This course aims to explore the fundamental causes and consequences of fluctuations in macroeconomic activity. It accomplishes this by laying the groundwork of modern macroeconomic theory through an examination of the optimizing decisions undertaken by households, firms, and the government across diverse markets such as goods, labour, capital, and financial markets. This analysis is conducted within a general equilibrium framework, enabling a comprehensive study of interactions across all markets simultaneously.

■ In-person lectures: 11 x 2-hours

■ In-person tutorials 10 x 1 hour

■ Asynchronous activities 10 hours: Asynchronous activities will be integrated to support student engagement with course material and preparation of the assessments. Examples of such activities are readings from articles and other relevant sources and multimedia (e.g. videos).

None.

ILOs Covered

Reassessments are normally available for all courses, except those which contribute to the Honours classification. Where, exceptionally, reassessment on Honours courses is required to satisfy professional/accreditation requirements, only the overall course grade achieved at the first attempt will contribute to the Honours classification. For non-Honours courses, students are offered reassessment in all or any of the components of assessment if the satisfactory (threshold) grade for the overall course is not achieved at the first attempt. This is normally grade D3 for undergraduate students and grade C3 for postgraduate students. Exceptionally it may not be possible to offer reassessment of some coursework items, in which case the mark achieved at the first attempt will be counted towards the final course grade. Any such exceptions for this course are described below.

The aims of this course are to:

■ Introduce students to the micro-founded approach of modern Macroeconomics using the workhorse macroeconomic model.

■ Analyse the optimizing decisions made by households and firms in markets for goods, labour, capital, and financial assets.

■ Examine the simultaneous interactions of all markets using a general equilibrium framework.

■ Apply the theoretical understanding to the study of contemporary macroeconomic topics, including the savings rate, permanent income, and the debt crisis.

By the end of the course, students will have achieved the following:

1. Demonstrate proficiency in the analytical tools of modern macroeconomics, enabling them to comprehend the mechanisms underlying consumption, saving, asset pricing dynamics, financial crises, and optimal fiscal and monetary policy.

2. Acquire and apply a rigorous and mathematical treatment of fundamental concepts related to dynamic optimization, recursive representations of competitive equilibria, and stochastic dynamics.

3. Apply the theories discussed in class to a variety of real-world economic scenarios, enhancing their ability to analyse and address complex economic challenges.

4. Critically examine and discuss the mathematical and economic intuition of quantitative methods.

None.