Unit information: Macroeconomics with Extended Essay in 2019/20

Unit name	Macroeconomics with Extended Essay
Unit code	EFIM30053
Credit points	30
Level of study	H/6
Teaching block(s)	Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12)
Unit director	Dr. Marion Prat
Open unit status	Not open
Pre-requisites	NOne
Co-requisites	None
School/department	School of Economics
Faculty	Faculty of Social Sciences and Law

Description including Unit Aims

This unit is only available for student on the Graduate Diploma

The unit will take a modern look at the macroeconomy, incorporating both recent insights into how the economy works and also pedagogical concerns that macroeconomics has become too mathematical. Students will understand both that (i) macroeconomic models are simplifications of a complicated economy and also; (ii) that such models are only provisionally correct, since they are dependent on empirical verification.

The main topics to be studied will be:

(i) the determinants of long-run economic growth and productivity and income differences between countries;

(ii) the components of aggregate demand - investment and consumers’ expenditure;

(iii) the consequence of market failures in credit and labour markets for macroeconomic behaviour;

(iv) the operation and efficacy of fiscal and monetary policy in developed economies;

(v) the workings of the international monetary system and the organisation of trade.

Intended Learning Outcomes

Students will be able:

1. To have a basic understanding of how macroeconomic models work and to sketch the derivation of such models;
2. To use economic models to answer hypothetical questions about the operation of the macroeconomy and to draw appropriate policy conclusions;
3. To compare and contrast competing theories of the macroeconomy and to understand the logic of different views of the economy;
4. To understand the conclusions/measurement problems and methods used (albeit without a technical knowledge) by empirical papers in macroeconomics and to evaluate economic models.
5. To synthesize 1., 2., 3., and 4., in an holistic way.

Teaching Information

There will be 36 hours of large group lectures (or exercise lectures) and 9 hours of small group classes.

Assessment Information

Summative assessment:

[1] 17% Essay (1500-2000 words), which assesses learning outcomes 1-4.

[2] 50% 2 hour Final Exam in January Exam Period, which assesses learning outcomes 1-4.

[3] 33% Extended Essay. This is to give students an opportunity for more extended study and the writing of a critical survey of more recent research, and will provide a useful basis for any future work at postgraduate level. This assess all learning outcomes.

Reading and References

• Carlin and Soskice (2014): Macroeconomics: Institutions, Instability, And The Financial System
• Dani Rodrik (2015): Economic rules. The rights and wrongs of the dismal science.