GraSPP
東京大学公共政策大学院Life at an IFI: Understanding, Designing and Debating Macroeconomic Policy
Instructors
西沢 利郎／Jerald Schiff
Term / Language / Credits
A2 / English / 2
Objectives
This course will provide students with an overview of the type of work undertaken at an international financial institution such as the IMF. Lectures will analyze key macroeconomic linkages and use this framework to discuss prominent issues facing the global economy. In this context, the role and effectiveness of global financial institutions, including the IMF, World Bank and G-20, will also be considered. Students will have the opportunity to produce policy memos on a macroeconomic issue of their choice and to engage in mock job interviews for a position at an international financial institution.
Keywords
financial programming, global economy, G20, IMF, international financial institution, macroeconomic policy, World Bank
Schedule
Day 1
Class 1. Macroeconomic linkages. This class will present a simplified and mainly qualitative version of the IMF's financial programming framework, to emphasize the links between growth, inflation, exchange rates and external imbalances.
Class 2. The role of macroeconomic policies. How do fiscal, monetary and exchange rate policies affect macroeconomic performance? This class will provide an overview of these issues, looking both at short-term demand management and the longer-term issue of sustainable growth.
Day 2
Policy memos. Students will be given a list of potential policy issues to serve as the basis of 2-page memos. They can also choose their own topic subject to professor's approval.
Class 3. Economic crises. This class will review the theory of current and capital account crises, look at several real world examples and discuss policies needed to prevent or cope with such crises.
Class 4. Spillovers. National policies have an impact not only domestically, but also on other countries via both trade and financial links. This class will provide a framework for examining policy spillovers, and examine some individual cases, including the impact of China's growth strategy on the global economy, and the Global Financial Crisis.
Day 3
Policy memos. By the start of Day 3, students should choose their topics and, if necessary, have them approved.
Class 5. Global economic governance and the role of the IMF. In an interconnected global economy, what role do international economic institutions play? This class will describe the framework for global economic governance, with emphasis on the role of the IMF, and will examine some critiques of the current governance framework.
Class 6. Guided discussion of case studies I. Utilizing the concepts from the first five classes, the class will discuss one or two current macroeconomic cases. These cases (see also Class 7) will be chosen to be timely and generalizable, and could include, for example, Greece or Ukraine, an advanced economy (perhaps Japan under Abenomics) and/or a low income country.
Policy memos. After class, students will have an opportunity to discuss their policy memos with the professor.
Day 4
Class 7. Guided discussion of case studies II. See above.
Class 8. Macroeconomic policy writing. Utilizing course readings for classes 6 and 7, and perhaps others, we will cover some good and bad examples of policy writing. We will develop basic principles that can be applied to the assigned policy memo.
Day 5
Class 9. Macroeconomic policy writing. See above.
Class 10. Macroeconomic policy writing. See above.
Students will also have an opportunity to discuss their draft policy memos with the professor.
Day 6 (Extended office hours)
Students will have scheduled 15-minute mock job interviews at an IFI. Similar to an IMF Economist Program interview, they will be asked to discuss current economic issues, with emphasis on discussing within a coherent framework and emphasizing economic linkages.
Draft policy memos would be due by the end of the day.
Teaching Methods
The first five classes will be lectures, although ample opportunity will be provided for questions and discussion. Classes 6 and 7 will be more interactive, with students expected to take and defend positions. One possibility would be to divide the class in half and organize debates around one case study for each class. Classes 8-10 would include some lecture elements around principles of good policy/memo writing, but would primarily focus on discussions of assigned readings and would also provide an opportunity for students to raise questions about their own policy memos. The last day would be a series of one-on-one meetings.
Grading
Course grades will be based on (i) the policy memo (50 percent); (ii) the mock interview (30 percent); and participation in the guided discussions (20 percent).
Required Textbook
It is not anticipated that there would be any required text. Instead readings will be chosen primarily from academic papers, articles in economics and finance media (e.g. the Financial Times), and reports of international financial institutions (e.g. IMF staff reports). All readings will be available on the web.
Reference Books
None