Overview
This course is designed to equip business executives with a comprehensive understanding of current macroeconomic events and the ability to forecast future trends, thereby enhancing their critical decision-making skills as business leaders.
EMEB 610 introduces macroeconomic theories and concepts to develop an understanding of the functioning of the economy, the interdependence of economies worldwide, and recent global economic events. It discusses analyses of goods, labour, and financial markets and their outcomes in terms of important macroeconomic variables such as income, consumption, investment, employment, the interest rate, and inflation. The course also covers analyses of changes in those markets in the short and medium runs, with the aim of developing an understanding of business cycle fluctuations, economic calamities (such as currency, banking, and debt crises), and the effects of fiscal and monetary policies on employment, output, the rate of inflation, and national welfare.
The course also introduces how the domestic economy interacts with foreign economies in a world where international trade and capital movements for business investments across national borders are crucial. It develops an understanding of how critical macroeconomic variables, including income, investment, interest rates, and inflation, are determined by trade, capital movements, and investment occurring across national borders. In this context, the course also discusses the foreign exchange market, the determination of the exchange rate for currencies, and the roles of several financial instruments in determining the outcomes in the domestic and foreign economies.
Outline
This course is divided into 10 lessons:
- Lesson 1: A Tour of the World; Tracking the Macroeconomy (Methods of Measuring GDP and Related Aspects); and the Goods Market
- Lesson 2: The Financial Market and How It Interacts with the Goods Market
- Lesson 3: Goods and Financial Markets in an Open Economy
- Lesson 4: The Labour Market, Inflation, and Unemployment
- Lesson 5: Slumps, Depressions, and Financial Crises
- Lesson 6: Expectations in Financial Markets and Output Determination
- Lesson 7: Monetary Policy
- Lesson 8: Fiscal Policy
- Lesson 9: Foreign Exchange Markets
- Lesson 10: An Introduction to International Financial Markets and Instruments
Learning outcomes
By the end of this course, students should be able to develop an understanding of
- several alternative ways of measuring the aggregate volume of production of an economy.
- analyses of goods, labour, and financial markets and an understanding of how the economy works when all these markets are put together.
- inflation and its relationship with the aggregate employment, money supply, and rate of interest.
- the role of people’s expectations and biases in the determination of consumption, investment, and financial market outcomes, including bubbles and fads.
- analyses of the goods and financial markets in an open-economy setting and their relationships with the exchange rate.
- depressions, slumps, and currency, banking, and debt crises.
- stabilizing the economy with fiscal and monetary policies.
- the foreign exchange market, the exchange rate, and the roles of financial instruments in the international financial market.
Evaluation
Your grade will be based on the successful completion of the weekly discussions, two group projects, and the comprehensive individual assignment.
| Activity | Weight |
| Weekly Applied Problems | |
| Your solution | 9% |
| Discussions/comments on at least two solutions from others | 6% |
| Weekly Discussions | |
| Your initial post | 9% |
| Discussions/comments on others’ posts | 6% |
| Group Project 1 | |
| Submitted assignment | 10% |
| Participation, as reflected in the peer evaluations** | 5% |
| Group Project 2 | |
| Submitted assignment | 10% |
| Participation, as reflected in the peer evaluations** | 5% |
| Comprehensive Individual Assignment | 40% |
| Total | 100% |
To receive a passing grade in this course, you must meet these minimum standards:
- an average grade of at least 60% on the applied problems,
- an average grade of at least 60% on the discussions,
- an average grade of 60% on the group projects, and
- a grade of at least 60% on the comprehensive individual assignment.
Materials
Digital course materials
Links to the following course materials will be made available in the course:
Blanchard, B. (2024). Macroeconomics (9th ed.). Pearson Canada.
Other reading materials are to be determined.