Category Archives: Teaching

“Macroeconomics II,” Bern, Fall 2009

MA course at the University of Bern.

Lectures and exercises follow these notes (December 1, 2009). Dates and times: Wed 10-12 and 14-16. Rooms: See university course site. Exam date, time, location: December 16, 2009; 14-16; A 003 UniS, Schanzeneckstrasse 1. Last year’s exam. Office hours arranged individually, after the lectures.

Why study this material? Some observers claim that the recent crisis points to a failure of economics and in particular, macroeconomics. It is argued that macroeconomic models are based on unrealistic assumptions and that modelers are driven by a desire to build abstract, formally appealing rather than empirically relevant models. Much of this criticism is unwarranted and reflects ignorance about the state of economic research. The modeling kit of economists far exceeds the baseline, frictionless models that are taught at the entry level of Master or PhD studies and against much of the current criticism is directed. For example, contractual or informational frictions—central to understanding the recent crisis—are the focus of a significant body of research in macroeconomics and other fields, past and present. Good Master or PhD programs teach models focusing on such frictions at the advanced level. But for students to be able to follow richer models with such “realistic” frictions, they must be familiar with the basic concepts, and these basic concepts are best taught in the context of simple, to-the-point baseline models. One may criticize the selection of models taught in advanced Master or PhD courses (as does Paul Krugman in the New York Times); the more fundamental critique against economics and in particular, macroeconomics does not make much sense.

“Macroeconomics II,” Bern, Fall 2008

MA course at the University of Bern.

Lectures and exercises follow these notes (December 10, 2008). Dates; times; rooms (206 is in the main building, A222 is in UniS): September 17; 10-12, 14-15; 206 — September 24; 10-12, 14-15; A222 — October 1; 10-12, 13-15; A222 — October 8; 10-12, 13-15; A222 — October 15; 10-12, 13-15; A222 — October 22; 10-12, 13-15; A222 — October 29; 10-12, 14-15; 206 — November 5; 10-12, 13-15; A222 — November 26; 13-15; A222 — December 3; 10-12, 14-15; 206 — December 10; 10-12, 14-15; 206 — December 17; 10-12; 13-15; A222. Exam: Monday, January 5, 2009; 10-12; HS 205 (main building). Office hours arranged on an individual basis, after the lectures. University course site.

“Macroeconomics I,” Stockholm, Spring 2005

PhD course in the Stockholm Doctoral Program.

SU’s official course page. The unofficial, but—in case of doubt—relevant course page is the one you are looking at. Syllabus, January 23. Schedule: Classes held on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 9–11 a.m. in these rooms. Approximately one topic per meeting. Problem sets: distributed and discussed by the TA, Martin Bech Holte. Course requirements: To pass the exam (which builds on the material covered in class).

“Macroeconomics I,” Stockholm, Spring 2004

PhD course in the Stockholm Doctoral Program.

SU’s official course page. The unofficial, but—in case of doubt—relevant course page is the one you are looking at. Syllabus. Schedule: Classes held on Tuesday and Thursday from 9–11 a.m. in these rooms. Approximately one topic per meeting. Problem sets: distributed and discussed by the TA, Emanuel Kohlscheen. Course requirements: To pass the exam (which builds on the material covered in class).

“Macroeconomics I,” Stockholm, Spring 2003

PhD course in the Stockholm Doctoral Program.

SU’s official course page. The unofficial, but—in case of doubt—relevant course page is the one you are looking at. Syllabus. Schedule: Classes held on Tuesday and Thursday from 9–11 a.m. in these rooms. No class on February 11. Approximately one topic per meeting. Problem sets: distributed and discussed by the TA, Daria Finocchiaro. Course requirements: To pass the exam (which builds on the material covered in class) (90% of grade), and to hand in all (except at most one) problem sets in time (10% of grade).

Some links: Jordi Gali’s “New Perspectives …” paper as mentioned in the syllabus, in PDF. For those interested in methods to solve various optimal savings problems: Christopher Carroll’s website with notes and Mathematica code. For those interested in recursive methods: Thomas Sargent’s website with Matlab code. Paul Krugman’s opinions on macroeconomic policy issues, as published in the New York Times.

“Macroeconomics I,” Stockholm, Spring 2002

PhD course in the Stockholm Doctoral Program.

SU’s official course page. The unofficial, but—in case of doubt—relevant course page is the one you are looking at. Syllabus (January 14, 2002). Schedule: Classes held on Tuesday and Thursday from 9–11 a.m. in these rooms. Approximately one topic per meeting. Problem sets: Link to Thomas Eisensee’s page. Course requirements: To pass the exam (which builds on the material covered in class), and to hand in all (except at most one) problem sets in time. Exam: Date: March 18. Last year’s exam (note that in this year’s course we covered only half of the material tested in the old exam). The exam is graded. Sketchy solutions are available outside my office.

Some links: Jordi Gali’s “New Perspectives …” paper as mentioned in the syllabus, in PDF. For those interested in methods to solve various optimal savings problems: Christopher Carroll’s website with notes and Mathematica code. For those interested in recursive methods: Thomas Sargent’s website with Matlab code. Paul Krugman’s opinions on macroeconomic policy issues, as published in the New York Times.

“Macroeconomics I,” Stockholm, Spring 2001

PhD course in the Stockholm Doctoral Program, joint with Fabrizio Zilibotti.

SU’s official course page. The unofficial, but—in case of doubt—relevant course pages are: Fabrizio Zilibotti’s page for his part of the course and this page for my part of the course. Syllabus. Schedule: Approximately one topic (of the seven that I teach) per meeting. Excellent problem sets are posted on Gino Gancia’s page. Pay-as-you-go in OLG: correction. Exam: Make sure that you understand and are able to apply the concepts that we covered in class. My objective is to ask questions that require some thinking but no high tech at all.