Module ASB-3301:
Macroeconomics

Module Facts

Run by Bangor Business School

10.000 Credits or 5.000 ECTS Credits

Semester 2

Organiser: Dr Noemi Mantovan

Overall aims and purpose

To familiarise students with the workings of the global economy. The focus is on analysing the behaviour of real world economies in the light of macroeconomic theory. Topics covered will include growth, business cycles and monetary and fiscal policy; stressing the role that each of these elements plays in determining the performance of the global economy.

Course content

The content is divided in six main topics: 1. Economic growth, with analysis of both the Solow model and endogenous growth models. The module will provide a detailed description of physical and human capital, and total factor productivity. 2. Labour market. Analysis of both demand and supply of labour, as well as models of competing monopolies. Also, discussion of unemployment and the effects of institutional factors, including the effects of employment protection legislation. 3. Business cycles, with a specific focus on consumption and investment and different economic school of thoughts (Keynesian and Real Business Cycle). 4. Fiscal policy and public finances: this topic will focus on taxation, government consumption and government debt. 5. Monetary policy: this topic will focus on different approaches to monetary policy in theory and in practice, including a detailed discussion of the operating and intermediate instruments of monetary policy. It will also entail discussion of inflation and money demand and supply. 6. International macro: this topic will focus on currencies and exchange rates as well as international trade and trade policy.

Assessment Criteria

threshold

D- to D+ (40-49%): No major omissions or inaccuracies in the deployment of information/skills. Some grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practical elements. Integration of theory/practice/information present intermittently in pursuit of the assessed work's objectives.

good

B- to B+ (60-69%): Very good performance Most of the relevant information accurately deployed. Good grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practical elements. Good integration of theory/practice/information in pursuit of the assessed work's objectives. Evidence of the use of creative and reflective skills.

excellent

A- to A+ (70%+): Outstanding Performance. The relevant information accurately deployed. Excellent grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practice elements. Good integration of theory/practice/information in pursuit of the assessed work's objectives. Strong evidence of the use of creative and reflective skills.

C- to C+

C- to C+ (50-59%): Much of the relevant information and skills mostly accurately deployed. Adequate grasp of theoretical/conceptual/practical elements. Fair integration of theory/practice/information in the pursuit of the assessed work's objectives. Some evidence of the use of creative and reflective skills.

Learning outcomes

  1. Analyse the inter-linkages between various macro variables.

  2. Understand and explain the principles and motivation underlying government economic policy.

  3. Analyse the determinants of the long run performance of various economies around the world.

  4. Analyse the determinants of short run economic performance, or business cycles.

  5. Analyse the determinants of inflation and unemployment.

Assessment Methods

Type Name Description Weight
Assignment 25.00
Exam 75.00

Teaching and Learning Strategy

Hours
Private study

Students are required to perform some simple independent research, as well preparation for lectures, and reading the material available on blackboard

 80
Lecture

Lectures are both in the form of frontal lectures and of group discussion facilitated by the lecturer.

 20

Transferable skills

  • Exploring - Able to investigate, research and consider alternatives
  • Information retrieval - Able to access different and multiple sources of information
  • Critical analysis & Problem Solving - Able to deconstruct and analyse problems or complex situations. To find solutions to problems through analyses and exploration of all possibilities using appropriate methods, rescources and creativity.

Subject specific skills

  • Abstraction. From the study of economic principles and models, students see how one can abstract the essential features of complex systems and provide a useable framework for evaluation and assessment of the effects of policy or other exogenous events. Through this, the typical student will acquire proficiency in how to simplify while still retaining relevance. This is an approach that they can then apply in other contexts, thereby becoming more effective problem-solvers and decision-makers.
  • Analysis, deduction and induction. Economic reasoning is highly deductive, and logical analysis is applied to assumption-based models. However, inductive reasoning is also important. The development of such analytical skills enhances students' problem-solving and decision-making ability.
  • Quantification and design. Data, and their effective organisation, presentation and analysis, are important in economics. The typical student will have some familiarity with the principal sources of economic information and data relevant to industry, commerce, society and government, and have had practice in organising it and presenting it informatively. This skill is important at all stages in the decision-making process.
  • Framing. Through the study of economics, a student should learn how to decide what should be taken as given or fixed for the purposes of setting up and solving a problem, i.e. what the important 'parameters' are in constraining the solution to the problem. Learning to think about how and why these parameters might change encourages a student to place the economic problem in its broader social and political context. This 'framing' skill is important in determining the decision-maker's ability to implement the solutions to problems.

Resources

Resource implications for students

The core book costs £57.99 is available for about £20 is used. The students are also provided with weekly readings via blackboard, those are all free of charge.

Talis Reading list

http://readinglists.bangor.ac.uk/modules/asb-3301.html

Reading list

Miles, Scott and Breedon. 2012. Macroeconomics. Understanding the Global Economy, 3rd ed. John Wiley & Sons.

Pre- and Co-requisite Modules

Pre-requisites:

Courses including this module

Compulsory in courses:

Optional in courses: