Introduction to Macroeconomics · 2012/13
1r Grau d'Economia, ADE i Finances i Comptabilitat · M5
   

 
 

Antonio Quesada
Office 314
Departament d'Economia
Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Avinguda de la Universitat 1
43204 Reus

Office hours (February - May 2013)
Monday 08:00-11:00
Tuesday 08:00-11:00

 Lecture room A0.11 · 4 February 2013 - 23 May 2013
Monday 11:00-13:00 & Thursday 09:00-11:00  
 
Class timetable
February
 4
7
11
14
18
21
 25 28
March
 4
7
11
1418
21

April
 4
8
11
15
18
22
25
29
May
 2
6
9
13
1620  23

Mid-term exam and end-of-term exams in red · Multiple-choice exams in blue
   

 
 


 Course structure       Overview: Small | Big slides      Sketch

   PART I. Describing an economy

    1. Macroeconomic aggregates           Small | Big slides

   2. Money and the financial sector       Small | Big slides


   PART II. Basic models to analyse an economy

   3. Determining interest rates                           Small | Big slides

   4. Determining exchange rates                        Small | Big slides

   5. Determining GDP and the inflation rate       Small | Big slides


   PART III. Effects of macroeconomic policies on an economy

   6. Design and effects of macroeconomic policies          Small | Big slides
     Statute of the ESCB and the ECB   
     European Financial Stability Facility     


Bibliography

  B. Bernanke & R. Frank (2007): Principles of Macroeconomics 3/e   
  C.I. Jones (2010): Macroeconomics (Economic Crisis Update)   
      The lectures from his Macroeconomics course are available here.

  M. Burda & C. Wyplosz (2009): Macroeconomics. A European text 5/e
      (More advanced level)

      Some books can be previsualized in Google Books, for instance:
  N.G. Mankiw (2012): Principles of Macroeconomics 6/e
 
  Slides from the textbook Macroeconomics by P. Krugman and R. Wells
 
Recommended

  G.R. Evans: The loanable funds model   
  G.R. Evans: The aggregate supply-aggregate demand model  

  W. Vickrey: 15 fatal fallacies of financial fundamentalism

  The Spanish Economy


 Problem sets

  Problem set 1  |  Macroeconomic aggregates 
  Problem set 2  |  Money and the financial sector

  Problem set 3  |  Determining interest rates  
  Problem set 4  |  Determining exchange rates
  Problem set 5  |  Determining GDP and the inflation rate

  Problem set 6  |  Macroeconomic policy



  Participation rate Spain & eurozone
  Participation rate eurozone

  Catalonian GDP (current prices)
  Catalonian exports IDESCAT GENCAT    Press release
  Catalonian exports to Spain and abroad    

Class 18feb2013



 Macroeconomic scenario by the Government of Spain · 26 April 2013





Stability programme 2013-16 (update)


















Continuous assessment and exams
 
1st examination period

 20% (of the final mark): 6 multiple-choice exams

  Exam T1 | 4 March 2013    2%
  Exam T2 | 18 March 2013  4%
  Exam T3 | 11 April 2013    3%
  Exam T4 | 22 April 2013    4%
  Exam T5 | 2 May 2013      3%
  Exam T6 | 16 May 2013      4%
 
20% (of the final mark): mid-term exam (4 April 2013)
 25% (of the final mark): end-of-term exam (23 May 2013)
35% (of the final mark): final exam (6 June 2013, 12:00)
   

2nd examination period

100% (of the final mark): final exam (27 June 2013, 12:00)
    

Marks

  From exam T1  |  4 March 2013
  From exam T2  |  18 March 2013   
  From mid-term exam  |  4 April 2013 
  From exam T3  | 11 April 2013 
  From exam T4  |  22 April 2013 
  From exam T5  |  2 May 2013 (with amendments)
  From exam T6  |  16 May 2013
  From the end-of-term exam  |  23 May 2013
  From the final exam  |  6 June 2013 [INCLUDES THE OFFICIAL MARK]

  From the final exam  |  27 June 2013 [INCLUDES THE OFFICIAL MARK]


 Web sites

 The World Economy · Historial Statistics
 Penn World Table · Version 6.3
World Economic Outlook September 2011 Database
 European Central Bank · Statistics
 Indexmundi
 Trading Economics
The World Factbook (CIA)
 Inflation Data
Gapminder

 INE · Spanish National Accounts
 INE · Surveyed Spanish unemployment
 INE · Spanish Consumer Price Index
 Idescat (Catalonian official statistics)

 Resources for Economists on the Internet 
Dismal Scientist (Economics made clear) 
The Economist (not all contents free)
 Economagic (not all data free)
 Course material on International Economics
Sloman Economics News Site  

Merriam-Webster (on-line dictionary)
Collins revers (on-line translation)  



Readings

 Argentina's bogus statistics (13 Dec 2012)
 IMF on Argentina's quality of official data (1 Feb 2013)
Freezing prices to fight inflation in Argentina (6 Feb 2013)

Bolivar devaluation  EP LV (9 Feb 2013)
Big Mac index
Builders, bankers, and politicians (1 Feb 2013)

Greek abyss (10 Feb 2013)
Recession again (14 Feb 2013)
Central banks (17 Feb 2013)

US monetary policy (26 Feb 2013)
Cooking the budget deficit? (28 Feb 2013)

Chinese speculative bubble? (12 Mar 2013)
The end of the world?  Wages  Govt. debt  Housing  Subsidies (15 Mar 2013)

 Paul Krugman's blog   Columns at the NY Times
Corralitos  Argentina  Cyprus (18 Mar 2013)
Rescuing Cyprus (17 Mar 2013)
What for is the financial sector? (20 Mar 2013)

On economic policy (9 Apr 2013)
Monetary policy in Japan (7 Apr 2013)
Macroeconomic imbalances: Spain (10 Apr 2013)

  WEO · April 2013 (IMF)
  Global Financial Stability Report · April 2013 (IMF)
  Fiscal monitor · April 2013 (IMF)   

Lessons from the eurozone crisis (Sep 2010)

On the macroeconomic scenario for the Spanish economy (27 Apr 2013)
"El paro sube hasta los 6'2 millones, a un ritmo inferior al del aņo anterior" (25 Apr 2013) 
Big dipper (30 Apr 2013)

Countries ranked by debt-to-GDP ratio
Projections by the Government of Spain (30 Apr 13)

 Balance and update of the Spanish Economic Policy Strategy (26 Apr 13)
National reform programme · Kingdom of Spain (30 Apr 13)

  Economic forecast Spring 2013 | European Comission (3 May 13)

Spain insolvent? Or not (12 May 13)

 Excessive deficit procedure 
Macroeconomic imbalance procedure 

  Review on Spain's imbalances (European Commission, 10 Apr 13)

Last update: 28 June 2013 · 20:43