Course Learning Objectives
Review the main macroeconomic variables and the main instruments of economic policy. Understand the main variables related to international economics. Use all this knowledge to analyze some current problems of the global economy. Among them, the 2008-10 global recession, the crisis in the euro zone and the necessary reforms to improve the European Monetary Union, the evolution of productivity in advanced and emerging economies, and the role of the EU in some geostrategic issues.
CONTENT
1. Fiscal Policy and Monetary Policy Introduction to some macroeconomic magnitudes. Balance of Payments. Public budget. Instruments and goals of the fiscal policy. Financial system and central banc. Instruments and goals of monetary policy. |
2. Exchange Rates and Exchange Rate Regimes Flexible and fixed exchange rates. The Bretton Woods System. The European Monetary System and the road to the European Monetary Unión. |
3. The European Monetary Union: Crisis and Reforms The theoretical approach to a monetary unión: Optimal Currency Areas. Institutional architecture of the EMU. The Crisis: 2010-2016. Reforms to improve the EMU. |
4. The Great Recession: 2007-2013 The Financial Crisis. The economic recession in the global economy. The Sovereign Debt Crisis: Causes, Evolution and Possible Solutions. |
5. 4. The EU and Several Geostrategic Issues |
Methodology
A major part of the learning in this course will take place in the classroom. For this reason, full attendance is strongly suggested. There will be also some required readings for a better knowledge of the topics covered at class. Also, from a list of suggested topics the students will choose one, and work on it in teams of 3-4 people to prepare a presentation to the rest of the class.
Bibliography
Bernanke, B. & Frank, R. ; "Principles of Macroeconomics", McGraw-Hill, 2012
Blanchard, O. ; Amighini, A. ; Giavazzi, F. ; "Macroeconomics. A European Perspective", Prentice Hall, 2010
Blinder, A. ; "After the Music Stopped", Penguin Press, 2013
Galbraith, J. K. ; "The Great Crash 1929" , Mariner Books, 2009
Krugman, P. ; "End this Depression now!", W.W.Norton, 2013
Reinhart, C. & Rogoff, K; "This Time is different:. Eight Centuries of Financial Follies", Princeton Univ.Press, 2009
Roubini, N. & Mihm, S. ; "Crisis Economics: A Crash Course in the Future of Finance", Penguin 2011
Sinn, Hans-Werner ; "The Euro Trap", Oxford University Press, 2014
Wolf, Martin ; "The Shifts and the Shocks. What we have learned from the financial crisis", Penguin Press, 2014
