- Docente: Paolo Vanin
- Credits: 9
- SSD: SECS-P/01
- Language: English
- Teaching Mode: Traditional lectures
- Campus: Bologna
- Corso: First cycle degree programme (L) in Business and Economics (cod. 8965)
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course students know issues and method of Macroeconomics. Students learn to understand Macroeconomic equilibrium in protected and open economic systems and the main issues of public policy debate in Economics.
Course contents
The program covers chapters 1-15 and 18-20 of Mankiw's handbook (see below) and in particular the following topics.
Introduction
Introduction to Macroeconomics
Data and models
GDP
Classic theory: the economy in the long run
The long run
Income production, distribution and expenditure
Equilibrium in the goods market and in the financial market
The monetary system
Inflation
Costs of inflation
Open economy: trade balance and net capital outflows
Open economy: real and nominal exchange rate
Unemployment
Labor market reforms in Europe and in Italy
Growth theory: the economy in the very long run
Economic growth and the Solow model: capital accumulation, steady state, policy, golden rule, population dynamics, technological progress, empirics, growth enhancing policies
Endogenous growth
Business cycle theory: the economy in the short run
Introduction to short run fluctuations: AD-SRAS-LRAS IS-LM model
Economic policy, shocks, IS-LM and AD
Great depression, Japanese stagnation, Great recession, and European sovereign debt crisis
Fiscal and monetary policy in the EU since the Great recession
Mundell- Fleming model
International financial crises
Aggregate supply and Phillips curve
Adaptive and rational expectations
The debate on macroeconomic policy
Stabilization policy
Debt and deficit
Financial system: opportunities and dangers
Readings/Bibliography
N. Gregory Mankiw, Macroeconomics, 9th Edition, International Edition, Macmillan, 2016
The 8th Edition can also be used
Teaching methods
Lectures, tutorials, and home assignments for attending students
Assessment methods
Mandatory written exam (computerized): 30 points available. It consists of 9 multiple choice questions (2 points each) and 4 open questions (3 points each).
Optional oral exam: +/- 3 points from the grade of the written exam (mandatory to obtain "30/30 cum laude").
The oral exam can be taken only at the first session following the written exam. Admission to the oral exam requires a grade of at least 15/30 in the written exam.
Partial exams: for attending students there will be a partial exam after the first half of the course; the second partial exam can be sustained either at the end of the course (the day of the first full exam) or at the following session (the day of the second full exam), but it can be sustained only once. The final grade, which can be recorded or modified through the optional oral exam, will be the simple average of the two partial exams.
OFA: students with OFA in Math cannot sustain either total or partial exams.
Home assignements: for those attending the course and taking partial exams, there will be bi-weekly home assignements. Handing in all assignements raises the grade of each partial exam by 1 point.
Fractionary final grades obtained in the written exam will be approximated to the superior unit above 0.5 included, and to the inferior unit otherwise.
The (rounded) final grade cannot be refused.
Teaching tools
Slides published online in advance
E-learning tools for tutorials
Office hours
See the website of Paolo Vanin