Welcome to Modern Macroeconomics!

Data: Gapminder | Design: empet

This is the website of an intermediate macroeconomics course taught in three main bachelor degrees at ISCTE-IUL: Economics, Management, and Finance & Accounting. In the period we live in, the teaching of modern macroeconomics should make wide use of computational and digital tools that have become available over the last decade. Therefore, we introduced a little flavor of computation by extensively using Python notebooks in classes and also in the assessment process. Students will not learn computation in this course but will learn how to interact with data, figures, and real macroeconomic problems by using notebooks and the computer.

Syllabus

The course is structured in twelve weeks of classes covering the following topics:

Week Topic
1 Introduction to Macroeconomics
2 Measuring Macroeconomic Data
3 The IS Curve & Aggregate Demand
4 Monetary Policy and Aggregate Demand
5 The Central Bank Balance Sheet & Monetary Policy Tools
6 Money, Inflation, and Cryptocurrencies
7 The Phillips Curve and Aggregate Supply
8 The Macroeconomic Equilibrium: Aggregate Demand & Supply
9 Macroeconomic Policy: Shocks and the Macroeconomic Equilibrium
10 Macroeconomic Policy and Extreme Shocks
11 Fiscal Policy & the Government Budget
12 Exchange Rates & International Economic Policy

Textbooks

  • Frederic Mishkin (2014). Macroeconomics: Policy and Practice, 2nd Edition, Pearson, Addison-Wesley.
  • Stephen G. Cecchetti and Kermit L. Schoenholtz (2017). Money, Banking, and Financial Markets, 5th Edition, McGraw-Hill.
  • Ihrig, Jane, and Scott Wolla (2020). “Let’s close the gap: Revising teaching materials to reflect how the Federal Reserve implements monetary policy,” Finance and Economics Discussion Series 2020-092. Washington: Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System.

Assessment

Option A:

  1. Midterm test (covering topics up to Week 6): 50% of the final grade
  2. Final test (covering all topics, but with greater emphasis on the material from Weeks 6 through 12): 50% of the final grade
  3. The grade on either of these tests cannot be lower than 8 out of 20 points
  4. Participation in lab sessions (solving exercises and answering theoretical questions): bonus of up to 2 points.
  5. Students will pass this course if they obtain a grade of 10 or higher (on a scale of 0 to 20 points).

Option B:

  1. Final exam: accounts for 100% of the final grade.
  2. Covers all material taught throughout the semester.
  3. Students will pass under this system if they earn a grade of 10 or higher (on a scale of 0 to 20 points).

Additional Information on Assessment Procedures:

  1. In order to ensure the integrity, rigor, and reliability of the assessment processes for this course, students may be required to take a supplemental assessment, in the form of a written or oral test/exam, whenever necessary to confirm the authorship of the submitted tests/exams, assess the acquisition of the knowledge and skills being evaluated, or clarify relevant details for the correct assignment of the grade obtained.
  2. Students with very high grades (16 points or more) may be required to take an oral exam, following which the final grade may be maintained or adjusted depending on the students’ performance.
  3. Assessments are strictly individual and will be conducted without reference to paper documents, electronic materials, or other resources.
  4. Assessments may be conducted on paper or on a computer; the teaching staff will decide which of these methods will be used. Once the method to be used has been announced, all students will be assessed using that method.
  5. If assessments are conducted on a computer, students must install the necessary software on their personal computers for this purpose. If they do not wish to do so, they may take the exams on the computers available in ISCTE-IUL’s computer labs.