INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS
No formal prerequisites are required. At least some basic knowledge of macroeconomics is strongly suggested.
The course aims at providing students with strong knowledge about the way the economic theory treats crucial questions related to financial and real globalisation. The course builds explicitly on the consideration that mainstream economics has failed in explaining the causes and consequence of the financial crisis and the recent great recession. Most of the content, therefore, will be dedicated to explain the point of view of the critical heterodox approaches to macroeconomics (mainly inspired by post-keynesian scholars) which are usually neglected in traditional courses.
The course deepens both real and financial aspects of the international economy. Concerning the real aspects, the analysis will focus on foreign direct investment (hosting a seminar by Janina Witkowska, University of Lodz, Polland) and on the relationship between international trade and macroeconomic equilibria. The financial analysis deals with the way financial capital, interest rates, foreign exchange rates and current account are determined and interact to each other and assesses the space for policy action. These theoretical instruments are applied and challenged by focusing on the Eurozone as a recent example of economic dilemma which can be hardly understood in the light of the conventional wisdom. Students attending the course will participate to the last part of the program actively by collecting data in order to produce descriptive empirical analysis and a final report which aims at shedding light on some specific issues.
Course content:
The program is divided into a common program (parts 1 to 3) and a differentiated program (parts 4 and 5). All students must prepare parts 1 to 3 for the exam. Students not participating to the empirical workshop must prepare part 4 and exclude part 5. Students participating to the workshop exclude part 4 and learn how to collect, analyse data and present results on macroeconomic variables (part 5). The issues treated in part 4 of the program will still be presented and discussed during the lessons.
COMMON PROGRAM
1. The balance of payments accounting and derived identities
1.1. Definitions, accounting principles, current account, capital account. (G:5)
1.2. Fundamental identities derived from BoP and national accounts (G:6)
1.3. The fundamental identity in a three-dimensional framework (L:7.1)
2. Economic policy and international finance
2.1. The Mundell-Fleming model (MF)
2.2. A Post-Keynesian reinterpretation: The compensation thesis. (L:7.2)
2.3. Interest parity. RIP, PPP, UIP, CIP (G:15.1 excluding 15.1.1, 4; L: 7.3.1)
2.4. The cambist view (L: 7.3.2)
2.5. Exchange rates regimes and international financial architecture (L:7.4)
3. Real features of an open-macroeconomy
3.1. Foreign direct investments
3.2. Foreign trade multiplier and supermultiplier (L: 7.6.1)
3.3. Trade performance ratio and fiscal stance (L: 7.6.2)
DIFFERENCIATED PROGRAM
4. For student that do not participate to the workshop: Exchange rate regimes and proposals of reforms
4.1. The crisis of the Eurozone (EU)
4.2. The Modern Monetary Theory view on the Eurozone (M)
4.2. The Tax Credit Certificates proposal (TCC)
5. For students that participate to the workshop: Empirical description of the Eurozone imbalances
5.1. Collecting data on the computer room
5.2. Trade balance, current account and macroeconomic variables
5.3. Analysis of interdependence across national economies.
5.3. Investigation on the roots of European countries’ economic troubles.
Mode of Delivery:
Frontal lessons and practical workshops in the computer room
Assessment:
The exam is exclusively written and lasts two hours. Students should be able to choose four questions out of five and answer. Expected length of each written answer is nearly one page. Attending students which submit a final report on the workshop (part 5) have to answer to three questions out of four in two hours.
1. [G] G. Gandolfo, 2001, International Finance and Open-Economy Macroeconomics, Springer, 2001.
2. [L] Lavoie, M. (2014). ‘Open-economy macroeconomics’, chapter 7 in Lavoie, M., Post- Keynesian Economics: New Foundations. Cheltenham, UK and Northampton, MA, USA: Edward Elgar.
3. [MF] Any summary of the Mundell-Fleming model and main results is fine. Suggestion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mundell–Fleming_model
4. [EU] Lapavitsas C. et al., 2010, Eurozone crisis: Beggar Thyself and Thy Neighbour, Research on Money and Finance (RMF) occasional report, March.
http://www.researchonmoneyandfinance.org/index.php/publication/eurozone-...
5. [M] Mitchell W., 2016. Eurozone dystopia: Groupthink and Denial on a Grand Scale, Edwar Elgar.
6. [TCC] Bossone C. and M. Cattaneo, 2016 ‘Helicopter tax credits’ to accelerate economic recovery in Italy (and other Eurozone countries), 4 January http://voxeu.org/article/fiscal-stimulus-helicopter-tax-credits
7. [FDI] Foreign Direct Investment – A Critical Perspective. A Re-Define Working Paper.
http://re-define.org/sites/default/files/ForeignDirectInvestment-Acritic...