To be confirmed. 

This course is available on the BSc in Accounting and Finance, BSc in Economic History, BSc in Environment and Development and BSc in International Relations. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

This course builds on the knowledge you acquired in Macroeconomics I (EC1B5). We will use macroeconomic analysis to explore important contemporary questions and special emphasis is given to how economic policy can change economic outcomes. You will learn how to understand economic problems by focusing on the key characteristics, choosing the relevant mechanisms and developing a solid intuition.

Precise topics and readings will be announced and are selected to be of current interest. Recent topics included Why did the UK government grant independence to the Bank of England in 1997 and adopt an inflation target?; What caused the global financial crisis and how can policy prevent future crises?; How was global financial regulation reformed in the aftermath of the crisis?; What unconventional tools of monetary policy did central banks implement?; What causes currency crises, how can policy prevent them and what sparked the Trump trade war?; Why has the US been a more successful currency union than the Eurozone, what caused the European sovereign debt crisis and how is it related to Brexit?; How should governments deal with a debt crisis - did Greece make the right choice?; What drives convergence in income levels across countries, why do some countries stay poor and what can policy do about it?

15 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT.

There are weekly assignments and feedback will be given on two.

There is no set course textbook because of the topical nature of the applications chosen. A list of selected texts and readings will be provided at the start of term given the topical nature of the topics.

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the summer exam period.