Intermediate Macroeconomics

Module description

Summary: 

The module is designed to equip students with the key principles necessary for the analysis of a range of basic economic problems and policies. It seeks, in particular, to increase the students’ abilities to independently pose and solve economic questions, especially those relating to policy issues.

This module follows BEE2038 Intermediate Microeconomics and focuses on macroeconomic issues and aims to both deepen and widen the students’ formal knowledge of economic theory and its application.

Students will develop a better understanding of how decisions by consumers, firms and governments are interlinked, and impact on interest rates, exchange rates on the overall level of economic activity. Analysis of contemporary economic events will be a key feature of the module, enabling the procurement of skills to assess the likely trends in macroeconomic variables that will facilitate decision making.

Additional Information:

Internationalisation

This module covers economics from a business point of view and incorporates many international examples and the world economy.

Employability

You will gain an awareness of the economy and economic laws and the effects this has on the decision making, which is a key skill required by company managers.

You will improve your analytical, logical, quantitative, and communication skills. You will cultivate the ability to apply tools and approaches from the Economics discipline to real-world problems in business and government policy, and to communicate these approaches to non-specialists. This module emphasizes several skills noted as highly valuable according to the Economics Network Research: Employers’ Survey 2014-15, including ‘the ability to analyse economic, business and social issues’, ‘the ability to simplify complexity while still retaining relevance’ and ‘communication of economic ideas.’

External Engagement

You are encouraged to attend the open lectures from visiting speakers in the Business School.

Full module specification

Module aims

This module addresses the main macroeconomic issues and seeks to provide a general overview of how the macroeconomy works and how the economy adjusts over time to a variety of policy changes and shocks.

The module is designed to equip you with the key economic principles necessary for the analysis of a range of economic problems and policies. It seeks, in particular, to increase your abilities to independently pose and solve economic questions, especially those relating to policy issues. It emphasises the fundamental conceptual foundations in macroeconomics and provides concrete examples of their applications.

Analysis of contemporary economic events will be a key feature of the module, enabling the procurement of skills to assess the likely trends in economic variables that will facilitate decision making.

ILO: Module-specific skills

• 1. interpret intermediate macroeconomic theory and apply economic reasoning to the analysis of economic questions and policy;
• 2. explain the factors affecting the macroeconomic environment, how they interact, and thus assess the ramifications of a change in one factor on other macroeconomic variables.

ILO: Discipline-specific skills

• 3. identify, present and explain standard theoretical economic models and apply them to analyse economic questions and policy issues;
• 4. think analytically and be able to interpret economic data.

ILO: Personal and key skills

• 5. develop the capacity for analytical thought and reasoned discussion;
• 6. develop independent study skills;

Learning activities and teaching methods (given in hours of study time)

Details of learning activities and teaching methods

Formative assessment

Summative assessment (% of credit)

Details of summative assessment

Details of re-assessment (where required by referral or deferral)

Syllabus plan

• Introduction
• A Tour of the World
• The Goods Market
• The Financial Market
• The IS-LM Model
• The Labour Market
• The Phillips curve, the natural rate of unemployment and inflation
• Putting all markets together: from the short to the medium run
• The Open Economy
• Should Policy Makers Be Restrained?
• Fiscal Policy: A Summing Up
• Monetary Policy: A Summing Up

Indicative learning resources - Basic reading

Blanchard, O., Amighini, A. and FR. Giavazzi (2021) Macroeconomics: A European Perspective, fourth edition, London: Prentice-Hall.

Module has an active ELE page?

Yes

Origin date

01/09/2010

Last revision date

10/03/2023