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Course 2019-2020 a.y.

30066 - ECONOMIA - MODULO 2 (MACROECONOMIA) / ECONOMICS - MODULE 2 (MACROECONOMICS)

Department of Economics

For the instruction language of the course see class group/s below

Go to class group/s: 21 - 22

BIEF (8 credits - II sem. - OBBC  |  SECS-P/01)
Course Director:
GIUSEPPE FERRAGUTO

Classes: 21 (II sem.) - 22 (II sem.)
Instructors:
Class 21: JOSEF SIGURDSSON, Class 22: BASILE GRASSI

Class group/s taught in English

Class-group lessons delivered  on campus

Suggested background knowledge

A basic familiarity with the concepts usually discussed in an introductory course on Microeconomics is strongly recommended.


Mission & Content Summary
MISSION

The course provides students with the knowledge needed to understand the functioning of the economy as a whole, and investigates the determination of important macroeconomic aggregate variables - such as the gross domestic product of a country, the general price level, the unemployment rate, the rate of interest and the exchange rate - that play a major role in shaping the external environment in which firms and other economic organizations operate.

CONTENT SUMMARY
  • National Accounting.
  • The goods market and financial markets.
  • Macroeconomic equilibrium and macroeconomic policies in a closed economy.
  • Unemployment.
  • Inflation.
  • The open economy, the balance of payments and the exchange rate.
  • Government debt.

Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
  • Understand how the main macroeconomic variables are defined and measured.
  • Illustrate the determinants of the levels of income, inflation and unemployment prevailing in an economy.
  • Explain the macroecomic effects of monetary and fiscal policies, as well as those of other shocks hitting the economy.
  • Recognize the difference in the effects of such policies and shocks, depending on the exchange rate regime adopted.
  • Describe the interactions between financial markets developments and changes in the macronomic equilibrium of a country.
  • Identify the causes of the sustainability, or unsustainability of the deficits (in the government budget, in the trade balance, etc.) incurred by a country, and their likely consequences.

 

APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...

Apply the knowledge acquired during the course to evaluate the likely change in the environment of the firm or organization they join at the end of the program. In particular:

  • Predict the impact of central banks' decisions on the likely evolution of interest rates, income, 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 in the internet and other media, and utilize the results of such analysis and comparison in the decisions (pricing decisions, portfolio choices, business investment, hiring decisions, and the like) they are soon called to make in their daily operations.

Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face lectures
  • Exercises (exercises, database, software etc.)
  • Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
DETAILS

In addition to the traditional face-to face lectures, eight tutorials (some taught by the instructor, some by the Teaching Assistant assigned to each class) are scheduled during the semester. During each tutorials, the concepts introduced during the lectures are used to answer questions, and solve problems, similar to those of which the typical written examination consists. Furthermore, every week a list of links to very recent articles or blog posts on topics that is soon discussed in class - with comments aimed at clarifying how each of them is related to the models and concepts introduced during lectures - is made available in the page of the course that the students are able to access on the Bboard platform. Some of these readings are used by instructors during their lectures, as the starting point for 'case-study'-like discussions aimed at  showing students the relevance of what just studied to interpret real world current economic events; on some of the remaining readings, notified in advance to students, are asked the questions included in the quizzes that students may decide to take at the end of the traditional written examinations.


Assessment methods
  Continuous assessment Partial exams General exam
  • Written individual exam (traditional/online)
  •   x x
    ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS

    In order to measure the acquisition of the above-mentioned learning outcomes, students are required to take two written partial examinations (March; May or June) or, if they prefer to do so, to sit a single written general examination at the end of the course, each consisting of questions that require motivated answers and aimed at verifying that they have acquired a basic familiarity with the vocabulary and with the main models of the discipline, as well as an understanding of the way in which alternative institutional frameworks and assumptions about the behavior of economic agents affect the macroeconomic equilibrium of a nation.

    • At the end of each partial examination, or at the end of the general examination, students may decide to answer two quizzes, each consisting of five multiple-choice questions on readings on current macroeconomic events, aimed at verifying  their ability to use the concepts and models studied during the semester to interpret and critically evaluate the debate on current macroeconomic trends.
    • The students' final grade is computed by adding to the average of the grades in the partial examinations, or to the grade in the general one (at most 30/30), the sum of the points earned in the quizzes they have decided to sit (at most 0.75/30 per quiz). Although entirely voluntary, participation in the quizzes is a pre-condition for receiving a final evaluation of 30 cum laude.

    Teaching materials
    ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
    • O. BLANCHARD, A. AMIGHINI, F. GIAVAZZI, Macroeconomics - A European Perspective, Pearson Education Limited, 2017, Third Edition.
    • G. FERRAGUTO, Macroeconomics - Problems and Questions, Egea, 2018, 5th edition.
    • Further readings on the topics covered by the course and on current macroeconomic events are made available during the semester in the Bboard (Optional Readings).

     

     

    Last change 27/05/2019 09:19