The lecture imparts a broad and critical understanding of the basic concepts and theories of macroeconomics. The knowledge of the crucial macroeconomic relations enables the students to understand the reports on the current economic situation published by research institutes, central banks and so on. The students learn to follow the discussions on economic policy and to assess critically the diverging recommendations regarding fiscal and monetary policy. The students are capable of extending their knowledge on their own.
1) The birth of macroeconomics as a result of the Great Depression
2) Classical versus Keynesian school - a rough outline
3) Current and historical evolution of selected economies with special consideration of economic shocks and measures of economic policy
4) National income accounting (GDP, rate of inflation, rate of unemployment)
5) The Goods Market and alternative versions of the multiplier model
6) Financial markets and the creation of money
7) The IS-LM model (short-run effects of monetary and fiscal policy)
8) The labor market and the natural rate of unemployment
9) The AS-AD model (short-run versus medium-run effects of monetary and fiscal policy)
10) nominal and real exchange rates, uncovered interest parity equation
Lecture notes will be provided step by step; download http://www.econ.tuwien.ac.at/hof/makro-winf-vo.html (username and password will be announced via TISS-News before the first lecture). The lecture is based on selected chapters of
Blanchard, Olivier und Gerhard Illing, Makroökonomie, 6., aktualisierte Auflage, Pearson Studium, 2014 or
Olivier Blanchard, Macroeconomics, 6th edition, Prentice Hall.
