The objective of this course is to help students understand key issues in macroeconomic theory, its applications and policy implications. The first part of the course discusses in some detail macroeconomic data and key issues related to specific sub-sectors of the economy: aggregate consumption/saving behaviour, investment and asset markets, labour and product markets, international flows and exchange rates. The second part of the course builds on the first by integrating these sub-sectors into fully-specified macroeconomic models. These models are used to understand key problems such as inflation, unemployment, balance of payments crises and the implications of policies designed to address them.
A central theme of this course is the role of market and non-market institutions in influencing the development process. During the first few weeks we will discuss key issues, principles and concepts associated with economic development and its analysis. We will then consider alternative macroeconomic perspectives on growth and development and discuss some of the issues facing developing countries in their dealings with the global economy. In the second half of the course, we will consider specific microeconomic issues and policy problems that are currently faced by many developing nations. The topics include those associated with property rights and land markets, credit markets and microfinance, health and education and the impact of political institutions.
The objective of this course is to help students understand recent and ongoing developments in macroeconomic theory and its empirical and policy applications. The emphasis is on the application of dynamic analysis to issues related to household and firm behaviour, long run economic growth and business cycle fluctuations. The first part of the course discusses in some detail key issues related to specific sub-sectors of the economy: labour markets, consumption behaviour, investment, and asset markets. The second part of the course builds on the first by integrating these sub-sectors into fully specified macroeconomic models. These models generate predictions about key aggregates and are used to understand their empirical counterparts in the data and the implications for economic policy.