20721 - GLOBAL SCENARIOS - MODULE 2 (MACROECONOMICS)
Department of Economics
Course taught in English
Course Director:
MARTA PRATO
MARTA PRATO
Mission & Content Summary
MISSION
The balance sheets and overall performance of companies are crucially affected by the functioning of the macro-economy. This makes it necessary for managers to be at least conversant with - if not expert users of - the most common macro data and logical tools of analysis and prediction to better conduct their businesses.
Having this in mind, this course aims to enable students to understand the economic environment in which companies operate, thinking in a structured way about the long-run and the short-run features of the macro-economy. In particular, course participants will be challenged to make sense of the implications of structural shocks, such as climate change, globalization and the demographic transition, on economic growth and firms. Moreover, zooming on business cycle issues, they will also develop their personal views on how central banks and governments affect the main macro variables, taking into account both economic and political incentives.
CONTENT SUMMARY
This course is divided into two main parts.
PART ONE: The economic environment in the long run:
- Economic growth over the long run
- The productivity slowdown: causes and remedies
- Demographic transition, automation and economic growth
- Firms and the global economy
- Climate change, mitigation policies and firms’ competitiveness
PART TWO: Medium run: business cycles and economic policies
- Re-building medium run macroeconomics: introduction
- Re-building medium run macroeconomics: aggregate supply, aggregate demand, money, banking and finance
- Business cycles and economic policies: benchmarking and its applications
- What the policymakers did: the Great Liquidity Trap and the Great Escape
- What the policymakers did: the Pandemic Recession and beyond
Intended Learning Outcomes (ILO)
KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
- Recognize the main determinants of long-run growth and the impact of structural factors
- Identify the challenges and the opportunities of the demographic transition
- Explain the costs and the benefits of globalization and the implications for business
- Identify the trade-offs firms face in managing global operations
- Recognize the impact of climate change on the economy and the consequences for companies
- Understand and master basic and advanced tools of macroeconomics for analyzing media and company news
- Understand the manifestation and the causes of recessions and recoveries in the data
- Understand how Governments and central banks’ policies may accelerate growth, counteract business fluctuations and affect exchange rates
APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING
At the end of the course student will be able to...
- Analyze media and company news about the economy
- Analyze the most important macroeconomic variables
- Evaluate economic policies and discuss their impact
- Discuss the growth impact of economic policies
- Assess pros and cons of globalization
- Evaluate trade-offs faced by global companies
- Interpret the macro effects of climate change
Teaching methods
- Face-to-face lectures
- Exercises (exercises, database, software etc.)
- Case studies /Incidents (traditional, online)
- Group assignments
DETAILS
The learning experience of this course is based on face-to-face lectures, in-class activities and group assignments. In particular, students will solve exercises in class to verify the understanding of relevant concepts and will discuss real-world cases applying the theoretical concepts developed during lectures.
Assessment methods
| Continuous assessment | Partial exams | General exam | |
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ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
With the purpose of measuring the acquisition of the above-mentioned learning outcomes, students’ assessment is based on a written exam and group activities.
Written exam (50% of the final grade)
The written exam consists of 2 essay questions.
Essay questions are aimed at verifying the ability of students of applying the tools developed during the course. They may include: short excerpts of articles, charts and tables to verify students’ ability of interpreting and discussing media and company news about the economy, extracting relevant information and applying the most suitable tools and concepts; short questions aimed at verifying students’ capability of discussing the implications of economic policies or shocks; finally, short statements to be discussed to assess students’ ability to articulate economic reasoning.
Group activities (50% of the final grade)
Working in groups, students will be asked to solve exercises and analyze and discuss case studies.
Teaching materials
ATTENDING AND NOT ATTENDING STUDENTS
Lecture notes and readings will be available in the Blackboard page of the course.
The lectures will be based on the textbook "Macroeconomics" by Charles I. Jones, published by Norton.
Last change 10/12/2023 12:44