Course convenor
Miklos Almasi
Course content
The objective of this course is to introduce students to current economic theory, with a particular emphasis on macroeconomics. The theoretical knowledge covered by the course ranges from basic economic theory to current macroeconomic debates. Topics discussed in formal lectures and seminars include the business cycle, development of prices, wages, consumption and economic equilibrium, with a special focus on the present crisis and crisis-economy. In particular, we will look at investment decisions, models of money demand, rational expectations as well as the dynamics of interest rates and the price level. Beyond theoretical knowledge, the course aims to develop skills of modern business reporting and journalistic business analysis. During the course students will learn to analyze day-to-day business reports using articles from the Financial Times, The Economist, WSJ and other leading papers. The course is based partly on workshops, although every class – as indicated – is introduced by a formal lecture on key theoretical questions.
Indicative reading
Samuelson: Economics.
Mankiw, Gregory: Macroeconics, Worth Publ. 1997.
Stiglitz, Joseph: Globalization and its Discontents, NY, 2003
Shiller, Robert, J.: Irrational Exuberance, Princeton, 2000.