Course: Principles of Macroeconomics (ECON 2) · Silver Oak University (fictional sample) · Prof. Ashford
Focus: Measuring Output: Gross Domestic Product · Objective 2 · SLO A & B

📋 Module Overview Page — "Start Here" (Canvas: Page, published)

Week 2 — Sizing Up the Economy: Gross Domestic Product

Campus note: Monday, Sep 7 is Labor Day — no class meets that day. Our first Week-2 session is Wednesday; everything below still runs on the normal weekly rhythm and due dates.

Last week you learned to zoom out to the whole economy. This week you get the number economists actually use to size it up: Gross Domestic Product (GDP). You'll learn the expenditure approach (C + I + G + NX) — what gets counted and what doesn't — and then meet two ideas that keep every GDP headline honest: real vs. nominal GDP, and the GDP deflator that separates a genuine-output story from a pure price-level story.

The big question: How do economists add up an entire economy's output into one number, and why do "real" and "nominal" versions of that number tell very different stories?

By the end of this week, you can:

• compute GDP using the expenditure approach C + I + G + NX, and correctly sort what counts (final goods and services) from what doesn't (used goods, transfers, purely intermediate goods, purely financial trades);
• explain the difference between real GDP and nominal GDP, and why only one of them tells you whether an economy actually produced more stuff;
• compute and interpret the GDP deflator (nominal ÷ real × 100), and use it to separate real growth from inflation inside a nominal number;
• work a two-good economy by hand — quantities and prices in two years — to produce nominal GDP, real GDP, the deflator, and both growth rates.

Do this, in order:

1. Read & watch — the Week 2 resources (≈35 min). → Readings & Resources page
2. Lecture Tutorial — work through GDP, real vs. nominal, and the deflator with your AI tutor (≈45 min). Due Sun, Sep 13. → submit the chat share link + summary
3. Practice Exercises — 6 quick reps, ungraded (≈15 min).
4. Quiz 2 — 10 questions, closed to AI (≈20 min). Due Sun, Sep 13.
5. Discussion 2 — "Does GDP measure what matters?" Initial post Fri, Sep 11, replies Sun, Sep 13.
6. Assignment 2 — the GDP, real-vs-nominal & deflator problem set (100 pts). Due Sun, Sep 13.
7. Workshop 2 — Graph & Model Workshop — "Compute GDP Three Ways" (50 pts). Due Sun, Sep 13.

A note before you start: GDP looks like "just addition," but the two classic traps are (1) counting something that shouldn't be counted (a used car, a Social Security check, a share of stock) and (2) confusing a nominal number (inflated by rising prices) with a real one (adjusted for it). We'll catch both this week — including watching an AI chatbot make exactly these mistakes. 💪

📣 Welcome Announcement (Canvas: Announcement; available_from_offset_days = 0 — posts Mon, Sep 7)

Subject: Week 2 — how big IS the economy? 👋

Hi everyone,

Quick logistics: today (Mon, Sep 7) is Labor Day — no class meets. We'll pick up Wednesday. Everything else this week runs on the usual schedule, with all Week-2 work due Sunday, Sep 13.

Here's the whole week in one sentence: GDP is economists' way of adding up everything a whole economy produced in a period — but "adding up" hides two traps that trip up students and chatbots alike.

This week, don't miss:

• The expenditure approach, C + I + G + NX — and just as important, what does NOT get counted (a used car changing hands, your grandmother's Social Security check, flour that becomes bread, buying a share of stock). GDP counts final goods and services produced this period — nothing else.
• Real vs. nominal GDP — the single most important habit in this course. A rising nominal GDP can mean the economy produced more, or it can just mean prices rose. You can't tell which without stripping out inflation.
• The GDP deflator — the tool that does that stripping: deflator = nominal ÷ real × 100. We'll build one by hand from a tiny two-good economy so you see exactly where every number comes from.

Start with the Module Overview ("Start Here"), then the readings, then your AI Lecture Tutorial. Bring your muddiest "wait, does that count?" question to class.

See you Wednesday,
Prof. Ashford