Module Identifier EC30810  
Module Title TOPICS IN MACROECONOMICS 2  
Academic Year 2001/2002  
Co-ordinator Professor Andrew Henley  
Semester Semester 2  
Other staff Professor Andrew Henley  
Pre-Requisite EC30330  
Course delivery Lecture   12 Hours  
  Seminars / Tutorials   5 Hours  
Assessment Course work     20%  
  Exam     80%  

Aims


The module aims to teach more advanced topics in the macroeconomics analysis of economic fluctuations. Students will be taught the macroeconomic implications "non-competitive" or "non-optimising" forms of behaviour by households, as consumers and suppliers of labour, and by firms as price-setters and as users of labour. The module will contrast the ideal "New-Classical" world with "New-Keynesian" theories, and so address the important question of macroeconomic policy effectiveness.

Learning outcomes


Through lecture presentation, seminar discussion and reading you should grasp a firm understanding on recent work by economists to explain the source of rigidities in the economy and their role and importance in explaining unemployment and macroeconomic fluctations. You should also obtain an understanding and overview of recent work on consumption and savings and be able to understand the macroeconomicc consequences of behaviour that departs from the pure life-cycle theory. Specifically you should gain a working understanding of the following topics:


From these you should also be able to gain an understanding of how particularly types of behaviour in response to uncertainty and market imperfection lead to detrimental aggregate effects on the economy. In turn you should be able to further inform your ideas and views on the debate surrounding the effectiveness of macroeconomic policy.

Reading Lists

Books
David Romer. (1996) Advanced Macroeconomics. McGraw Hill
Andrew Abel and Ben Bernanke. (2000) Macroeconomics. 4th edition. Addison Wesley Longman
N Gregory Mankiw and David Romer (eds). (1991) New Keynesian Economics, Vols 1 and 2. MIT Press