv.edu/~wcsaplar. On it will be all announcements, assignments, and syllabi for last semester and this semester. If you miss a class, you can find the assignment on the page. You can also find my class and office hours schedule. Currently, my web page from when I was at the Ripon College is still working. I do not know how long that will be. On it you will find all assignments and tests from one year there. The address http://www.ripon.edu/faculty/csaplarw/index.html will get you to my main page. I did not teach this course last year at Ripon College. Checking out last semester's exams and homework assignments could give you an idea of what my tests are like.

Schedule:

Mon.	Monday Classes	Wed.	Wednesday	Fri.	Friday Classes
9/02	No classes	9/04	Chapter 1	9/06	Chapter 2
9/09	Chapter 2	9/11	Chapters 2 - 3 HW #1 Due	9/13	Chapter 3
9/16	Chapter 3 Review HW #1	9/18	Chapters 3 and 4 HW #2 Due	9/20	Chapter 4
9/23	Chapter 4 Review HW #2	9/25	Chapter 5 HW #3 Due	9/27	Chapter 5
9/30	Review HW #3 and #3A	10/02	Exam 1, on chapters 1 - 5II	10/04	Chapter 5
10/07	Chapter 5	10/09	Chapter 6HW #4 Due	10/11	Review Exam 1
10/14	Chapter 6 Review HW #4	10/16	Chapter 6 HW #5 Due	10/18	Chapter 6
10/21	Review HW #5 and #5A	10/23	Chapter 6	10/25	Chapter 7Take-home exam 2, on ch 5III - 6 due
10/28	*Chapter 7	10/30	Review Exam HW #6 Due	11/01	Chapters 7 - 8
11/04	Chapter 8 Review HW #6	11/06	Chapter 8 HW #7 Due	11/08	Chapters 8 - 9
11/11	Review HW #7 and #7A	11/13	Exam 3, on chapters 7 - 8	11/15	Chapter 9
11/18	Chapter 9	11/20	Review Exam HW #8 Due	11/22	Chapter 10
11/25	Thanksgiving Break	11/27	Thanksgiving Break	11/29	Thanksgiving Break
12/02	Chapter 10 review HW#8	12/04	Chapter 10 HW #9 Due	12/06	Chapter 11
12/09	Review HW #9 and #9A	12/11	Exam 4, on chapters 9 - 11	12/13	Course Evaluations
12/16	Review exam	12/18	Study Day	12/20	Second Day of Finals

* indicates that class will be held on Tuesday, 10/29.   The review sessions for the exams will be the night before the exam, except for the final. Its review session will be determined after the finals schedule is announced.