Discover Discuss Teach Economics - Europe in numbers and figures

Recommended Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Teaching Methods

The course will have a theoretical component (2h) and a practical component (3h) per module, in a total of 25h.

The first component, that has a more expository nature, the main economic concepts and theories are addressed aiming at the understanding of five module subjects modules through economic indicators exploring the language of data and figures.

In the second component, of a more applied nature, students will develop individual and group work using descriptive statistics analysis based on the set of data and figures addressed in the first component.

Learning Outcomes

1. To analyse topics from the five modules of the course applied to EMU and EU countries through numbers and figures;

2. To improve the knowledge about several databases that include economic indicators relevant to the analysis of macroeconomic phenomena;

3.To select the most appropriate economic indicators suited to the quantitative description of a given economic topic;

4. To build the database;

5. To decide the kind of analysis to be implemented;

6. To choose the most suitable languages: numbers presented in tables and the type of tables or figures and the type of figures or even a mix for the written presentation the topic.

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. The Fiscal Compact and the Economic Governance in EMU –Our purpose is to analyse MIP scoreboard indicators for several countries using AMECO;

2. Public Finance and Public Debt Sustainability – We apply the sustainability condition for debt to GDP ratio to EMU/EU countries using AMECO database; 

3. Monetary and Fiscal Policies Mix Addressing the 2008 Crisis in USA and EMU - TARP and QE roles - We will analyse those policies using FRED and ECB databases;

4. The Costs and Benefits of Inflation - the role of the ECB - The use of WB and OECD statistics will allow us to group countries according to the values of their inflation rates and growth;

5. International Monetary System - the international role of the Euro – For the analysis of the international monetary system, we will use economic indicators from IMF, ECB and BIS.

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Class participation: 20.0%
Individual work: 40.0%
Group work: 40.0%

Bibliography

Mendonça, A.; Silva, J. R.; Brito, J. M.; Godinho, M. M. e M. St. Aubyn (2017), “Estudos de Homenagem a José da Silva Lopes”, Almedina, Coimbra.

Reis, E. (2008), “Estatística Descritiva”, Edições Sílabo, 7ª Edição.

Pereira, P. T.; Santos, J. C.; Arcanjo, M. e A. Afonso (2016), “Economia e Finanças Públicas”, Escolar Editora.

Duarte, A. P. (2015), “O Sistema Monetário Internacional. Uma Perspetiva Histórica-Económica”, Coimbra: Conjuntura Actual Editora.

Alexandre, F; Martins, I. G.; Andrade, J. S.; Castro, P. R. e P. Bação (2009), “A Crise Financeira Internacional”, Coimbra: Imprensa da Universidade de Coimbra.