ECON 302 - Modern Macroeconomics: Analysis, Policy and Applications

Macroeconomics is the study of ‘aggregates’, including national output and economic growth, employment/ unemployment, inflation, and the balance of payments. Governments and other policy making agencies have targets with respect to these aggregates, and use policy instruments, such as fiscal and monetary policy, to try and achieve them. In order to design policy appropriately, it is important to understand how economies work. However, economies are very complex. Therefore, economists have developed theoretical models to simplify things. Considerable debate surrounds which model gives the most accurate representation of the real world. Moreover, ideas evolve over time and as circumstances change. This course examines the state of modern macroeconomics and its evolution. The course is analytically rigorous and draws on empirical evidence but without being highly technical. Furthermore, it explores the political influences that affect the design of macroeconomic policy. Having begun with an overview which traces out the interaction between theory, policy and performance, the course is divided into sections that explain and analyze: the main macroeconomic policy targets; the range of macroeconomic models, running from the classical model through to Keynesianism, monetarism, new classical macroeconomics, new Keynesian economics and modern monetary theory; fiscal and monetary policy; and applications of the analysis in the context of the economic and financial crisis in 2008/09 and the COVID 19 pandemic and its aftermath. The course is a core course for the Masters and Doctoral programs in the Department of Economic Sciences, but should also be of interest and relevance to students of politics and international studies.
Units: 4
Course Type: Seminar