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Macroeconomics I

Description

With macroeconomic issues we are confronted almost every day. What growth rate did the economy realize in the last quarter? Will the government be able to reduce the unemployment rate? Is it possible to reduce real labor costs in reforming the social security systems? What do we expect the European Central Bank to do? Will it rise the key interest rates for the euro area? The courses Macroeconomics I and II deal with these issues.In Macroeconomics I stylized facts, concerning the German economy, are presented. Then simple models are introduced to explain how financial markets and the goods market basically behave and how they interact. In Macroeconomics II these models are extended to the AS-AD model. The scope of both courses is to learn how macroeconomists are used to discuss the issues at hand, to be able to understand and use models as tools enabling students to form their opinion about current economic policy. Prerequisites are basic knowledge of microeconomics (Course Microeconomics I), mathematics (Course Mathematics I), and descriptive statistics.

Course Outline

    1. Principles
      1. Topics in Macroeconomics
      2. Indicators of Macoeconomic Activity
    2. Composition of GDP and National Accounts
      1. Elementary Terms and Definitions
      2. Principles of National Accounts
    3. Goods Market
      1. The Structure of a Macroeconomic Model
      2. The Goods Market in a closed Economy without Government
        1. Assumptions
        2. Equilibrium and Comparative Statics
        3. Dynamic Analysis
      3. The Goods Market in a closed Economy with Government
        1. Assumptions
        2. Equilibrium and Comparative Statics
        3. Dynamic Analysis
      4. Empirical Aspects
    4. Financial Markets
      1. Money versus Bonds
      2. Demand for Money
      3. Money Supply
      4. Equilibrium
      5. Empirical Aspects
    5. The IS-LM model
      1. Investment Demand and Interest Rate
      2. Structure of the Model
      3. The IS Curve
      4. The LM Curve
      5. Equilibrium and Comparative Statics
      6. Dynamics and Stability
      7. Empirical Aspects
    6. Extensions
      1. Microeconomic Aspects of Consumption Demand
      2. Microeconomic Aspects of Investment Demand

Reading List

Blanchard, Olivier, Macroeconomics, 4th ed., Prentice Hall: Upper Saddle River, NJ 2005
Blanchard, Olivier and Gerhard Illing, Makroökonomie, 3. Aufl., Pearson Studium, München 2004
Mankiw, N. Gregory, Macroeconomics, 4th ed., Worth Publishers: New York 2000
Maußner, Alfred and Joachim Klaus, Grundzüge der mikro- und makroökonomischen Theorie, 2. Aufl., Franz Vahlen: München 1997

© Alfred Maußner 2012

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