Macroeconomics

The course aims at introducing students to the foremost topics in modern macroeconomics. Specifically, the course will focus on three main macroeconomic models (respectively, the short-term IS-LM model; the medium-term IS-LM-PC model; the long-term neoclassical growth model), and will analyze the key economic policies (either fiscal/monetary, or labor, or else growth policies) a policy-maker can carry out according to her own objectives and the time-span considered (short, medium and long run, respectively). Finally, a special focus will be devoted to the analysis of the: (1) Economic impact of international trade in goods and services (included financial services); (2) Management of the exchange rate (both nominal and real); (3) Role played by some specific European Institutions (e.g., the European Central Bank) in handling global economic and financial crises (such as the last one of 2007-2008).

At the end of this course (which is composed both of theoretical lectures as well as practical activities) the student will be able to: (1) Analyze autonomously and interpret critically such real macroeconomic phenomena as those related to a change in the inflation rate, the unemployment rate, and the GDP growth rate; (2) Examine and fully understand the impact (both macro- and micro-economic) of particular public policies (such as those that aim at managing the nominal and real exchange rates and, therefore, at changing the importance played world-wide by international trade in goods and services, included financial services); (3) Assess the role played by some specific European Institutions (such as the European Central Bank) in handling specific global economic and financial crises (as the last one of 2007-2008).