Dr L. Rachel Ngai  32L 1.15

Dr Shengxing Zhang 32L 1.16

This course is available on the BSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics, BSc in Economics, BSc in Economics and Economic History, BSc in Economics with Economic History, BSc in Government and Economics, BSc in Mathematics and Economics, BSc in Philosophy and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics and BSc in Social Policy and Economics. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

Students must have completed Macroeconomic Principles (EC210) and Microeconomic Principles I (EC201).

Mathematics to at least the level of Mathematical Methods (MA100).  Microeconomic Principles II (EC202) is also accepted (in place of EC201).

This course is divided into two sections introducing recent developments in economic theory. The first section focuses on the relationship between the financial sector and the macroeconomy. It studies frictions in the financial sector to better understand causes of financial crises, business cycle fluctuations and policy remedies. In the second section of the course we focus on economic growth, considering questions like these: Why was GDP per capita in the UK 15 times higher than China in 1960? Why did the factor of 15 decrease to 5 in 2000?  To gain an understanding of the “whys” we have to ask deeper questions: what drives economic growth? Why do some economies grow faster and other slower? Thus this part of the course studies the determinants of economic growth through capital accumulation, reallocation of resources from agriculture into manufacturing and services and, technology innovation.

16 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the MT. 16 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT.

Students will submit, and receive feedback on, two problem sets per term.

The course is mainly based on lecture notes and journal articles. As an example of the level and content of the reading in economics articles, students may wish to look at the following:

Lucas, R. 2000. “Some Macroeconomics for the 21st Century.” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14: 159-168.

Ngai, L. R. 2004. “Barriers and the Transition to Modern Growth “. Journal of Monetary Economics 51:1353-1383.

A good textbook reference for economic growth is:

Jones, C. and D. Vollrath (2013), Introduction to Economic Growth. W. W. Norton & Co.

Exam (100%, duration: 3 hours, reading time: 15 minutes) in the main exam period.

Please note that Dr Ngai and Dr Zhang started teaching on EC301 from the 2015/16 academic year.  Before this the course was taught by different lecturers, and it was suspended in 2014/15.

Dr Ngai’s overall satisfaction rating for lectures in 2015/16 was 1.1.