EC413     
Macroeconomics

This information is for the 2014/15 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof Wouter Den Haan 32L.1.08A and Prof Alwyn Young 32L 2.20

Availability

This course is compulsory on the MSc in Economics and MSc in Economics (2 Year Programme). This course is available on the MPA in European Public and Economic Policy, MPA in International Development, MPA in Public Policy and Management, MPA in Public and Economic Policy, MPA in Public and Social Policy, MSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics, MSc in Economics and Philosophy, MSc in Finance and Economics and MSc in Quantitative Economic History. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

Pre-requisites

Students must have completed Introductory Course in Mathematics and Statistics (EC400).

Course content

The aim of the course is to give a wide-ranging survey of modern macroeconomics.


Growth in the global economy


The shifting global economy. Economic growth: neoclassical growth Endogenous technology, intellectual property rights.


Business Cycle and Asset Pricing Facts


Household behaviour: the life-cycle permanent-income model, precautionary saving, liquidity constraints, and empirical testing.

Overlapping generation models: fiscal policy analysis, ricardian equivalence, government debt and social security reform.

Asset pricing models: the consumption-based capital asset pricing model and the static capital asset pricing model. Investment and Tobin's Q Monetary Policy in Theory and in Practice

Teaching

20 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the MT. 20 hours of lectures and 8 hours of seminars in the LT. 2 hours of seminars in the ST.

Formative coursework

Exercises are discussed in each class. There will be a one-and-a-half-hour mock examination at the end of the MT and another at the beginning of the ST.

Indicative reading

There are no texts that correspond exactly to the course. M Obstfeld & K Rogoff, Foundations of International Macroeconomics, MIT Press, 1996 and O Blanchard & S Fischer, Lectures in Macroeconomics. Useful background for more technical material is N Stokey & R Lucas, Recursive Methods in Economic Dynamics. Primary reading, however, will be journal articles. A full list will be available at the start of the course.

Assessment

Exam (100%, duration: 3 hours) in the main exam period.

Key facts

Department: Economics

Total students 2013/14: 144

Average class size 2013/14: 15

Controlled access 2013/14: No

Lecture capture used 2013/14: Yes (LT)

Value: One Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Course survey results

(2010/11 - 2012/13 combined)

1 = "best" score, 5 = "worst" score

The scores below are average responses.

Response rate: 86.6%

Question

Average
response

Reading list (Q2.1)

2.6

Materials (Q2.3)

2.2

Course satisfied (Q2.4)

2.3

Lectures (Q2.5)

2.5

Integration (Q2.6)

2.6

Contact (Q2.7)

2.3

Feedback (Q2.8)

2.4

Recommend (Q2.9)

Yes

57.1%

Maybe

36.3%

No

6.6%