INTERNATIONAL FINANCE - 2021/2

Module Overview

The module incorporates the foreign exchange market into a macroeconomic setting in order to shed light on the constraints within which open economies operate. At the heart of the analysis is the exchange rate and its determinants, including the different types of possible government intervention. In this context, the role of inflation, interest rates and market expectations are discussed. In addition, the government may also intervene in the foreign exchange market to manage the exchange rate by, e.g., buying or selling the international reserve currency. The decision whether to undertake or not such operations impacts on how the economy responds to different types of shocks (internal or external). The module covers these issues in detail and, in addition, provides a historical context for international arrangements concerning the exchange rate, as well as a review of episodes of exchange rate crises

Module provider

Economics

Module Leader

ARSENIS Panagiotis (Economics)

Number of Credits: 15

ECTS Credits: 7.5

Framework: FHEQ Level 6

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

Module Availability

Semester 2

Prerequisites / Co-requisites

None

Module content

Indicatively, the module's content includes:

• Balance of payments


• Foreign exchange market


• International financial investments


• Determination of exchange rates


• Government policies towards the foreign exchange market


• Financial crises


• The Mundell-Fleming model (IS-LM-FE)

Assessment pattern

Alternative Assessment

Not applicable

Assessment Strategy

The assessment strategy is designed to provide students with the opportunity to demonstrate that they have achieved the module’s learning outcomes.

Thus, the summative assessment for this module consists of:

• Class test (30% of the module mark) and examination (70% of the module mark).


• The class test has a duration of 60 minutes and is a mix of multiple choice and open-ended questions. It is typically held in week 5.


• The final two-hour examination is designed to assess students' understanding of the material that was covered during the entire term.

Formative assessment and feedback

Students are supported in their preparation for the summative assessments and receive various forms of feedback. Students are given practice material and mock papers to effectively prepare for the assessments. Solutions accompany this material, which work as a form of feedback too. Class test solutions are also provided to help students identify their mistakes and help them better prepare for the final assessment. Students are also invited to contact the lecturer or post questions on the module's SurreyLearn forum to seek further clarifications.

Module aims

• Provide the students with the factual, conceptual and procedural knowledge necessary to facilitate a deep understanding of the role of exchange rates in modern economies.

Learning outcomes

Methods of Teaching / Learning

The learning and teaching strategy is designed to satisfy the module’s learning outcomes.

The learning and teaching methods include:

• 2-hour lecture per week (10 lectures)


• Lecturer-student interaction through the University’s VLE (SurreyLearn)


• Q&As facilitated by electronic voting (PollEverywhere)

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: ECO3048

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 2021/2 academic year.