Macroeconomics looks at economics at the aggregate level, usually at a national level, but also from a regional or global perspective. It deals with issues that students can read about on a daily basis, such as inflation, unemployment, fiscal and monetary policy, interest rates, economic growth, etc. The course will introduce students to important macroeconomic theories, providing them with tools to understand economic developments and policy debates, and the ability to critically assess macroeconomic trends.
Titular Professors
No previous knowledge required.
To provide students with an understanding of the main forces at work in a modern economy, the theories that seek to explain these forces, and the ability to interpret economic trends and participate in policy debate.
Topic 1. Measuring a Nation’s Income
The circular flow of income and Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Topic 2: Measuring the Cost of Living
The consumer price index and GDP deflator; the difference between real and nominal economic variables.
Topic 3: Production and Growth
The determinants of long-run economic growth: capital accumulation, population growth and productivity. Course
Project Introduction
Topic 4: Saving, Investment and the Financial System
The relationship between saving and investment, the role of the interest rate in bringing supply and demand for loanable funds into equilibrium. Public versus private saving
Topic 5: The Monetary System
The function of money, defining money, the money supply, the role of the central bank and commercial banks in money creation.
Topic 6: Money growth and Inflation
The long-run neutrality of money, printing money, inflation as a tax, costs of inflation.
Topic 7: Open-Economy
Macroeconomics: Basic Concepts Trade balances, international investment flows, exchange rates, purchasing power parity.
Topic 8: Keynes, aggregate demand and aggregate supply
Keynesian theory, the business cycle, aggregate supply and demand, the short- and the long-run.
Topic 9: The Influence of Monetary and Fiscal Policy on Aggregate Demand
The power of monetary policy; deficit spending, fiscal multipliers and crowding out.
The class component of the course will closely follow the structure and content outlined in the following textbooks and academic works: Economics, by Gregory Mankiw and Mark Taylor; The Digital Economy, by Tim Jordan; The Global Digital Economy, by Carin Holroyd and Kenneth Coates; Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, by Acemoglu, D., & Robinson, J. A. (2012).
Students are expected to come to class prepared, having done an initial review of each topic before the sessions. Lecture slides will be available for download, and videos and reading articles will also be shared to complement class preparation.
At the beginning of the course, students will form project groups of three people. Each group will select a country, which will be the central focus of their weekly project and final presentation. This presentation will consist of a written report (40% of the project grade) and a seminar discussion (60% of the grade). Throughout the course, the project will be progressively developed through the macroeconomic analysis of the chosen country, using the indicators and topics discussed in each session. The project grade will take into account both the work completed weekly and the final submissions .
Weekly quizzes will also be conducted to assess students' understanding of the material covered in class and to help them develop a regular study routine and prepare for exams with confidence.
Other key methodologies used for this course are:
MD.0 Master class
MD.1 Problem-oriented classes and exercises
MD.3 Flipped classroom
MD.4 Seminars
MD.6 Project-based learning
This course consists of the following assessment activities:
Class participation and activities (highly significant assessment activity) / 20% of the final grade.
The maximum percentage of the grade is obtained when, on one hand, the student actively participates in all or nearly all scheduled classroom sessions (for example, answering questions posed by the professor, as well as asking insightful questions and making quality contributions). On the other hand, the student must also complete all or nearly all assigned tasks and activities submitted through the eStudy platform (these may include quizzes, readings, calculation exercises, and/or reasoning tasks, etc.).
Semester group project (highly significant assessment activity) / 20% of the final grade.
Students will work on a project throughout the semester, which must be completed in groups of 3 and submitted as an assignment through the eStudy platform. Additionally, all students must attend the group seminar, in which the group must discuss key findings from their written report. The written report will account for 40% of the project's final grade, while the remaining 60% will be based on the seminar.
Midterm exam (highly significant evaluation activity) / 30% of the final grade. The midterm exam will consist of a part with multiple-choice questions and another part with long-answer questions where students will have to answer on topics and/or issues worked throughout the course. The exam will not allow students to consult class materials or notes.
Final evaluation (highly significant evaluation activity) / 30% of the final grade. The final exam will also consist of a part with multiple-choice questions and another part with long-answer questions where students will have to answer on topics and issues worked on throughout the course. This exam will evaluate the students on any topic worked on during the course, and therefore may question the students again on issues worked on and asked in the midterm exam. This exam does not allow students to consult class materials or notes.
Retake policy: There is no retake instance in the course. To pass the course, students must complete all assessment instances and have an overall grade of 5 or more, and pass the group project with a minimum of 5.
This course consists of the following assessment activities:
Class participation and activities (highly significant assessment activity) / 20% of the final grade.
The maximum percentage of the grade is obtained when, on one hand, the student actively participates in all or nearly all scheduled classroom sessions (for example, answering questions posed by the professor, as well as asking insightful questions and making quality contributions). On the other hand, the student must also complete all or nearly all assigned tasks and activities submitted through the eStudy platform (these may include quizzes, readings, calculation exercises, and/or reasoning tasks, etc.).
Semester group project (highly significant assessment activity) / 20% of the final grade.
Students will work on a project throughout the semester, which must be completed in groups of 3 and submitted as an assignment through the eStudy platform. Additionally, all students must attend the group seminar, in which the group must discuss key findings from their written report. The written report will account for 40% of the project's final grade, while the remaining 60% will be based on the seminar.
Midterm exam (highly significant evaluation activity) / 30% of the final grade. The midterm exam will consist of a part with multiple-choice questions and another part with long-answer questions where students will have to answer on topics and/or issues worked throughout the course. The exam will not allow students to consult class materials or notes.
Final evaluation (highly significant evaluation activity) / 30% of the final grade. The final exam will also consist of a part with multiple-choice questions and another part with long-answer questions where students will have to answer on topics and issues worked on throughout the course. This exam will evaluate the students on any topic worked on during the course, and therefore may question the students again on issues worked on and asked in the midterm exam. This exam does not allow students to consult class materials or notes.
Retake policy: There is no retake instance in the course. To pass the course, students must complete all assessment instances and have an overall grade of 5 or more, and pass the group project with a minimum of 5.
Mankiw, N. Gregory and Taylor, Mark P., ECONOMICS, Cengage Learning EMEA Begg, D., Dornbush, R. & Fisher, S., ECONOMICS, Ed. Mc Graw Hill.
Classic Texts
Keynes, John Maynard (1936). The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money.
Schumpeter, Joseph (1942). Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy
Smith, Adam (1776). An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
More Recent Overviews and Analyses:
Acemoglu, D., & Robinson, J. A. (2012). Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty. New York, NY: Crown.
Brittan, S. (2005). Against the Flow. London: Atlantic Books.
Galbraith, J. K. (2014). The End of Normal: The Great Crisis and the Future of Growth. Simon & Schuster
Galbraith, J. K. (1987). A History of Economics. The Penguin Group.
Heilbroner, R. L. (1999). The Worldly Philosophers. Touchstone.
Koo, R. C. (2008). The Holy Grail of Macroeconomics: Lessons from Japan’s Great Recession. John Wiley & Sons.
Krugman, P. (2008). The Return of Depression Economics and the Crisis of 2008. W. W. Norton.
Skidelsky, R. (2009). Keynes: The Return of the Master. Penguin Group.
Turner, A. (2016). Between Debt and the Devil: Money, Credit, and Fixing Global Finance. Princeton University Press. Ubide, Á. (2017). The Paradox of Risk: Leaving the Monetary Policy Comfort Zone. Pearson Institute for International Economics.
Wolf, M. (2004). Why Globalization Works. Yale University Press.