59691 - Macroeconomics

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

This course offers a comprehensive knowledge of key issues and method of Macroeconomics. The course focuses on the main theories of Macroeconomics (covering chapters 1-21 of Makiw’s handbook, 12^th edition). Students learn to understand Macroeconomic equilibrium in protected and open economic systems and the main issues of public policy debate in Economics.

Structure of the course:

1 Introduction to Macroeconomics: data and models

2 GDP, inflation and unemployment

3 Income production and distribution

4 Income inequality. Expenditure and equilibrium

5 The monetary system

6 Inflation

7 Inflation costs and hyperinflation. Open economy: trade balance and net capita

8 Open economy and exchange rate. Unemployment

9 Frictional and structural unemployment. Labor market reforms

10 Solow model: capital accumulation

11 Solow model: population growth and technological progress. Endogenous growth. Growth empirics

12 Growth policy. Introduction to economic fluctuations

13 Stabilization policy. IS-LM model: IS curve, LM curve

14 IS-LM model short-run equilibrium and comparative statics: fiscal and monetary policy, IS and LM shocks. Aggregate demand

15 Great Depression, Japanese stagnation, crisis of 2008, sovereign debt crisis, Covid-19 pandemic crisis

16 Deficit, debt and GDP in recent crisis episodes in Europe. ECB interventions. Mundell-Fleming model. Floating and fixed exchange rates. Risk premium

17 Speculative attacks, international financial crises, and monetary unions. AS: sticky prices, imperfect information and expectations

18 Phillips curve. Adaptive and rational expectations. Introduction to dynamic macroeconomics. DAD-DAS model: long and short-run equilibrium, effect of economic growth

19 DAD-DAS model: comparative dynamics and impulse response funcitions. Trade-off between output volatility and inflation volatility. Stabilization policy: active or passive? Policy by rule or by discretion.

20 Public debt and budget deficit. Financial system: opportunities and threats

Readings/Bibliography

Required Readings:

- N. Gregory Mankiw, Macroeconomics, 12th Edition, Macmillan, 2025

Supplementary Readings (Optional):

- CORE Econ, The Econmy (1.0 and 2.0)

- Articles assigned during the course and made available on the Virtuale page of the course

Teaching methods

The main instructional approaches used in the course are:

- Lectures

- Home assignments

Assessment methods

Though not compulsory, class attendance and participation (also in bi-weekly home assignments) is strongly encouraged.

Course evaluation will be different depending on the class attendance and participation in home assignments, as detailed in the following:

Students attending classes and participating in home assignments:

Component Weight (%)

Midterm Exam 50

Final Exam 50

Oral Exam Bonus/Malus

Home Assignments Bonus

Students who do not attend classes and participate in home assignments:

Component Weight (%)

Midterm Exam -

Final Exam 100

Oral Exam Bonus/Malus

Home Assignments -

- Partial/final exams structure:

Mandatory written exam (computerized): 30 points available. It consists of 9 randomized multiple-choice questions (2 points each) and 4 open questions (3 points each). This structure applies to both Midterm and Final Exams, and to both attending and non-attending students.

Optional oral exam: +/- 3 points from the grade of the written exam (mandatory to obtain "30/30 cum laude"). The oral exam consists of 3 questions on the entire program, whose answers may increase or decrease the grade by one point each.

In both written and oral exams the evaluation depends on the correctness, completeness and rigor of the answers.

Home assignments: for those attending the course and taking partial exams, there will be bi-weekly home assignments. Handing in all assignments raises the grade of each partial exam by 1 point.

- Exam policy:

Registration on AlmaEsami is mandatory both for written exam sessions and for the "Oral and grade recording" session immediately following the completion of the written exam. Those who show up at this session will be able to review the corrections and choose whether to give the oral exam or not. Those who do not show up will have the grade of the written exam recorded.

The oral exam can be taken only at the first session following the written exam. Admission to the oral exam requires a (rounded) grade of at least 15/30 in the written exam.

Partial exams: for attending students, the Midterm Exam covers the first half of the course (the program of chapters 1-8 and 20, on the economy in the long run); the Final Exam covers the second half of the course (the program of chapters 9-19 and 21, on economic growth and short-run fluctuations) and 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 written grade, which can be recorded or modified through the optional oral exam, will be the simple average of the two partial exams. Even for those opting for partial exams, the optional oral exam covers the entire program.

For students who do not attend the course, the written grade is entirely determined by the Final Exam, which covers the entire program.

Factionary 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 can be refused only once.

Grading scale:

< 18: failed

18-23: sufficient

24-27: good

28-30: very good

30 e lode: outstanding

OFA: students with OFA in Math cannot sustain either total or partial exams.

Erasmus: at most 20 Erasmus and Overseas students, and 10 UADE students, selected in chronological order, will be admitted to the course and the exam.

Students with disability or specific learning disabilities (DSA) are required to make their condition known to find the best possible accommodation to their needs.

Teaching tools

Tools, platforms, or resources used during the course:

- Learning platform: Virtuale (virtuale.unibo.it) contains the slides and home assignments

- Presentation software: PowerPoint

- Communication tools: Email; Teams; Forum on Virtuale

Office hours

See the website of Paolo Vanin