Macroeconomics for Public Policy

Instructors

SUNAKAWA Takeki

Term / Language / Credits

S1S2 / English / 4

Objectives

This course is designed to provide a fundamental knowledge of macroeconomics to students who study public policy and/or will learn macroeconomics for the first time.
The course is largely divided into two parts. In the first half, first we will learn some basic concepts regarding macroeconomic data, such as GDP and its component and measuring inflation. Then we will cover the basic theory which focuses on the economy in the long-run. The topics we cover are as follows: The fact and theory of economic growth; the financial system related to macroeconomic saving and investment; unemployment; the role of money and banking; the long-run relationship between money and inflation.
In the second half of the course, we will focus on the short-run fluctuation of the economy. We will learn the standard IS-LM and AS-AD models for analyzing the economy in the short-run. Using the models, we will analyze the role of monetary and fiscal policies on the aggregate demand, and short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment. Finally we will also follow the basic concepts in open macroeconomics, such as exchange rate behavior and Mundell-Fleming model.
We also apply the theories we learn to understand current global macroeconomic issues. The topics we will cover are, for example, economic growth and inequality, social security reform, unconventional monetary policies, sustainability of currency union, etc.

Keywords

Macroeconomics, Economic growth, Saving and investment, Money, Inflation, Unemployment, Monetary and fiscal policies, Open economy macroeconomics

Schedule

1. Macroeconomic data
2. Economic growth
3. Financial system, saving and investment
4. Unemployment
5. Money and inflation
6. Aggregate demand and supply
7. Monetary and fiscal policies
8. Short-run tradeoff between inflation and unemployment
9. Open economy macroeconomics

Teaching Methods

Lectures will be taught in English.
Students can download lecture notes from the following website:
https://sites.google.com/site/takekisunakawa/teaching

Grading

Take-home Exams (Problem sets) (20%)
Mid-term Exam (40%)
Final Exam (40%)

Required Textbook

Mankiw, N. Gregory, Principles of Economics, 6th International ed. (paperback). South-Western Cengage Learning. ISBN-13: 978-0-538-45342-4

Reference Books

Mankiw, N. Gregory, Principles of Macroeconomics, 6th International ed. (paperback). South-Western Cengage Learning. ISBN-13: 978-0-538-45338-7
Mankiw, N. Gregory, Macroeconomics, 8th ed. W.H.Freeman & Co Ltd
Jones, Charles I., Macroeconomics, 3rd ed. W. W. Norton & Company.

Notes on Taking the Course

It is strongly recommended to take the Practice Session for Macroeconomics for Public Policy at the same time.

Related Websites

https://sites.google.com/site/takekisunakawa/teaching

Related Resources