Principles of Macroeconomics

Recommended Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Teaching Methods

Lectures: presentation of fundamental contents.

Practical classes:

- Exercise solving.

- Encouraging learning by doing: students solve practical exercises as independently as possible, with the support of the teacher who oversees the success of all students.

- Analyse the current macroeconomic events and developments useful in learning and understanding the course topics.

Learning Outcomes

This course unit contributes 75% to Objective 1 and 25% to Objective 3 of the BSc in Economics by equipping students with the terminology, concepts, and theoretical framework to analyze macroeconomic phenomena at an introductoty level.

1. Identify and describe key macroeconomic concepts, including economic growth, inflation, and unemployment, and theories, e.g. classical and Keynesian.(25%)

2. Identify the key institutions and actors that influence macroeconomic outcomes, such as central banks and governments, and critically assess the effectiveness of macroeconomic policies and their impacts on the economy.(25%)

3.  Apply core macroeconomic concepts and theories, e.g. the IS-LM and the AS-AD models, to explain the behaviour of aggregate economic activity.(25%)

4. Identify, interpret and calculate fundamental macroeconomic indicators, e.g. Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and the Consumer Price Index (CPI), using basic quantitative tools such as growth rates and index numbers.(25%).

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1- Macroeconomics: themes and measurement of the level of economic activity and the cost of living

2- The economy in the long run (LR): economic growth

3- The economy in the LR: unemployment

4- The economy in the LR: the financial system

5- The economy in the LR: money and inflation

6- The economy in the short run (SR): introduction to economic fluctuations

7- The economy in the SR: real market and IS curve

8- The economy in the SR: money market and LM curve

9- The economy in the SR: IS/LM model and stabilisation policies

10- The economy in the SR: AS/AD model.

Head Lecturer(s)

Marta Cristina Nunes Simões

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Periodic or by final exam as given in the course information: 100.0%

Bibliography

Mankiw, N. G. (2023). Principles of Economics. 10th Ed. Cengage learning.    

Lipsey, R. & Chrystal, K. A. (2020). Economics. 14th Ed. Oxford University Press.

Bernanke, B., Olekalns, N. Antonovics, R.. Heffetz, O. (2021). Principles of Macroeconomics, 8th Ed., McGraw-Hill

Krugman, Paul; Wells, Robin (2024). Macroeconomics, Seventh Edition, Macmillan learning.    

Mankiw, N. G. (2024). Macroeconomics. 12th Ed. McMillan Learning.