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2021/2022  BA-BINBO1127U  Macroeconomics

English Title
Macroeconomics

Course information

Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Bachelor
Duration One Quarter
Start time of the course Fourth Quarter, Summer
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for BSc in International Business
Course coordinator
  • Annaïg Morin - Department of Economics (ECON)
Main academic disciplines
  • Economics
Teaching methods
  • Blended learning
Last updated on 15-09-2021

Relevant links

Learning objectives
After ending the course, the students should be able to:
  • Explain basic macroeconomic terminology (e.g. "growth", "recession", "natural unemployment", etc.) in a comprehensive way.
  • Describe and explain the assumptions and mechanisms of the main macroeconomic models (e.g. the IS-LM model, the IS-LM-PC model, the Solow growth model, etc.). Illustrate these models graphically and solve them algebraically
  • Describe how GDP is determined in the short run, the medium run and the long run. Explain how GDP is affected by shocks
  • Describe the main determinants of other important macroeconomic variables such as inflation, unemployment, real wage, interest rate, etc. Explain how these macroeconomic variables are affected by shocks.
  • Perform policy experiments (e.g., changes in government spendings or changes in money supply). Interpret the mechanisms verbally and graphically, and solve algebraically
Examination
Macroeconomics:
Exam ECTS 7,5
Examination form Written sit-in exam on CBS' computers
Individual or group exam Individual exam
Assignment type Written assignment
Duration 4 hours
Grading scale 7-point grading scale
Examiner(s) One internal examiner
Exam period Summer and Summer
Aids Limited aids, see the list below:
The student is allowed to bring
  • Non-programmable, financial calculators: HP10bll+ or Texas BA II Plus
  • In Paper format: Books (including translation dictionaries), compendiums and notes
The student will have access to
  • basic IT application package
Make-up exam/re-exam
Same examination form as the ordinary exam
If the number of registered candidates for the make-up examination/re-take examination warrants that it may most appropriately be held as an oral examination, the programme office will inform the students that the make-up examination/re-take examination will be held as an oral examination instead.
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

The aim of this course is to provide students with an introduction to macroeconomics. The course focuses on the behavior of the economy in the short-run, middle-run, and long-run, specifically looking at the goods market, the financial market and the labor market. The course is designed to help students understand how these markets operate, how they interact with each other, and how they are impacted by shocks and macroeconomic policies. The key mechanisms will first be explained in a context of closed economy and the analysis will then be extended to include trade and financial openness.

 

 

Why do economies expand sometimes, raising employment and living standards, and shrink at other times? What is a recession? What happened in 2008–09 when the world economy was hit by the worst recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s? How did government policy respond to the crisis and was this response effective?

 

More generally, which shocks affect macroeconomic activity? How do these shocks affect output, employment, investment, or consumption? Can government policies make economies grow or stop them from shrinking? Why do we have inflation? Is inflation a bad thing? Is there anything we can do to reduce inflation? Why do we have unemployment? Do policies to reduce unemployment work? Why do countries borrow from abroad? How are exchange rates determined and why are they so volatile? What drives economic growth in the long run? What explains the large differences in economic performance across different countries in different times?

 

These are some of the central questions that fascinate macroeconomists. If you are curious about how macroeconomists look at the world around them, how they model it, and how this helps answering the questions you just read, then this is the course for you. 

 

There will be a voluntary midterm multiple choice as part of the continuous learning and assessment

Description of the teaching methods
The course will mainly consist of general lectures that will present and explain
macroeconomic concepts and models. Each mechanism presented in class will be embodied in a simple analytical framework to facilitate understanding the underlying logic. Moreover, graphs will be used extensively to build intuition.

In addition to general lectures, tutorial sessions will be devoted to solving exercises.
Feedback during the teaching period
Office hours will take place during the teaching period (i.e., in the weeks in which lectures take place).
Student workload
Lecture hours 42 hours
Exercise classes 12 hours
Preparation for lectures 42 hours
Preparation for exercise classes 12 hours
Preparation for exam 98 hours
Expected literature

Blanchard O., Macroeconomics (8th Edition, Global edition), 

 

Please note, minor changes may occur. The teacher will uploade the final reading list to Learn two weeks before the course starts.

Last updated on 15-09-2021