The aim of the course is to provide students with the analytical tools necessary to understand the functioning of aggregate economic systems. In particular, the goal is to provide students with the ability to understand and interpret the trends of the main macroeconomic variables and how the policy-makers are able to influence these variables.
Course Prerequisites
According to the regulations on prerequisites (before a.y. 2019/2020), only students who passed the exam of Economics can take the exam.
Teaching Methods
Teaching is based on frontal lessons. Attendance of the lessons is not compulsory, but strongly recommended. Eligible students only will have access to recorded lessons for two weeks after each class. Students in need may agree with the instructor on specific teaching/learning options, based on particular conditions.
Assessment Methods
Written exam structured in two parts: the first aims to test the acquisition of fundamental concepts, while the second is aimed at testing the ability to reproduce models and interpret the functioning of economic systems.
Texts
O. Blanchard, A. Amighini, F. Giavazzi, Macroeconomia – Una prospettiva europea, Il Mulino, Bologna, 2016 or 2020
Contents
The introductory part of the course will provide a rigorous definition of the fundamental concepts of macroeconomics and will describe its progress in the main contemporary economic systems. Subsequently, short-term, medium-term and long-term macroeconomic equilibrium models will be dealt with in sequence. The comparison between the different models will allow students to understand how the effectiveness of economic policy tools depends on the scenario considered. Finally, we will describe the topic of public debt, which plays a particularly important role in the Italian and European political and economic framework.
