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Economic growth and Sustainability (2225.YR.015276.1)

General information

Type:

OPT

Curs:

3

Period:

S semester

ECTS Credits:

4 ECTS

Teaching Staff:

Group Teacher Department Language
Year 3 Jordi Vives Perez Economía, Finanzas y Contabilidad ENG

Prerequisites

The prerequisites for this elective course are an Introductory Macroeconomics course or the permission of the instructor.

Course Learning Objectives

Macroeconomics studies the structure and performance of national economies and the set of policies implemented by governments in their interactions with consumers, businesses, and financial market agents.

This course will provide an intermediate insight into macroeconomists and policymakers' essential tools to evaluate economic performance. The main goal of the course is to understand how economic activity grows over time and how to measure its evolution. It will focus both on static and dynamic models of economic growth and their empirical applications to real-world cases.

All in all, the course aims to familiarize students with the main central macroeconomic issues that need to be addressed by future managers and policymakers in the upcoming future.

CONTENT

1. What determines Aggregate Production? The Classic School Approach

a. The Production Factors
b. The Production Function (Properties and Efficiency Implications)
c. How is National Income distributed across the different Production Factors?
d. The Cobb-Douglas Production Function
e. Other Examples of Production Functions

2. The Open Economy

a. The Current Account Balance (CA) Role
b. How Economic Policy affects the CA?
c. The Small Open Economy Case. The Mundell Fleming Model
i. Exchange Rate Basics
ii. Exchange Rate Systems: Fixed vs Floating
iii. The IS Curve*
iv. The LM Curve*
v. Revisiting the IS-LM Model Outcomes*
d. The Impossible Trilemma

3. Economic Growth ¿ The Solow Model

a. Economic Growth: An Overview
b. The Accumulation of Capital (K)
c. The Steady State
d. The Golden Rule Level of Capital (K)
e. Population Growth Effects
f. The Steady-State with Technological Progress
g. Economic Growth Policies

APPENDIX I: Why do poor economies present difficulties in increasing the Stock of Capital?
APPENDIX II: Why convergence across economies exists? The African Exception
APPENDIX III: Other Economic Growth Models (Main Outcomes from The Ramsey Model)

4. Dynamic Modelling for Economic Fluctuations

a. The Dynamic Aggregate Demand Curve
b. The Dynamic Aggregate Supply Curve
c. The Short-Run and Long-Run Equilibriums
d. Economic Policy Effects

APPENDIX I: A numerical simulation

Methodology

Economic Growth and Sustainability is a conceptual course that requires dedication, effort, and analysis. The learning process considers the following stages:

- Lectures will be held in a face-to-face format. NOTE: 80% attendance is strictly compulsory for all students.

- After theoretical presentations for each topic, a Problem Set will be posted on campus and considered for evaluation purposes. Each student must solve the proposed exercises and upload a PDF document through the assigned submission. Additional detail will be provided at the beginning of the course.

- There is also the possibility of online or face-to-face tutorials to clarify any doubts. Students can take advantage of faculty office hours or arrange an on-demand review session by email.

ASSESSMENT

ASSESSMENT BREAKDOWN

Description %
Economic Simulation 25
Four Problem Sets 50
Test 25

Assessment criteria

Assessment is mainly based on continuous evaluation (75%). On the one hand, Four Problem Sets will be posted on the virtual campus. Each student will have to submit their answers, and an individual grade will be provided. The worst grade will be discarded when calculating the final contribution to the final grade (50%). On the other hand, an in-class Economic Simulation will take place in groups. A peer evaluation will be provided to students (25%).

The Final Test will be a mixture of multiple-choice, true/false, or fill-in-the-blank type questions. It accounts for 25% of the final grade.

Bibliography

Barro, R., & Sala-i-Martin, X. (2006). Economic growth. Cambridge, Mass.: The MIT Press.

Krugman, P., & Wells, R. (2018). Macroeconomics. New York: Worth.

Mankiw, N. (2019). Macroeconomics (10th ed.). Worth.

Supplementary readings and other materials will be posted online.

Timetable and sections

Group Teacher Department
Year 3 Jordi Vives Perez Economía, Finanzas y Contabilidad

Timetable Year 3

From 2023/2/14 to 2023/5/9:
Each Tuesday from 17:30 to 19:30. (Except: 2023/4/4)