Course 2025-2026 a.y.

Module I:

• Understanding individual choice using machine learning techniques

• How individuals make decisions: the rational choice model

• Markets and data: distinguishing different types of goods in a digital economy

• Growth, innovation, and technological change

• Economic modeling of firm behavior and decision-making

• Economic theories of discrimination
• How AI applications can reinforce or reduce discrimination

Module II:

• Banks, money, and credit markets
• The multiplier and fiscal policy
• Inflation and monetary policy
• Public finance
• Long-run growth

Module I:

• Describe how people make choices within the rational choice framework.
• Discern between different types of goods within a market economy.
• Understand how economic growth is driven by capital accumulation and technology adoption.
• Summarize different economic models of discrimination.
• Illustrate how the application of AI technologies can lead to discriminatory outcomes.
• Explain the impact of social media technologies and cryptocurrencies on the economy.

Module I:

• Explain how the main economic variables are defined and measured.
• Understand how product and labor markets operate.
• Illustrate the determinants of the income level, the inflation rate, the unemployment rate, the interest rate, and the debt to income ratio prevailing in an economy.
• Identify the economic effects of monetary and fiscal policies, as well as those of exogenous shocks hitting the economy.
• Describe the interactions between financial markets developments and changes in the economic conditions.
• Summarize the causes of sustainability of the deficits (in the government budget, in the trade balance, etc.) incurred by a country, and their likely consequences.

Module I:

Apply the knowledge acquired during the course to evaluate the likely future evolution of the economic environment where the firm or organization they join at the end of the program operates. In particular, students will be able to:

• Predict the impact of central banks' decisions on the likely evolution of interest rates, aggregate output, aggregate demand, etc..
• Predict the impact of fiscal policy announcements and interventions, and of other shocks, on the same variables.
• Evaluate and compare the economic forecasts and views on the state of the economy made available on the internet and in other media, and utilize the results of such analysis and comparison in the economic decisions (pricing decisions, portfolio choices, business investment, hiring decisions, and the like) they are soon called to make in their work environment.

Module II:

Develop a deeper understanding of the impact of modern information technologies (e.g. machine learning, social networks) on the economy as well as society as a whole, such that the students will be able to make informed decisions about the use of these technologies in their future work environment. More specifically, students will be able to:

• Use the rational choice framework to gain a better understanding of how individuals make choices and how to model these choices using machine learning.
• Discuss how the increasing importance of data as an input changes the workings of an economy.
• Predict the impact of increasing automation on wages, employment and overall output.
• Assess whether the use of AI in the decision-making process is going to lead to disadvantages for societal subgroups.
• Speculate about the changes future technological innovations will bring for the effectiveness of monetary and fiscal policy.

• Lectures
• Practical Exercises

The course will be based on traditional face-to face lectures and tutorials. However, links to recent articles or blog posts on topics discussed in class - with comments aimed at clarifying how each of them is related to the models and concepts introduced during lectures - will be made available, at regular intervals, on the course web page that students can access on the Bboard platform. Students are encouraged to go through the readings on an individual basis, to verify their understanding of the topics discussed in class, and their relevance for interpreting real world economic events. We plan to teach face-to-face lectures if possible, but are prepared to complement them with (or switch to) online lectures, depending on the situation.

With the purpose of measuring the acquisition of the above-mentioned learning outcomes, the assessment process is based on a written examination (100% of the final grade)

The written exam consists of exercises and/or open questions, aimed at assessing students’ ability to:

• Apply the analytical tools illustrated during the course.
• Solve economic models and explain their implications.
• Identify the economic effects of monetary and fiscal policies.
• Describe the interactions between financial markets developments and changes in economic equilibria.

The exam also consists of short statements (true or false) to discuss, aimed at assessing students’ ability to:

• Precisely define the main economic variables and concepts.
• Articulate economic reasoning.
• Correctly apply the knowledge and skills acquired during the course.

Students can take a partial written exam that covers Module I and complete the written exam at the end of the course, covering Module II. In this case the weight is: 50% for the partial exam (Module I) and 50% for the end of term exam (Module II). Alternatively, students can take a final written exam, on both Modules, that accounts for 100% of the final grade.

For non attending students assessment is based on the written exam (either two partial exams or one final written exam with the same content and weight distribution of those applied to attending students).

Module I:

• The CORE Team, “The Economy 2: Economics for a Changing World,” 2023 (free ebook, updated online), Oxford Univ. Press, ISBN: 99781647921606.
• Mankiw and Taylor, "Economics", Cengage Learning EMEA, 2017.
• More materials might be announced at the start of the course.

Module II:

• The CORE Team, “The Economy 1: Economics for a Changing World,” 2017 (free ebook, updated online), Oxford Univ. Press, ISBN: 9780198810247.
• The CORE Team, “The Economy 2: Economics for a Changing World,” 2023 (free ebook, updated online), Oxford Univ. Press, ISBN: 99781647921606.
• Mankiw and Taylor:  “Economics,” Cengage Learning EMEA, 2017
• More materials might be announced at the start of the course.