Special Topics: Economic Policy
Course by: Atanas Pekanov
Vienna University of Economics and Business (WU Wien)
Summer Semester 2024
Slides, Unit 1 - 2
For the group presentations, please choose one of the following topics:
Group 1 Monetary Policy, “Whatever It Takes” and QE (15 May)
Introduction to what the ECB has done in 2012 (1 person)
https://www.kfw.de/About-KfW/Newsroom/Latest-News/News-Details_426753.html
Monetary Policy since the crisis: Speech by Peter Praet (2 people)
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2017/html/sp170316.en.html
The monetary policy response to the pandemic emergency (2 people)
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/blog/date/2020/html/ecb.blog200501~a2d8f514a0.en.html
In addition, the homework task for your group is the following:
1. Prepare in addition to your presentation, a couple of slides (4-5 slides) that will talk about the recent wave of the ECB Survey of Professional Forecasters. You can find it on the ECB website. In two or three slides you will tell us what is the ECB Survey of Professional Forecasters and in another two or three slides you will present 2 or 3 interesting graphs from the recent survey, with a special focus on inflation, GDP and unemployment expectations. Everything you need is on the ECB website.
Group 2 Fiscal Policy – Austerity and Government Spending Multipliers (22 May)
Please cover:
Multiplier Debate - Fiscal Consolidation - At What Speed - Blanchard and Leigh (2 people)
https://voxeu.org/article/fiscal-consolidation-what-speed
Austerity and fiscal adjustments - Alberto Alessina (2 people)
https://voxeu.org/article/fiscal-adjustments-and-recession
https://voxeu.org/article/cut-deficits-cutting-spending
The New View on Fiscal Policy – by Jason Furman (2 people)
https://voxeu.org/article/new-view-fiscal-policy-and-its-application (this is a summary, please also read the whole article for clarification and details:
Please, make sure you explain well the concept of Ricardian equivalence in your presentation. It will be important for the exam.
In addition, the homework task for your group is the following:
1. I want for you to make your own first survey and report the results. It will not be representative as you would only ask your fellow students, so you will have a sample of around 20 people, but it is still something. I would like you to ask your colleagues the following question:
Ask you classmates (send them emails and ask them to answer the following question):
If tomorrow by surprise you are given 500 (five hundred) extra dollars (maybe you win the lottery or your university transfers you a one-off extra payment or some other random event that leads to this happens), how much of it would you spend in the next year? You can respond with just a number (either in dollar terms or %) or also with a longer reply if you know exactly what you will do with the money.
You would report first the average value you have obtained; you will search on the Internet for a paper which reports self-reported MPCs (marginal propensities to consume) and will compare its average results with the ones you obtain. Then you will report a bar chart with all answers. Finally, you can think about actually amending the question a bit (adding a second question) and sending it expressed in one way to half of the class and in another way to the rest of the class, to see whether this affects the outcomes they give you. You need to think about this latest part on your own first before asking me what I mean by it.
Group 3 The Euro - Fiscal and Monetary Policy Policy at the Euro Area Level (29 May)
As usual, please have in mind that you can split the material in other proportions regarding your own preference.
Completing the Odyssean journey of the European monetary union - Vitor Constancio (2-3 people can take this)
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2018/html/ecb.sp180517.en.html
Past and future of the ECB monetary policy - Vitor Constancio (2-3 people can take this)
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2018/html/ecb.sp180504.en.html
Phillip Lane - Underlying Inflation (two people should take this speech)
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2023/html/ecb.sp230306~57f17143da.en.html
In addition, the homework task for your group is the following:
1. Prepare in addition to your presentation, a couple of slides (4-5 slides) that will talk and summarize the recent World Economic Outlook Macroeconomic Forecasts by the IMF. You can find it on the IMF website (check in April whether a new one has been published already).
In two or three slides you will tell us what is the main message and in another two or three slides you will present 2 or 3 interesting graphs from the chapter. The chapter may seem long, but you should not think about this as presenting the whole chapter - you should skim the text and then choose the most interesting/important graphs and key messages. Choosing and explaining why this information is important is central part of this assignment.
Group 4 Contemporary Questions of Monetary Policy and the Euro (05 June)
Isabel Schnabel - The Last Mile (two people should take this speech)
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2023/html/ecb.sp231102_1~4bb07ebef7.en.html
Isabel Schnabel - From laggard to leader? Closing the euro area’s technology gap (2 or 3 people)
https://www.ecb.europa.eu/press/key/date/2024/html/ecb.sp240216~df6f8d9c31.de.html
In addition, the homework task for your group is the following:
1. Prepare in addition to your presentation, a couple of slides (4-5 slides) that will talk and summarize the most recent HICP inflation data by Eurostat for the EU, the Euro area and some selected countries (you choose). Report headline, core and other (selected by you) inflation measures (check the Eurostat website for the lates inflation data at the time of preparation of his homework assignment).