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Kies de Nederlandse taal
Course module: EC2MAP
EC2MAP
Macroeconomics for premasters
Course info
Course codeEC2MAP
EC7.5
Course goals
Learning objectives 
At the end of the course the student is able to:
  • Think in terms of abstract models when discussing questions about the national and international economy;
  • Describe and explain the interactions between the goods, money and labor market, the functioning of the economy in the short and medium run, the relations between employment, inflation and output and the options for fiscal and monetary policy;
  • Describe and explain the factors of growth and the way in which they shape the long-run prospects of the economy;
  • Take a well-reasoned position regarding macroeconomic problems in general and in matters relating to economic policy in particular;
  • Be able to do a research in the macroeconomic condition of a specific country, apply theory and models, and perform a quantitative analysis on the country data.
Content
Macroeconomics studies the economy at the national level. In the first week a tour of main macroeconomic issues in three areas (Europe, USA, Asia) sets the stage for the discussion of the major macroeconomic concepts like aggregate demand and supply, nominal and real GDP, inflation, economic growth, unemployment, monetary policy and interest rates. To understand the complex interactions among these variables in the short, medium and long run macroeconomists use models. A model is an abstraction, a mathematical representation of reality that focuses on the aspects under investigation, while ignoring or rather postponing the study of possibly very relevant and interesting real world complications. Macroeconomics, by the fact that it studies large and complex systems, sometimes takes the art of abstraction to its extreme. Still the models capture the main mechanisms and can be confronted with parts of reality. That is the principle of macroeconomic research and on that principle this course is built.
 
In the rest of the course we take the European perspective. This implies we must deal with the complexities of interconnected, open economies, exchange rate determination and the alternative adjustment mechanisms to balance of payments imbalances that are required in a monetary union. All such issues require a sound understanding of international macroeconomics. 

Format 
  • Lectures and tutorials; during the lectures the text book chapters and the additional literature will be presented and discussed. During the tutorial sessions we will in depth discuss the material and students will be able to take the opportunity to present their questions.
  • Country report: students prepare a country report, based on the theory and models presented in theory and their quantitative and qualitative research for a specific country. This is group work.
Effort requirements 
Active participation in at least 80% of the tutorials and project sessions.

Assessment method
  • Midterm exam (25% of the final grade)
  • Final exam (60% of the final grade)
  • Country report (15% of the final grade)
In case online access is required for this course and you are not in the position to buy the access code, you are advised to contact the course coordinator for an alternative solution. Please note that access codes are not re-usable meaning that codes from second hand books do not work, as well as access codes from books with a different ISBN number. Separate or spare codes are usually not available.
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Kies de Nederlandse taal