MACROECONOMIA

Knowledge and understanding. The course aims to show the fundamental rules of operation of modern economic systems. Within this framework, the student should understand the behaviour of social and institutional aggregates, the formation of national income and its distribution, the functioning of the real, money and financial markets (both in a closed and open economy), employment, inflation and economic growth.

Ability to apply knowledge and understanding. The student will have to deal with macroeconomic models not only on a theoretical but also on a practical level by solving numerical and/or graphical exercises. At the same time, the student will have to compare different economic models in order to use the different perspectives of economic investigation in the explanation of economic phenomena and to put forward valid arguments and make judgements on their causes and effects. 

Autonomy of judgement. The student should be able to provide explanations, put forward valid arguments and make judgements regarding specific economic phenomena. 

Communication skills. The student should be able to clearly and unambiguously communicate his/her conclusions and the knowledge and rationale behind them to non-specialist speakers. 

Learning ability. The student should be able to investigate and develop the various economic topics also independently.

Lectures, participatory and interactive classes.

To be able to understand the course content and to cope with the individual study related to it, students need to have a basic knowledge of geometry and mathematics.

Attendance at lectures is strongly recommended given the particular categories dealt with, the language used and the methodologies adopted in the field of economics. 

Macroeconomics: an introduction. Goods and financial markets. The IS-LM model. The labour market. The Phillips curve. The natural rate of unemployment and inflation. The IS-LM-PC model. Growth. Savings, capital accumulation and production. Technological progress and growth. Financial markets and expectations. Expectations, consumption and investments. Expectations, production and economic policy. The goods market and financial markets in an open economy. Production, interest rates and exchange rates. Exchange rate regimes. Some remarks on the fiscal policy and monetary policy.

Blanchard O., Amighini A. and Giavazzi F. (2024). Macroeconomia. Una prospettiva europea. Bologna: il Mulino. 

Students are also advised to supplement their study of the text with the lecture notes provided by the lecturer and available on the Studium platform.

Assessment is based on a final two-hour written exam testing the competence acquired by the student during the course. This competence covers theoretical knowledge (analytical ability), practical knowledge (the ability to apply economic tools) and contextual knowledge (the ability to discuss concrete economic issues). The exam consists of six questions, each of which (generally) consists of five sub-questions. Each question can be awarded a score between 0 and 5.

Those who pass the written exam by gaining a mark of no less than eighteen out of thirty, and wish to improve their result, can request a supplementary oral test. Based on the competence revealed in this part, the mark from the written exam will be either raised or lowered by not more than three points.

Sample questions designed to assess knowledge of topics and economic models:

• Define household consumption and household savings. Construct the equilibrium income equation when S=I. Discuss the paradox of thrift in detail, using appropriate graphical representations.
• What does the IS-LM model describe? How is IS constructed? How is LM constructed? Which component of the model is influenced by investment? What happens to equilibrium when the Central Bank adopts a restrictive monetary policy?
•  In light of the macroeconomic models studied in the course, examine the possible economic policy interventions to tackle an economic-financial crisis like the one in 2007-2008.