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 Applied Economics
Semester: 
2022 Spring
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching language: 
English
Course type: 
One semester
Introduction

Macroeconomics is the study of the economy as a whole. The course offers an introduction to the main tools of macroeconomic policy – monetary and fiscal policy. It provides the students with analytical skills and applied insights to understand the tradeoff faced by policymakers. The course uses workhorse models used in central banks and other policy institutions and develops digital tools to help analyzing and understanding important policy problems.

Learning outcomes - Knowledge

By the end of the course, students will know

  • the tradeoffs faced by a central bank when deciding key policy rates and the gains from commitment.
  • the new policy tools – such as forward guidance and macroprudential policy – developed during and in the aftermath of the recent international financial crises.
  • what is needed for public debt to be sustainable and long-run consequences of fiscal policy.
Learning outcomes - Skills

Students will be able to:

  • analyze monetary and fiscal policy using advanced macroeconomic models.
  • calibrate and analyze models using MatLab.
General Competence

This course should lead students to reflect about the forces that influence the economy as a whole and how policy will affect macroeconomic outcomes.

Course content

The course consists of three parts:

  1. Monetary policy in the new Keynesian model.
  2. Macroprudential policy and financial stability.
  3. Fiscal policy.
Teaching and learning activities

Complementary learning tools will be used during the course. There will be tutorials with exercises in addition to lectures.

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.

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 spesific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.

Covid-19 

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there may be deviations in teaching and learning activities as well as exams, compared with what is described in this course description.

Teaching 

Information about what is taught on campus and other digital forms will be presented with the lecture plan before the start of the course each semester.

Required prerequisite knowledge

GRA 6634 Advanced Macroeconomics and GRA 6639 Business Cycles or equivalent

Assessments
Assessments
Exam category: 
Submission
Form of assessment: 
Written submission
Invigilation
Weight: 
100
Grouping: 
Individual
Support materials: 
  • Bilingual dictionary
Duration: 
3 Hour(s)
Comment: 
Written examination under supervision
Exam code: 
GRA66311
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Resit: 
Examination when next scheduled course
Type of Assessment: 
Ordinary examination
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.