A Proposed New Curriculum in Intermediate Macroeconomics

In theory, Intermediate Macroeconomics is the course that bridges the elementary concepts learned in the introductory economics courses and the more specialized knowledge that upper-level electives provide. In practice, however, the course is expected to do far too many things; for example, patching the coverage gaps from said introductory courses or loading far too many concepts under the hypothesis that this class is the last offering in macroeconomics that a student will take in their undergraduate program. I argue that we are teaching Intermediate Macroeconomics the wrong way. To make it right, we should rethink the goals of the course, both looking at its role as a stepping stone and arguing that many of the recent advances in macroeconomic theory and policy are ripe for inclusion in a course of this nature.