Economic policy
- Overview
- Assessment methods
- Learning objectives
- Contents
- Delivery method
- Teaching methods
- Contacts/Info
Students are supposed to have attended a course in Political Economy and to be acquainted with the basic concepts of microeconomics and macroeconomics.
The same elements of algebra and geometry required for the course in Political Economy are needed (and sufficient) in this course.
A synthetic review of these concepts will be offered, if needed, in the first lectures.
The learning assessment will be based on a written examination, that in general will consists of three questions. Each question equally contribute to the final evaluation.
The exam will aim at assessing the learning achievement related to:
-knowledge of the definitions and concepts discussed in the lectures;
-familiarity with the functioning of the macroeconomic model in an open economy and its basic mechanisms;
-ability in arguing properly about the role of public institutions and economic policies – both national and international – in adjusting the major macroeconomic disequilibria.
The answers will be discussed during a brief oral exam.
In order to favour – as far as possible – an interactive learning process, and conditionally to the number of attending students, the students will be asked to write short essays on subjects related to the lectures’ topics, and to discuss them during the lectures.
The essays will constitute a part of the learning assessment and may substitute a part of the final oral examination.
The course aims at enhancing the knowledge of the macroeconomic model, devoting a particular attention to the aspects of an economy open to international trade. In this macroeconomic context, the role of the economic (fiscal, monetary and currency) policies will be examined in stabilizing the economic systems and determining the macroeconomic equilibria.
The course is offered to students of Tourism Science who have previously attended a course in Political Economy: hence, they are supposed to be interested in deepening their knowledge about the international economic relations and becoming familiar with some concepts and instruments that are fundamental in these relations (e.g., the exchange rates).
Therefore, the course has the following aims:
- to endow the students with information about the basic concepts and mechanisms regulating the international economic relations (e.g., interest rates, nominal and real exchange rates);
- to develop familiarity with economic dynamics in open economies, both under the trade and finacial viewpoint;
- to increase the understanding of the role of public institutions (both national and international) and of economic policies (even supranational, as in the case of coordination policies) in determining macroeconomic equilibria, adjusting disequilibria (unemployment, inflation, large public debt) and stabilizing economic systems;
- to provide elements to understand the interaction between polical and economic systems;
Consequently, in terms of achievements, the students are supposed to:
a) acquire an acceptable knowledge of the macroeconomic model of an open economy, which has to be shown also through the solution of simple quantitative or grapich problems;
b) obtain a good familiarity with the instruments and mechanisms discussed in the lectures (e.g., how to calculate an exchange rate, how to generate and measure an appreciation/depreciation of the exchange rate; what are the consequences of these processes on the international trade);
c) be able to address issues related to the correction of macroeconomic disequilibria, both adequately arguing about the proper policies to adopt, and indicating their limitations and consequences.
The course is composed by two parts, both of them provided through theoretical lectures, accompanied by the discussion and solution of simple applications, which will represent a first opportunity of self-assessment by the students.
Part I:
- Introduction to the macroeconomic model
- The market for goods (IS curve)
- The market for money (LM curve)
- Equilibrium of the IS-LM model in a closed economy and role of fiscal and monetary policies
- Nominal and real exchange rates. Fixed and floating exchange rates
- The IS-LM model in an open economy
- Economic policies in an open economy
Part II:
- Role of the economic policies in contemporary economic systems: uncertainty; expectations; economic policy and politics
- Economic policies: rules and constraints
- Fiscal policies
- Monetary policies
- The economic crisis
The course provides 35 hours of theoretical lectures, which will be integrated with applications and solutions of simple exercises (quantitative or graphic).
Conditionally to the number of attending students, the students will be asked to write applied essays on subjects related to the lectures’ topics, and to discuss them during the lectures.
The essays will constitute a part of the learning assessment and contribute to the final examination.
The main moments devoted to consultation of the teacher about the lectures’ topic are before and after the lecture themselves.
Further moments of consultation can be established by e-mail appointment.
With the aim of enhancing the collaboration among the students, collective moments of consultation will be encouraged, in particular for questions related to the quantitative exercises and in the period immediately before the final exam.