08795 - Macroeconomics

Learning outcomes

The aim of the course is to introduce students to the basic methods and topics of macroeconomic analysis and to ensure their understanding of macroeconomic equilibrium in closed and open economies. At the end of the course the student is able to: -define the main macroeconomic variables; -understand the interaction between the market for goods and for financial assets in closed and open economies; -understand the determinants of aggregate demand and aggregate supply, and of macroeconomic equilibrium in the short and in the long run; -understand the motivation of fiscal and monetary policy and the role of expectations in influencing their impact on the economic system.

Course contents

1. Main macroeconomic aggregates.

2. Real and financial markets. Macroeconomic equilibrium in the short run.

3. The labor market. The Phillips curve. Inflation and unemployment. Macroeconomic equilibrium in the medium run.

4. The open economy. Production and the trade balance. Production, the interest rate and the exchange rate. Exchange rate regimes.

5. Economic Growth. Savings, capital accumulation and growth. Technological progress and growth.

6. Expectations, consumption and investment. Economic policy and expectations. The government budgt constraint: public deficit and public debt.

Readings/Bibliography

Blanchard, O. Amighini, A. e F. Giavazzi, Macroeconomia. Una prospettiva europea, Il Mulino, 2016

Exercise book:

Findlay D., Esercizi di macroeconomia, Il Mulino, 2017

Teaching methods

Lectures. Classes with presentation of exercises.

Assessment methods

The final exam is written and aims at verifying the acquisition of expected learning outcomes. The exam is divided in two parts. The first part consists of essay-type and true/false questions in order to verify the acquisition of specific analytical tools and language of the subject. In the second part, the student is asked to solve exercise-type questions, following typologies proposed during lectures and classes, in order to verify the ability to understand the effects of specific policy interventions and to apply general notions to specific cases.

At the end of the first and second cycle of lectures (april and june) partial exams are held on the material covered. Partial exams have the same structure as the final exam. For students who take partial exams, the final grade is the average of those obtained in the two partial exams.

Further information on exercises, classes, and exam-type questions will be made available on the e-learning platform.

Teaching tools

Classes with presentation of exercises and examples useful for preparing the written. Classes will be held by the course's tutor.

Informations on the schedule and contents of classes, with indication of exercises presented in class and suggested for individual work at home, tutor's office hours and examples of past exams will be published on line at https://iol.unibo.it/

For clarifications concerning exercises presented in classes, please see the tutor during office hours.

Office hours

See the website of Massimiliano Gaetano Onorato