EC956

Module Leaders 

MARCUS MILLER and DENNIS NOVY

Aims

This core module will provide a review of received contemporary macroeconomics, including theory, empirical evidence and policy analysis. It is designed to introduce you to recent thinking in the area and to analytical tools that you can use.

Learning Outcomes

By the end of this module you will be familiar with a number of issues in contemporary macroeconomics. You will have been introduced to useful macroeconomic models and you will be able to apply these models to current economic policy issues. You will also be familiar with some of the empirical evidence relating to these issues.

Contents

Lectures and classes will cover most of the following topics:

  • Forward-looking models of aggregate demand
  • Expectations and aggregate supply
  • Multiple equilibria with self-fulfilling crises
  • Time consistency and delegation in monetary policy
  • Inflation targets and the Taylor rule
  • Efficiency wages and unemploymen
  • The neoclassical growth model and convergence
  • Dynamic, optimising growth models
  • Endogenous growth
  • International financial markets under uncertainty

Organisation

The module will be taught through a 2-hour lecture and 1 hour class per week during the second term.

Pre-requisites

There are no pre-requisites for this module.

Key readings

There is no one text which covers all of the course, and a full reading list will be given at the start of the module. However, the following texts provide a useful coverage of the topics:

Advanced Macroeconomics by David Romer (3rd edition, 2006; Mc Graw Hill) - an up-to-date coverage of many of the topics at an appropriate level, though needs supplementing by lecture notes and prescribed reading.

Lectures on Macroeconomics by Stanley Fischer and Olivier Blanchard (1989; MIT Press; ISBN: 0262022834) - now slightly dated though still a classic reference on many topics.

Foundations of International Macroeconomics by Maurice Obstfeld and Kenneth Rogoff (1996; MIT Press) - the most prominent graduate textbook in international macroeconomics.

Assessment

Macroeconomics is examined jointly with Microeconomics in a single 3-hour examination (called Analysis II) in May/June. Moreover, there is a short module test on Macroeconomics at the end of Term 2 in addition to the short module test on Microeconomics at the end of Term 1. The 3-hour examination is weighted 80% and each module test is weighted 10%.