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Dr Mohan Bijapur SAL.1.31

This course is available on the BSc in Accounting and Finance, BSc in Economic History, BSc in Environment and Development and BSc in International Relations. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course is available to General Course students.

Note, EC2B5 is mutually exclusive with EC230.

Students will have completed Macroeconomics I (EC1B5), or equivalent.

This course builds on the knowledge acquired in Macroeconomics I (EC1B5). We will use macroeconomic analysis to explore important contemporary questions and special emphasis is given to how public policy can change economic outcomes. You will learn how to understand economic problems by focusing on the key characteristics, choosing the relevant mechanisms and developing a solid intuition. The use of mathematics is minimal (in particular, with no calculus) and the emphasis of instruction is on graphical analysis and economic intuition. Precise topics and readings will be announced and are selected to be of current interest, such as: is central bank independence a good thing?; what are the macroeconomic effects of the Covid-19 pandemic?; what caused the global financial crisis and how can policy prevent future crises?; how was global financial regulation reformed in the aftermath of the crisis?; what unconventional tools of monetary policy did central banks implement?; what causes currency crises, how can policy prevent them and what sparked the Trump trade war?; why has the US been a more successful currency union than the Eurozone?; what caused the European sovereign debt crisis and how is it related to Brexit?; how should governments deal with a debt crisis - did Greece make the right choice?; what drives convergence in income levels across countries, why do some countries stay poor and can policy change this?

15 hours of lectures and 9 hours of classes in the WT. 1 hour of classes in the ST.

There will be a reading week in Week 6 of WT (no lectures, classes or office hours in this week).

Student learning will be supported through office hours and through a dedicated discussion forum.

There are weekly assignments and feedback will be given on two in the Winter Term. Students are expected to make positive contributions to class discussions.

There is no set course textbook because of the topical nature of the applications chosen. A list of selected texts and readings will be provided at the start of term given the topical nature of the course.

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours, reading time: 15 minutes) in the spring exam period.