03385 - Applied Economics

Course contents

**= Required Reading

*= Recommended Reading

#= Mathematically sophisticated

I. Introduction and measurement issue

1. Introduction and the Facts to Be Explained

** Williamson [1], Ch. 1

** Weil [3], Ch. 1

2. Measurement

** Williamson [1], Ch. 2

3. Business Cycle Measurement

** Williamson [1], Ch. 3

II. A One-Period Model of the Economy

4. Consumer and Firm Behavior: The Work-Leisure Decision and Profit Maximization

** Williamson [1], Ch. 4

# Williamson [1], Appendix to Ch. 4

5. A Closed-Economy One-Period Macroeconomic Model

** Williamson [1], Ch. 5

# Williamson [1], Appendix to Ch. 5

III. Economic Growth

6. EconomicGrowth: Malthus and Solow

** Williamson [1], Ch. 6

**Jones [2], Chs. 1, 2, 3.1

** Weil [3], Ch. 2, 3, 4

# Williamson [1], Appendix to Ch. 6

7. IncomeDisparity Among Countries and Endogenous Growth

** Williamson [1], Ch. 7

*Jones [2], Chs. 3.2-3.3, 4, 5, 6,7, 8, 9, 10

* Weil [3], Ch. 6, 7, 8, 9, 12

# Williamson [1], Appendix to Ch. 7

IV. Savings, Investment, and Government Deficits

8. A Two-Period Model: The Consumption–Savings Decision and Credit Markets

** Williamson [1], Ch.8

# Williamson [1], Appendix to Ch. 8

9. CreditMarket Imperfections: Credit Frictions, Financial Crises, and Social Security

** Williamson [1], Ch.9

10. A Real Intertemporal Model with Investment

** Williamson [1], Ch.10

# Williamson [1], Appendix to Ch. 8

V. Money and Business Cycles

11. Money, Banking, Prices, and Monetary Policy

** Williamson [1], Ch.11

# Williamson [1], Appendix to Ch. 11

12. Market-Clearing Models of the Business Cycle

** Williamson [1], Ch.12

13. New Keynesian Economics: Sticky Prices

** Williamson [1], Ch.13

VI. Topics in Macroeconomics

14. Money, Inflation, and Banking

** Williamson [1], Ch.16

# Williamson [1], Appendix to Ch. 8

15. Unemployment: Search and Efficiency Wages

** Williamson [1], Ch.17

# Williamson [1], Appendix to Ch. 17

16. Inflation, the Phillips Curve, and Central Bank Commitment

** Williamson [1], Ch.18

# Williamson [1], Appendix to Ch. 18

Furtherreadingswill be assigned during the lectures.

Readings/Bibliography

The Textbook for this course is:

[1] Stephen D. Williamson, Macroeconomics, 4th ed., Pearson 2011.

Other references which might be used from time to time:

[2] Charles I. Jones, Introduction to Economic Growth, Norton, 2nd revised edition, Norton 2002.

[3] David N. Weil, Economic Growth, Pearson, 2nd Edition, Pearson 2008.

Office hours

See the website of Gianluigi Pelloni