Economics II - Macroeconomics (Macroeconomics)

This module provides an introduction to basic concepts of macroeconomics. It covers:
- key institutions of capitalism as an economic system (private property, firms, markets)
- technological change as a trigger for economic growth
- price-taking and competitive markets
- price-setting, rent-seeking and market disequilibuium
- market successes and failures
- markets, contracts and information
- credit, banks and money
- economic fluctuations and unemployment
- unemployment, inflation, fiscal and monetary policy
- technological progress and living standards
- the Great Depression, the golden age of capitalism and the global financial crisis

After attending the module, students will able to describe the composition and distribution of the Gross Domestic Product. They can analyze the economic mechanisms underlying unemployment as well as issues regarding monetary policy and inflation. Further, participants will learn to understand the economic crisis and the wealth differences among nations. Students are enabled to think in models and apply mathematical solutions when approaching economic problems.

no specific prerequisites

The module consists of a lecture and an exercise course. The lecture content will be delivered in a verbal presentation with the help of slides. Since the foundation of the lecture is a textbook including recent economic history, the teaching is full of real life examples. The content of the lecture is put into practice in the exercise course which applies the theoretical knowledge by basic mathematical calculations and graphical illustrations. Therefore, the module aims at encouraging participants to independently think about economic problems discussed in the lecture and in the current literature. Students are enabled to use the instruments (abstract and model thinking) for operationalizing economic problems and solve them in the conventional, mathematical manner.

http://www.core-econ.org/

The CORE Project (2016): 'The Economy', in: Azm Premji University, Friends Provident Foundation, HM Treasury, Institute for New Economic Thinking, Open Society Foundations, SciencesPo, UCL (eds.), University College London.

The examination is an unsupervised E-Test in Moodle.
The test is designed to assess the participants' capabilities to apply macroeconomic theory in order to discuss and solve real world problems of the economy as a whole. Participants should demonstrate their capacity for abstraction (thinking in economic models), concretization (calculating, interpreting and applying the results of the model, mathematical processing as well as graphical illustration.