MACROECONOMICS

This course aims to provide the methodological and theoretical tools to understand the behavior of the major macroeconomic variables, such as GDP growth, business cycles and inflation, and to explain past and current economic developments. We will focus on the stylized facts of business cycle fluctuations and economic growth, the determinants of unemployment and inflation. We will also discuss whether and to what extent policy can improve macroeconomic performance.

Microeconomics

Knowledge and understanding: The course will provide the basic concepts of macroeconomics, and then study the determination of national income, the workings of the monetary system, causes and consequences of inflation and the reasons behind unemployment. We will then focus on the international flows of capital and goods and how exchange rates are determined. Finally, the course will be largely devoted to understanding the process of long-run economic growth, which determines the trend over time in income per capita around which short-run fluctuations occur. Applying knowledge and understanding: The students will be able to: fully understand the main macroeconomic variables; use the basic macroeconomics model to formulate a personal and critical judgement; understand and explain the effect of monetary and fiscal policy mix. Making judgements: We expect students to be able to autonomously understand the dynamics of the business cycle and to understand the proximate causes of the main economic phenomena, as well as the possible consequences of the most used policy interventions. Communications Skills: This course will give the students the possibility to acquire and understand major terms and concepts in order to communicate their ideas, proposals, analysis and critical reasoning in the field of macroeconomics. Learning skills: This course will contribute to develop an analytical approach to the field of economics that will be the foundation for subsequent courses. The students are also expected to develop a strong critical thinking attitude.

Introduction to macroeconomics, definition, measurement and data analysis. Production, the factors of production. The determinants of consumption and investment. The equilibrium with full employment and the effects of economic policies. Currency, the price level and inflation. The open economy, the exchange rate. Theories of unemployment. Economic growth. Economic fluctuations and price stickiness. The short-run equilibrium (with unemployment) and economic policies. The open economy in the short term and economic policies in the different regimes of the exchange rate

Mankiw, G., Macroeconomics, ninth edition, Macmillan Education Imprint

Lectures and written exercises based on the problem sets which will be made available few days before the class. The solutions of the problem set will be discussed in class. Students attending the course are requested to hand in problem sets. There will be nine problem sets during the semester. The exercises in each problem set are based on material already taught, which the student is expected to solve with a full written solution. Problem sets will typically be posted a week before the class and the solution must be uploaded on the Luiss Learn platform before the beginning of the TA session (Friday 1.30 PM). Each problem set will be graded out of 2 points. Points will be awarded using the following scale: (a) complete solutions: 2 points; (b) incomplete solutions: 1 point; (c) not handed in: 0 points

The final grade will be the weighted average between the midterm exam and the final exam, plus the average score from the problem sets, if any. Students that fail the midterm exam will take a longer final exam during exam sessions. The average score obtained in the problem sets will be added to the final grade only if the exam is taken in either the December or January session. The student who fails or does not accept the grade of the exam cannot use the extra points again. The student who does not turn in the exam in the December session can still use the extra points in the January session. In order to be evaluated, the student must submit at least 7 out of 9 problem sets. If the student submits more than 7 problem sets, the grading will be based on the best 7. If the student submits less than 7 problem sets, the missing ones will be valued 0 points. All exams will be based on the topics covered during the lectures and classes and the chapters of the textbook. The exam is meant to assess knowledge, comprehension skills and competencies. The questions will be a mix of theoretical assessment and practical exercises. In this way, students will be asked to show a deep knowledge of the topic covered during the lectures but also the ability to apply them to real world cases, thus proving that he/she has acquired a good study method, critical skills and the ability to learn. The failure to achieve at least the score of 18/30 will result in failure to pass the exam. The student that answers correctly to all multiple-choice questions achieve the grade of 30/30 with the possible awarding of cum laude. The midterm exam will be composed by 20 multiple choice questions, each one worth ~0.75 points. The questions will be based on topics covered up to lesson 11. Students that pass the midterm exam and take the exam in the following winter session will take a final exam composed by 20 multiple choice questions, each one worth ~0.75 points. The questions will focus on topics covered from lesson 12 to the last one. The students that failed the midterm will solve the full final exam, which is composed by 40 multiple choice questions, summing up to a final grade of 30 (each question is worth ~ 0.75 points).

Interview with the lecturer, interest in the subject