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Sir Charles Bean 32L.1.18

This course is available to General Course ‘Spring Semester’ students.

Students must have already completed intermediate courses in microeconomics and macroeconomics. Students must also have mathematics and statistics to at least an introductory level, while introductory econometrics is also desirable.

The course provides an introduction to the effects of monetary variables on the macroeconomic system, the role of the central bank and the conduct of monetary and financial policy. Subjects covered include: The transmission mechanism of monetary policy and theories of the Phillips curve; The optimal rate of inflation and optimal stabilisation policy; The positive theory of inflation and the case for central bank independence; Policymaking in an uncertain environment; The role of banks in the transmission  mechanism and the case for bank regulation; Financial crises and the role of the central bank as a lender of last resort; The 2007-8 financial crisis and unconventional monetary policies.

15 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT.

This course is delivered through a combination of classes and lectures totalling a minimum of 25 hours over the Lent Term. This year, some or all of this teaching will be delivered through a combination of virtual classes, live streamed (recorded) lectures, and some flipped content delivered as short online videos

Students are required to submit two essays or exercises. Feedback is provided on these by the class teacher.  Students are expected to make positive contributions to class discussions

The most useful text books are M Lewis & P Mizen, Monetary Economics, C Walsh, Monetary Theory and Policy 4th edn., and R Aliber and C Kindleberger, Manias, Panics and Crashes: A History of Financial Crises, 7th edn. The main source of assigned readings is, however, journal articles.

Exam (100%, duration: 1 hour and 30 minutes, reading time: 15 minutes) in the summer exam period.