Dr Ethan Ilzetzki and Professor Daniel Sturm

This course is compulsory on the Double Master of Public Administration (LSE-Columbia), Double Master of Public Administration (LSE-University of Toronto) and Master of Public Administration. This course is available on the MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Columbia), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Hertie), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and NUS), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Sciences Po), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Tokyo) and MSc in Political Science and Political Economy. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course has a limited number of places after students for whom it is compulsory have been accommodated (it is controlled access). Priority is given to students from the School of Public Policy, students from other programmes will be considered if places remain.

This course is an introductory graduate course providing an economics background suitable for high-level public policy-making. The emphasis is on acquiring sound models and methods suitable for appraising policy-making issues in a wide variety of contexts. The first term (MT) covers microeconomics and the second term (LT) covers macroeconomics.

MT (Microeconomics): competitive markets and economic efficiency; consumer optimisation and the demand for goods; firm optimisation and the supply of goods; market power; externalities in consumption and production; optimal provision of public goods; and asymmetric information

LT (Macroeconomics): understanding macroeconomic data; long-run economic growth; business cycles; aggregate demand; money, inflation and monetary policy; stabilization policy;  fiscal policy and government debt; the labour market and unemployment; exchange rates and international economic policy; the financial system and the macroeconomy.

This course is delivered through a combination of classes and lectures totalling a minimum of 60 hours across Michaelmas Term and Lent Term and week 1 of Summer Term. 

Students will complete weekly problem sets. Some of these will be marked to provide indicative assessment.

A full reading list will be distributed at the beginning of the course.

Exam (70%, duration: 3 hours, reading time: 15 minutes) in the summer exam period.
Policy memo (10%) in the MT.
Policy memo (10%) in the LT.
Continuous assessment (10%) in the MT and LT.