Syllabus

Program

1 - Welcome to Julia & Pluto

2 - Introduction to Macroeconomics

3 - Measuring Macroeconomic Data

4 - The IS Curve

5 - Monetary Policy & Aggregate Demand

6 - The Central Bank Balance Sheet & Monetary Policy Tools**

Mid-term test

7 - Aggregate Supply and the Phillips Curve

8 - The Aggregate Demand & Supply Model

9 - Macroeconomic Policy: Aggregate Demand & Supply Analysis

10 - The Zero Lower Bound & Macroeconomic Policy

11 - Fiscal Policy & the Government Budget

12 - Rounding up topics & controversies

Final test

Adopted textbook:

Frederic S. Mishkin (2015). Macroeconomics: Policy & Practice, Second Edition, Pearson Editors.

** Parts of two chapters (17 and 18) from the following textbook will be used for this point.

Stephen G. Cecchetti and Kermit L. Schoenholtz (2017). Money, Banking, and Financial Markets, Fifth Edition, McGraw-Hill.



Assessment regimes

Option A:

  • Midterm test: one test covering the materials taught during the first 6 weeks of the semester, weighting 50% on the final grade.

  • Final test: one test covering all materials taught in this course, but with more emphasis on the materials covered during the last six weeks of the semester. It has a weight of 50% on the final grade.

  • The grade in any of these tests cannot be less than 8 points (on a scale from 0 to 20 points)

  • This regime requires the attendance of at least 80% of classes.

Option B:

  • One final exam: weight of 100% on the final grade.

  • Covers all materials taught during the entire semester.

  • There will be a re-sitting test for those that fail in option A or/and option B. This test includes all materials and represents 100% of the final grade.



Open-book assessments

  1. Testes and exams in this course are undertaken under the open-book assessment norm. Students can refer to their own resources during the test/exam. These resources could be the textbook, individual notes (handwritten or typed notes), Pluto notebooks, and other individual electronic resources (such as pdf files).

  2. Tests and exams will be undertaken on one’s laptop using Pluto notebooks. Pluto’s use will be a funny, handy tool for learning, teaching, and conducting the evaluation process.

  3. During a test/exam, students are strictly prohibited from practicing any of the following acts:

    • Interact in any possible way (digital or other) with any other student (or any other person) to obtain or provide any information concerning the contents of the test or exam.
    • Copy+past of extracts from electronic sources as the solution to any question in the test/exam. The tests and exams are open-book, not a “copy+past” exercise. Answers that prove to be a simple result of “copy+past” will be graded with 0%.
    • Copy+past from unspecified “collective” sources. If two (or more) students submit answers that are, beyond any reasonable doubt, the result of copying from a collective source, their tests will be annulled, and the corresponding disciplinary consequences will follow.