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2024/2025  BA-BSOCO2302U  Macroeconomics

English Title
Macroeconomics

Course information
Language English
Course ECTS 7.5 ECTS
Type Mandatory
Level Bachelor
Duration One Semester
Start time of the course First Quarter
Timetable Course schedule will be posted at calendar.cbs.dk
Study board
Study Board for BSc in Business Administration and Sociology
Course coordinator
  • Daniel Borowczyk-Martins - Department of Economics (ECON)
Main academic disciplines
  • Economics
Teaching methods
  • Face-to-face teaching
Last updated on 01-07-2024

Relevant links
Learning objectives
  • Explain basic macroeconomic concepts in a comprehensive way.
  • Articulate the IS-LM and IS-LM-PC theoretical frameworks using words, diagrams and algebra.
  • Describe the conduct of fiscal and monetary policies in a closed economy, and explain how these policies are impacted by openness to trade and financial flows.
  • Explain the Phillips curve, and discuss the relationship between unemployment and inflation.
  • Understand macroeconomics in the context of macroeconomic policy debates.
  • Apply basic time series approaches to describe the quantitative behavior of macroeconomic variables using computer software and algebra.
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 Winter and Winter
Aids Limited aids, see the list below:
The student is allowed to bring
  • Any calculator
  • 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
The number of registered candidates for the make-up examination/re-take examination may warrant that it most appropriately be held as an oral examination. The programme office will inform the students if the make-up examination/re-take examination instead is held as an oral examination including a second examiner or external examiner.
Course content, structure and pedagogical approach

This course offers an introduction to macroeconomics. Macroeconomics aims to understand the evolution of aggregate outcomes, and especially the effects of policy decisions on those outcomes. In this course, we start by defining and describing the empirical behavior of key macroeconomic outcomes (output, unemployment and inflation). Next, we develop a theoretical framework (the IS-LM and the IS-LM-PC) to understand how those macroeconomic outcomes are determined in equilibrium, both in the short and medium runs, and how they interact with each other. That will involve studying how the goods, the financial and the labor markets operate, and how they relate to each other. Last, we will study the effect of fiscal and monetary policy tools on macroeconomic outcomes. Throughout the course, we will discuss specific historical episodes to help us articulate the theoretical framework in real-world contexts, and to describe the tradeoffs faced by policymakers.
Description of the teaching methods
Lectures and exercise classes on campus, and exercises and quizzes online.
Feedback during the teaching period
This course comprises the following feedback activities. First, partial written solutions to exercises and quizzes with the goal of helping students figure out the solutions by themselves. Two, during exercise classes the teaching assistant will go through the solutions of some exercises in detail, focusing on the problems raised by students. Third, students can ask questions to the unit director during the lecture (including the breaks), on a Canvas forum, or by booking a slot during the online office hours to discuss/clarify any aspect of the syllabus on which they have problems.
Student workload
Preparation 140 hours
Lectures 24 hours
Exercise classes 14 hours
Exam 30 hours
Expected literature

The main textbook

Macroeconomics: A European Perspective, 4th edition, by Blanchard, Amighini and Giavazzi.

 

In addition to the textbook, relevant materials (like newspaper articles, podcasts, videos, etc.) will be made available on Canvas.
Last updated on 01-07-2024