The material covered in the CLEP exams in Microeconomics and Macroeconomics (which are reflected in the lecture notes and study guide which follow) are each generally considered equivalent to a one semester lower division college course.

NOTE:At this time, this site contains information about both Microeconomics and Macroeconomics. We plan to expand it with an additional page for each subject, with a more extensive Study Guide.

Exam type:
CLEP: Same for both subjects)
80 multiple choice questions in 90 minutes
Typical credits: 3 units for each subject
GRE:Material covered on these pages are only a part of the GRE in Economics which consists of 220 multiple choice questions
Typical credit: 3 - 30 units

For more details about the GRE click here.

The CLEP Exam

NOTE: There is a very readable online textbook CyberEconomics that treats both subjects. While this is a cybertext in process, it provides an excellent introduction. It is logically oriented, with good hypertext links. If you read the lectures, follow the links and read related material in any standard Economics text book, your preparation for the CLEP will be well underway.
Featured faculty and their home pages can be found at the end of this page.
(I didn't promise you a rose garden. See disclaimer.)

The topics below are those The College Board indicates will be found on the exams. The percentages given after the main topic headings are only approximate. Always check with the College Board for the latest information.

Basic concepts of economics applicable to both microeconomics and macroecomincs (8-12%)

• Scarcity: the nature of the economic system
• Opportunity costs and production possibilities curves
• Demand, supply and price determination

Principles of Microeconomics

The nature and function of the product market (60%)

• Supply and demand 15-20%
• Consumer demand 10-15%
• Firm's production, costs and revenue 13%
• Profit maximization25-30%
  • Perfect Competition
  • Impefect Competition
  • Monopoly, Oligopoly
  • Efficiency, antitrust, and regulation
• Factor Market 10-15%
• Market failures and the role of government 4-6%

You are also required to:

Understand important economic terms and concepts

Interpret and manipulate economic diagrams

Interpret and evaluate economic data

Apply simple economic models

Principles of Macroeconomics

Macroeconomic concepts (80%)

• Measurement of economic performance 10%-18%
• National income and price determination 60-70%
  • Aggregate supply and demand; Keynsian and classical analysis (30-35%)
  • Money and banking and central banking 10-15%
  • Effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policy 20-25%
    includes Keynsian, Monetarist, Supply-Sider and rational expectation theories
• International economics and growth 15%

You are also required to:

Understand important economic terms and concepts

Interpret and manipulate economic diagrams

Interpret and evaluate economic data

Apply simple economic models

Preliminary Study Guide

Getting Started

Here is one way that you can begin. (If you haven't read a general step-by-step guide, this might be a good time. See also How to Budget Your Time)

Look up Economics in a good encyclopedia. Follow major cross references. This will give you a basic overview and introduce vocabulary specific for the subject.

Check out Dr. Robert Schenk's CyberEconomics site. You will probably want to print out the Table of Contents to help you plan your study sessions.

Another online text from Prof. Roger A. McCain, Drexel University, Essential Principles of Economics: A Hypermedia Text contains 17 chapters of introductory microeconomics and macroeconomics. Bookmark the page and print out the table of contents to help plan your study sessions.

Plan to take a half hour to explore the economics site developed by Newcastle Royal Grammar School in Newcastle, England. (Don't let the name fool you, this is college level material) The Tutor2U Economics Study Room contains hundreds of pages of study notes and a useful search facility for specific terms.

There are two ways of approaching these notes: Browse through the Table of Contents, or click on either MICROECONOMICS or MACROECONOMICS where the information is grouped by study units and where there are links to case studies. You may have a little trouble adapting to the British terminology, but it is worth the effort. The site also includes links to economics news, a glossary, and articles.

• Devote at least one study session to each online chapter and some of the links.
• Devote at least one study session to each chapter in a textbook.
• Devote at least one study session to one of the lecture series .
• After two or three chapters allow one study session for review and to follow additional links
• About half way through the course take a practice CLEP test. Answer every question on subject matter you have already covered. Check your answers and review those areas where you are weak.
• Take advantage of the prior class exams that are included with the lectures below.

To gain an overview of economic theories see Economics Education produced by the Federal Reserve Bank San Francisco. Click on the Publications and Resources icon and then Great Economists and Their Times. This frame contains a brief description of all of the major economic schools from the 1700's to today. It also has a time line which puts the economists and their theories in historical context.

Material common to both exams includes:
BASIC CONCEPTS (Chapters 1-2) (Pink Monkey)

Chapter 1 Introduction to Economics
1. 1 Definition and Nature
1. 2 Macro and Microeconomics
1. 3 Positive and Normative Science
1. 4 Positive Economic Theory and Analysis

Chapter 2 Demand, Supply and Elasticity
2. 1 Fundamental Concepts
2. 2 Demand Schedule, Function and Law
2. 3 Supply Schedule, Function and Law
2. 4 Elasticity of Demand and Supply
2. 5 The Concept of Equilibrium

On-Line Video On Demand from the Annenberg/CPB series Economics U$A See listing and links to Introductory programs

Microeconomics
Lectures

Following is an 12 part series of Lecture Outlines, Econ 200, Professor Hackett Humboldt State University

• Week One: Introduction (Hackett)
• Week Two: Production Possibilities and Opportunity Cost (Hackett)
• Week Three: Market Supply and Demand (Hackett)
• Week Four: Markets in Action (Hackett)
• Week Five: Price Elasticity of Demand and Supply (Hackett)
• Week Six: Consumer Choice Theory (Hackett)
• Week Seven: Production Costs (Hackett)
• Week Eight: No lecture
• Week Nine: Perfectly Competitive Markets (Hackett)
• Week Ten: Monopoly (Hackett)
• Week Eleven: Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly (Hackett)
• Week Twelve: Labor Markets (Hackett)
• Week Thirteen: Antitrust and Regulation (Hackett)
• Optional Material: Environmental Economics (Hackett)
• Optional Material: Income Distribution, Poverty, and Discrimination (Hackett)

And lectures from Cybereconomics:

• Elasticity and Revenue (Schenk)
• Rationing and Allocating (Schenk)
• The Logic of Choice (Schenk)
• Maximizing Behavior (Schenk)
• The Firm and Its Constraints (Schenk)
• Maximizing Profits (Schenk)
• Efficiency (Schenk)
• Information, Risk & Exclusion (Schenk)
• Government and Efficiency (Schenk)
• Problems in Resource Markets (Schenk)
• Monopoly and Efficiency (Schenk)
• Transport Costs and Borders (Schenk)

Related texts in Microeconomics includes:

MICROECONOMICS (Chapters 8-15) (Pink Monkey)

Chapter 8 Theory of the Consumer
8. 1 Nature of the Consumer
8. 2 Equilibrium of the Consumer
Chapter 9 Equilibrium of a Firm
9. 1 Concept of Firm
9. 2 Factors of Production and Product Output
9. 3 Costs and Profits
9. 4 Costs Analysis
Chapter 10 Perfect Competition
10. 1 Features of Competition
10. 2 Competitive Equilibrium
10. 3 Short Run Equilibrium
10. 4 Long Run Equilibrium
10. 5 Exit or Shutdown point
Chapter 11 Monopoly
11.1 Nature and Sources
11.2 Monopoly Demand Curve
11.3 Monopoly Equilibrium
11.4 Evils and Wastage of Monopoly
Chapter 12 Oligopoly Market
12.1 Oligopoly
12.2 Cartels
Chapter 13 Monopolistic Competition
13.1 Market Imperfections
13.2 Equilibrium under Monopolistic Competition
Chapter 14 Labor Market
14. 1 Demand and Supply
14. 2 Marginal Productivity Theory
14. 3 Supply Curve of Labor
14. 4 Monopsony and Exploitation of labor
Chapter 15 Capital Market
15. 1 Basic Concepts
15.2 Productivity of Capital
15.3 Market Rate of Interest
15.4 Investment Decisions

See also another study guide:
Sparknotes - Economics

Microeconomics
Supply and Demand

Equilibrium

Review
Elasticity
Labor Markets

Labor Supply

Labor Demand

Review
Income Distribution
Monopolies & Oligopolies

On-Line Video On Demand from the Annenberg/CPB series Economics U$A See listing and links to Microeconomics related programs

Review

Companion Website for the textbook Principles of Microeconomics Sixth Edition William Boyes, Arizona State University, Michael Melvin, Arizona State University

Click on View Resources by Chapter

First read Fundamental Question Review, and then take the practice tests.

Part I: Introduction to the Price System

Chapter 1: Economics: The World Around You

Chapter 2: Choice, Opportunity Costs, and Specialization

Chapter 3: Markets, Demand and Supply, and the Price System

Chapter 4: The Market System and the Private Sector

Chapter 5: The Public Sector

Part II: Product Market Basics

Chapter 6: Elasticity: Demand and Supply

Chapter 7: Consumer Choice

Chapter 8: Supply: The Costs of Doing Business

Part III: Product Markets

Chapter 9: Profit Maximization

Chapter 10: Perfect Competition

Chapter 11: Monopoly

Chapter 12: Monopolistic Competition and Oligopoly

Chapter 13: Antitrust and Regulation

Chapter 14: Government and Market Failure

Part IV: Resource Markets

Chapter 15: Resource Markets

Chapter 16: The Labor Market

Chapter 17: Financial Markets: Institutions and Recent Events

Chapter 18: The Land Market and Natural Resources

Chapter 19: Aging, Social Security, and Health Care

Chapter 20: Income Distribution, Poverty, and Government Policy

Part V: Issues in International Trade and Finance

Chapter 21: World Trade Equilibrium

Chapter 22: International Trade Restrictions

Chapter 23: Exchange Rates and Financial Links Between Countries

NOTE: the Glossary contains the same terms as flashcards

Macroeconomics
Lectures

Be sure to review the Macroeconomics portion of the Tutor2U Econmomics Study Room noted above.

AGEC 217 Macroeconomics a rich site contains a series of 26 very readable lecture notes by Prof. Larry DeBoer. Agricultural Economics Department at Purdue University. Start with Lecture Notes and Graphs; download his Glossary, follow some of his Internet Links and test yourself with his Exams and Answers.

1. Introduction: What is Macroeconomics? Why Should You Care?
2. Economic Measurement: Gross Domestic Product
3. Economic Measurement: Inflation
4. Economic Measurement: Inflation and Unemployment
5. Demand and Supply
6. Demand and Supply Equilibrium
7. Applications: the Minimum Wage
8. Money and Macroeconomic Policy, 1861-1900
9. Demand and Supply for Foreign Exchange
10. The Founding of the Fed, 1907-21
11. Money and Money Demand
12. Money Supply and Monetary Policy
13. The Great Depression
14. Aggregate Demand
15. Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply
16. Fiscal Policy
17. The Quest for a Stable Economy
18. Social Security Now
19. The Rise of Inflation, 1960-1980
20. The Fall of Inflation and Budget Deficits
21. The Rise of the Global Economy, 1990s
22. Production Possibilities
23. Comparative Advantage in Trade
24. Demand, Supply and International Trade
25. Growth
26. Creative Destruction and the Triumph of Markets
27. Income Distribution
28. Where We Stand: The Economy Today

As well as lectures from Cybereconomics:

• Economic Catastrophes (Schenk)
• Measuring Economic Aggregates (Schenk)
• Connections (Schenk)
• Financial Markets (Schenk)
• Money Matters (Schenk)
• Banks Create Money (Schenk)
• Business Cycle Theories (Schenk)
• The Income-Expenditure Model (Schenk)
• The Labor Market (Schenk)
• Fiscal Policy Today (Schenk)
• Monetary History (Schenk)

Related Online Text
An Outline of the U.S. Economy
Continuity and Change (Outline)
How the U.S. Economy Works (Outline)
The U.S. Economy: A Brief History (Outline)
Small Business and the Corporation (Outline)
Stocks, Commodities, and Markets (Outline)
The Role of the Government in the Economy (Outline)
Monetary and Fiscal Policy (Outline)
American Agriculture: Its Changing Significance (Outline)
Labor in America: The Worker's Role (Outline)
Foreign Trade and Global Economic Policies (Outline)
Afterword: Beyond Economics (Outline)
Glossary (Outline)

On-line texts include:

MACRO ECONOMICS (Chapters 3-7) (Pink Monkey)

Chapter 3 Macro Aggregates, Unemployment and Inflation
3. 1 Macro Aggregates
3.2 Unemployment
3.3 Inflation
Chapter 4 Aggregate Demand and Aggregate Supply
4. 1 Aggregate Demand
4. 2 Aggregate Supply
4. 3 Equilibrium
Chapter 5 Output - Employment Theories (Classical and Keynesian)
5. 1 Classical Theory
5. 2 Keynes’ Employment Theory
Chapter 6 Money and Banking
6. 1 Money
6. 2 Banking
Chapter 7 Fiscal and Monetary Policies
7. 1 Fiscal Policy
7. 2 Monetary Policy

See also another study guide:
Sparknotes - Economics

Macroeconomics
Measuring the Economy 1
Measuring the Economy 2
Money
Banking
Economic Growth
International Trade
Tax and Fiscal Policy
Policy Debates
Aggregate Demand
Aggregate Supply

On-Line Video On Demand from the Annenberg/CPB series Economics U$A See listing and links to Macroeconomics related programs

See also this :
Glossary (Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco)

Review

Companion Website for the textbook Principles of Macroeconomics Sixth Edition William Boyes, Arizona State University, Michael Melvin, Arizona State University

click on View Resources by Chapter

First read Fundamental Question Review, and then take the practice tests.

Part I: Introduction to the Price System

Chapter 1: Economics: The World Around You

Chapter 2: Choice, Opportunity Costs, and Specialization

Chapter 3: Markets, Demand and Supply, and the Price System

Chapter 4: The Market System and the Private Sector

Chapter 5: The Public Sector

Part II: Macroeconomic Basics

Chapter 6: National Income Accounting

Chapter 7: An Introduction to the Foreign Exchange Market and the

Balance of Payments

Chapter 8: Unemployment and Inflation

Chapter 9: Macroeconomic Equilibrium: Aggregate Demand and Supply

Chapter 10: Aggregate Expenditures

Chapter 11: Income and Expenditures Equilibrium

Part III: Macroeconomic Policy

Chapter 12: Fiscal Policy

Chapter 13: Money and Banking

Chapter 14: Monetary Policy

Chapter 15: Macroeconomic Policy: Tradeoffs, Expectations,

Credibility, and Sources of Business Cycles

Chapter 16: Macroeconomic Viewpoints: New Keynesian, Monetarist, and New Classical

Part IV: Economic Growth and Development

Chapter 17: Economic Growth

Chapter 18: Development Economics

Chapter 19: Globalization

Part V: Issues in International Trade and Finance

Chapter 20: World Trade Equilibrium

Chapter 21: International Trade Restrictions

Chapter 22: Exchange Rates and Financial Links Between Countries

NOTE: the Glossary contains the same terms as flashcards

Remember to keep your journal up to date.

Links to faculty home pages
NOTE: Please don't bug the professors. They have been generous enough just by taking the time and effort to put their material on the Web. And please don't e-mail responses to their tests. Such responses are limited to students actually enrolled in the class.

Robert Schenk, Ph.D., St. Joseph's College-Indiana.
Prof. Steven Hackett, Humboldt State University.
Other home page are referenced above.

Internet Resources
Appendix Nobel Laureates (Pink Monkey)
Questions (Pink Monkey)
Bibliography (Pink Monkey)

Archive of the History of Economic Thought at McMaster University.]

Resources for Economists on the Internet a massive list maintained by Bill Goffe of the University of Southern Mississippi.

Good Luck!

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