Course 2016-2017 a.y.

30443 - INTERNATIONAL MACROECONOMICS


CLEAM - BIEM

Department of Economics

Course taught in English

Go to class group/s: 15 - 16 - 17 - 18
CLEAM (6 credits - II sem. - OP  |  SECS-P/01) - BIEM (6 credits - II sem. - OB  |  SECS-P/01)
Course Director:
DONATO MASCIANDARO

Classes: 15 (II sem.) - 16 (II sem.) - 17 (II sem.) - 18 (II sem.)
Instructors:
Class 15: DONATO MASCIANDARO, Class 16: DONATO MASCIANDARO, Class 17: DONATO MASCIANDARO, Class 18: DONATO MASCIANDARO


Course Objectives

The course is divided into two sections. The first section analyses current monetary and exchange rate policies, discussing the Global Crisis and its drivers, with specific attention to the US, Europe and Asia, in order to explain the Great Recession and highlight which are the present macroeconomic problems to be addressed and fixed.
The second section deals with international trade.

Intended Learning Outcomes
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Course Content Summary

Monetary and Financial Economics:

  • Introduction: monetary Policy, Exchange Rates and Financial Regulation before and after the Crisis.
  • The Global Financial Crisis: discovering its Drivers.
  • The Great Moderation: Efficient Markets, National Policies and International Harmonization.
  • The Great Deviation: Monetary Policy, Financial Deregulation and External Unbalances.
  • The Great Recession: how to deal with?

Trade:

  • Labor productivity and comparative advantage: the Ricardian model.
  • Resources and trade: the Heckscher-Ohlin model.
  • Economies of scale, imperfect competition and international trade.
  • Firms in the global economy: multinationals and outsourcing.
  • International trade policy.
  • Balance of payments.

Teaching methods
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Assessment methods
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Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

Written General Exam.
The exam texts will be the same for all the students, (attending and non attending, including those who attended the course in the previous years). The questions of the exam are four and compulsory (time=100 minutes). The grade of each question is 7.50/30; to pass the exam the overall grade has to be at least 18/30. Mock exam questions will be discussed during the course

Textbooks

Slides and readings - i.e. a lecture notes for the first section and selected chapters of the textbook for the second section - represent the teaching material. The class slides will be posted week by week on the website of the course; the lecture notes - which will include examples of the exam questions - will be posted after the end of the first section; the textbook selected chapters will be announced week by week.  All the class slides and readings are compulsory exam material and have to be carefully prepared for the exam independently from the time allocated to them in class.
Regular attendance is crucial for not falling behind. If the students miss the class, it is their responsibility to make up for the lecture notes and announcements made in class.
  • P.R. KRUGMAN, M. OBSTFELD, M. MELITZ, International Economics (Global ed.), 2014, 10th ed.
Exam textbooks & Online Articles (check availability at the Library)

Prerequisites

Previous exposure to first-year undergraduate macroeconomic and microeconomic courses is necessary and compulsory. For example:

  • B.D. BERNHEIM, M.D. WHINSTON, Microeconomics, McGraw-Hill;
  • O. BLANCHARD, Macroeconomics, Pearson. 
Last change 19/04/2016 10:05