GRA 6631 Macroeconomic Policy

GRA 6631 Macroeconomic Policy

Course code: 
GRA 6631
Department: 
Economics
Credits: 
6
Course coordinator: 
Tommy Sveen
Course name in Norwegian: 
Macroeconomic Policy
Product category: 
Master
Portfolio: 
MSc in Business - Economics
Semester: 
2019 Spring
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching language: 
English
Course type: 
One semester
Introduction

This course is a graduate level course in about macroeconomic policy. It covers three main topics: monetary policy, macroprudential policy and fiscal policy.

Learning outcomes - Knowledge

Theoretical and applied coverage of macroeconomic policy. Quantitative models for analyzing monetary policy, macroprudential policy and fiscal policy. Special attention on goals and targets for monetary policy, on  trade-offs for monetary policy and gains from commitment, on the importance of credit for understanding business cycles and implications for policy, and on budget deficits and fiscal policy.

Learning outcomes - Skills

The course enables students to analyze and understand macroeconomic policy and thereby several macroeconomic variables of interest to the financial industry, large cooporations and the general public.

The course gives the students the ability to analyze monetary policy, macroprudential policy and fiscal policy. What are the key objectives for policy, what are the key tradeoffs and what are the implications for macroeconomic variables?

Students will get tools to evaluate macroeconomic policy and assess the extent to which policy has been appropriate given goals for policy and outcome of macroeconomic variables.

Learning Outcome - Reflection

Ability to think critically through the trade-offs faced by macroeconomic policy makers. Ability to apply theoretical and applied knowledge from earlier courses - both in macroeconomics and in microeconomics - to analyze macroeconomic policy issues.

Course content

1. Introduction.

2. Monetary policy

  • Operating procedures in monetary policymaking.
  • Monetary policy in the new Keynesian model.
  • Forward guidance.

3. Financial stability and macroprudential policy

  • Banks and credit
  • Macroprudential regulation
  • Inflation targeting and financial stability

4. Fiscal policy

  • The government budget constraint and Ricardian equivalence
  • Sustainable public debt
  • Tax-smoothing
Learning process and requirements to students

Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class that is not included on the course homepage/It's learning or text book.

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component is graded by using points on a scale from 0-100. The components will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the examination code (course). Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam elements will get a lower grade or may fail the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades when the course start.

At resit, all exam components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course.

Software tools
Matlab
Qualifications

All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.

Required prerequisite knowledge

GRA 6634 Advanced Macroeconomics and GRA 6639 Business Cycles or equivalent

Assessments
Assessments
Exam category: 
Activity
Form of assessment: 
Presentation
Weight: 
20
Grouping: 
Group (4 - 6)
Exam code: 
GRA66311
Grading scale: 
Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade
Resit: 
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Written submission
Invigilation
Weight: 
80
Grouping: 
Individual
Support materials: 
  • BI-approved exam calculator
  • Simple calculator
  • Bilingual dictionary
Duration: 
3 Hour(s)
Comment: 
Written examination under supervision
Exam code: 
GRA66311
Grading scale: 
Point scale leading to ECTS letter grade
Resit: 
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Exam organisation: 
Continuous assessment
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Total weight: 
100
Sum workload: 
0

A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.