INTERMEDIATE MACROECONOMICS 2 - 2020/1

Module Overview

Macroeconomic policy and performance are fundamental to our daily lives.  This course gives the students a systematic way of thinking about Macroeconomic issues. The students will end up with a model that they could use independently to understand macroeconomic behaviour and policy issues in the real world.

Module provider

Economics

Module Leader

PRACA CAVACO NUNES Ricardo (Economics)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 5

Module cap (Maximum number of students): N/A

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicative content includes:

• New Keynesian micro-foundations, Micro-foundations of consumption choices, Micro-foundations of investment choices


• Monetary policy rules, Incomplete nominal adjustments, The Phillips Curve,


• Stabilization Policy, Rational Expectations and Policy Ineffectiveness, Credibility and Policy Making - Delegation

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Not applicable

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate

Their skills in inter-temporal optimization and construction and development of the New-Keynesian micro-founded 3 equations macroeconomic model of the business cycle. The assessment strategy for this module consists of a midterm class test where student should demonstrate their skills in problem solving and derivation of the key equations of the model making use of inter-temporal optimization and of a final exam in which the students will have to demonstrate their knowledge of the model and also their ability to analyse past economic phenomena through the lens of the New-Keynesian model of the business cycle.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• A 60 minutes midterm class test.


• A 2 hour final exam covering material from the entire course.


• The exam consists of 2 in-depth technical/essay questions.

Formative assessment and feedback

Students will receive verbal feedback during lectures every week, as well as during the problem-solving tutorials. The solutions to the problem sets are posted online after the tutorials have taken place. Students will receive written feedback on their mid-term class test.

Module aims

• provide students with an economic model necessary for the study of macroeconomic problems.
• demonstrate how to aggregate microeconomic behaviour of economic agents to analyse macroeconomic performance. Particular preference is made to the micro-foundations of macro models and to the role that imperfections play in labour and product markets and to the role of institutions in designing macroeconomic policies.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to:

• Enhance students’ understanding of the economics of macroeconomic policy questions


• Enhance students’ skills in applying analytic tools to macroeconomic policy questions, in presenting their findings in verbal and written format.

The learning and teaching methods include:

• 2-hours lecture per week x 11 weeks.


• 1-hour tutorial x 6 weeks (on selected weeks).


• 122 hours of guided independent study.

Indicated Lecture Hours (which may also include seminars, tutorials, workshops and other contact time) are approximate and may include in-class tests where one or more of these are an assessment on the module. In-class tests are scheduled/organised separately to taught content and will be published on to student personal timetables, where they apply to taken modules, as soon as they are finalised by central administration. This will usually be after the initial publication of the teaching timetable for the relevant semester.

Reading list

https://readinglists.surrey.ac.uk
Upon accessing the reading list, please search for the module using the module code: ECO2046

Programmes this module appears in

Please note that the information detailed within this record is accurate at the time of publishing and may be subject to change. This record contains information for the most up to date version of the programme / module for the 2020/1 academic year.