BA Politics, Philosophy and Economics

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This unit aims to:

1. introduce students to macroeconomic theory and policy analysis at an intermediate level;
2. develop critical analysis and lay the foundation for macroeconomic courses in the second and third year;
3. provide the employability skills of describing macroeconomic events and key global issues to non-economists with confidence.

ECON20182 Prerequisites: ECON10181 and ECON10071 ECON20182 is not available to third year students

This unit aims to:

1. Introduce students to macroeconomic theory and policy analysis at an intermediate level.
2. Develop critical analysis and lay the foundation for macroeconomic courses in the second and third year.
3. Provide the employability skills of describing macroeconomic events and key global issues to non-economists with confidence.

 

 

Listed below is a rough outline of the topics that will be covered in this module.
 

Lecture 1 - nominal/real exchange rates, balance of payments, uncovered interest parity, IS-LM model in an open economy

Lecture 2 - fiscal and monetary policy in the open economy IS-LM model, Marshall-Lerner condition, fixed vs flexible exchange rates

Lecture 3 - medium run adjustment under fixed exchange rates, exchange rate crises under fixed exchange rates, exchange rate volatility, benefits and costs of different exchange rate regimes

Lecture 4 - purchasing power parity, facts on growth across countries, Solow growth model with no population growth and no technological progress

Lecture 5 - Solow growth model with technological progress and population growth

Lecture 6 - present discounted values, bond prices, yield curves, relationship between short-term and long-term interest rates, arbitrage, stock prices, bubbles

Lecture 7 - two-period consumption model, investment, volatility of consumption and investment

Lecture 8 - expectations-augmented IS-LM model, liquidity traps, quantitative easing, budget deficits

Online Learning and Guided Self-Study

demonstrate an understanding of modern macroeconomic theory and quantitative methods to an intermediate level.

develop problem-solving skills; be able to apply analytical models; evaluate and critically analyse arguments, theories and policies; synthesize and evaluate data.

develop their ability to locate/process/collate data in a suitable form for analysis; develop their ability to independently locate and assess relevant literature, and to draw on these to develop understanding and to construct arguments.

develop their ability to communicate ideas and arguments in writing, as well as manage time and work to deadlines.

• Mock mid-term exam.
• Mock final exam.
• Tutorial feedback.
• Office hours.
• Revision sessions.
• Discussion boards.

Olivier Blanchard, Alessia Amighini and Francesco Giavazzi, Macroeconomics: A European Perspective, 3rd edition, Pearson, 2017

For every 10 course unit credits we expect students to work for around 100 hours. This time generally includes any contact times (online or face to face, recorded and live), but also independent study, work for coursework, and group work. This amount is only a guidance and individual study time will vary.