Principles of Macroeconomics

Teachers

Included in study programs

Teaching results

The aim of the course is to introduce the students to the principles of macroeconomics and functioning of the economy as a whole. The students will be able to understand the basic macroeconomic indicators and the mutual interactions between them. The students learn how the macroeconomic equilibrium is formed and what the causes and consequences of macroeconomic disequilibrium are. The course focuses on the economic role of the government, macroeconomic policies, the basic models of a closed and open economy and the international economic relations.
Knowledge:
Completion of the course enables students to master basic macroeconomic concepts and understand their macroeconomic context. The students will be able to systematize the knowledge of macroeconomics in relation to other economic disciplines.
Competences:
The students will gain the ability to think like an economist and understand macroeconomic concepts, indicators, policies and current macroeconomic issues and apply knowledge of macroeconomics to ongoing economic events.

Skills:
The students will develop the ability to search, process and analyze macroeconomic data from relevant resources and evaluate different aspects of macroeconomic development. In tutorials students will also work in teams, which will improve their abilities to work in teams. Students will improve their abilities to carry on the discussion on selected macroeconomic topics and develop their presentation skills.

Indicative content

Gross domestic product. Alternative approaches to measurement of economic performance. Aggregate demand and aggregate supply. Model AD-AS.
Consumption, savings and investment.
Economy in long-run: economic growth.
Economy in short-run: business cycle.
Money, money market and banking system.
Inflation.
Unemployment and Phillips curve.
Macroeconomic approaches to economic policy.
Fiscal policy.
Monetary policy.
International trade. International flows goods, services and capital.
Exchange rate mechanism and international monetary relations.
International economic integration.

Support literature

Compulsory literature:
1. Lisý, J. a kolektív: Ekonómia. Praha: Wolters Kluwer, 2016.
2. Rozborilová, D. a kolektív: Ekonómia praktikum. Economic Theory 2. Second edition. Bratislava: Wolters Kluwer, 2018.
Suggested readings:
1. Holman, R .: Ekonómia. 5. vydání. Praha: Nakladat. C. H. Beck. 2011. ISBN 978-80-7400-006-5.
2. Schiller, B. R .: Makroekonómie. Brno: Computer Press. 2004
3. Mankiw, N.G .: Principles of Economics. Cengage Learning; 7th edition 2014.
4. Samuelson, P. A. – Nordhaus, W. D .: Ekonómia, Bratislava: 2000.

Syllabus

LECTURES 1 WEEK Gross domestic product. Alternative ways of measuring economic performance. Aggregate demand, aggregate supply, model AD-AS Measurement of economic activity - GDP, methods of GDP calculation, nominal and real GDP. GDP imperfections and alternative ways of measuring economic performance. Definition of the terms aggregate demand and aggregate supply, factors influencing the size of AD and AS. AD-AS model as a basic model of macroeconomic balance. WEEK 2 Consumption, savings and investment Consumption as the largest component of aggregate demand. Changes in consumption and their impact on AD. Consumption function, average and marginal propensity to consume. Savings and savings function. Average and marginal propensity to save. Expenditure balance in a closed economy. Investments and their effects. Investment multiplier and its importance. WEEK 3 Long-term economy: Economic growth Economic growth, its measurement. Sources of economic growth. Ways to ensure sustainable growth. Problems of economic growth in developed and less developed countries. WEEK 4 Short-term economics: Economic cycle Economic cycle - its course, basic and boundary phases. Specifics of economic cycles in the 20th century and early 21st century. The influence of the economic cycle on changes in basic macroeconomic variables. The cycle caused by shocks on the AD side, resp. shocks on the AS side. Illustration of economic cycle phases in AD-AS model. Okun's law. WEEK 5 Money, the money market and the banking system The nature and function of money. Development of forms of money. Money supply and monetary aggregates. Money demand and basic theories of money demand and their implications. Liquidity preference theory and quantitative money theory. Forming equilibrium in the money market. Financial intermediaries - creation of bank money and multiplier of money supply. WEEK 6 Inflation Inflation and its measurement using price indices. Classification of inflation by individual forms. Expected and unexpected inflation. Demand-driven and cost-driven inflation. The cost of inflation. Deflation and its impact on the economy. WEEK 7 Unemployment and the Phillips curve Definition of basic terms (working population, workforce, employed, unemployed). Unemployment measurement. Forms of unemployment. Causes of the existence of frictional, structural and cyclical unemployment. Natural unemployment rate. Unemployment costs. Ways to solve the problem of unemployment. Phillips curve - original approach and monetarist approach. WEEK 8 Macroeconomic approaches to economic policy The concept and forms of macroeconomic economic policy. Macroeconomic economic policy objectives. Domestic and supranational entities of macroeconomic economic policy. The concept of the magic n-gon. Demand-oriented macroeconomic policy and supply-oriented macroeconomic policy. Approaches of individual theoretical schools in preferring economic policy goals. WEEK 9 Fiscal policy Fiscal policy. National budget. State budget revenues and expenditures. State budget deficit and state debt. Objectives and transmission mechanism of fiscal policy. Stabilization fiscal policy and the use of automatic stabilizers. Discrete fiscal policy measures. Extrusion effect. Short-term and long-term effects of fiscal policy in the AD-AS model. Fiscal multipliers. WEEK 10 Monetary policy Monetary policy objectives. The position and role of the central bank in the economy. Types of monetary policy. Monetary policy transmission mechanism. Indirect monetary policy instruments - open market operations, minimum reserves, key CB interest rates and foreign exchange market interventions. Short-term and long-term effects of monetary policy in the AD-AS model. WEEK 11 International Trade. International movement of goods, services and capital International trade - the essence, causes of the existence of international trade. Theories of international trade - theory of absolute and comparative costs. Free trade and economic efficiency. Liberal vs. protectionist foreign trade policy. Protectionist trade policy instruments - tariffs and quotas and their effects on the efficiency of resource allocation. International capital movements - foreign direct investment and portfolio investment. Balance of payments and its importance. Balance of payments structure. WEEK 12 Exchange rate mechanism and international monetary relations. International economic integration Exchange rate - nominal and real exchange rate. Exchange rate formation, basic exchange rate systems, their advantages and disadvantages. Demand and supply by currency in the foreign exchange market. Factors influencing demand and supply in the foreign exchange market. Purchasing power parity theory. International economic integration and its forms. Development and current state of international economic integration within the EU. WEEK 13 Final summary and repetition of the most important topics ______________________________________________________________ SEMINARS 1 WEEK Introductory seminar Familiarization with the content of the subject and the conditions of evaluation. Introduction to working with databases of statistical offices and international organizations. WEEK 2 Gross domestic product. Alternative ways of measuring economic performance. Aggregate demand, aggregate supply, model AD-AS Measurement of economic activity - GDP, methods of its calculation, nominal and real GDP. Gross domestic product statistics in selected countries. GDP imperfections and alternative ways of expressing economic prosperity. WEEK 3 Consumption, savings and investment Consumption - autonomous, dependent on pension. Consumption function. Savings and savings function. Average and marginal propensity to consume and save. Private, public and national savings. Equilibrium model in the market of financial resources - balance of savings and investments. WEEK 4 Long-term economy: Economic growth Statistical comparison of living standards of selected countries. The role of labor productivity and sources of its growth. Possibilities of measuring economic growth and its impact on living standards. WEEK 5 Short-term economics: Economic cycle Economic growth versus economic cycle. The model of aggregate demand and aggregate supply and its importance in explaining cyclical fluctuations. Use of statistics in economic cycle analysis. Identification of shocks in the AD-AS model WEEK 6 Money, banking system and money market Money, monetary aggregates and their importance in the economy. Statistical data on monetary aggregates in selected countries. Quantitative theory of money and the equation of exchange. The relationship between the amount of money and the price level. Fractional banking - a money multiplier and the creation of bank money. WEEK 7 Inflation Price indices, their importance in measuring price level changes and the application of knowledge using statistical data. Causes of inflation, its forms and costs of inflation. Demand-driven and cost-driven inflation in the AD-AS model. WEEK 8 Unemployment and the Phillips curve Population distribution in the economy and its importance in measuring the unemployment rate, employment and economic activity using statistics. Causes and possibilities of solving the frictional, structural and cyclical unemployment rate. Natural unemployment rate. Short-term choice between inflation and unemployment - Phillips curve. WEEK 9 Fiscal policy Implementation of expansionary and restrictive fiscal policy in the AD-AS model. Fiscal policy instruments. Fiscal multipliers and the crowding-out effect of private investment. Analysis of fiscal policy responses based on taxes and government expenditures. WEEK 10 Monetary policy Implementation of expansionary and restrictive monetary policy in the AD-AS model. Monetary policy instruments. The European Central Bank, its instruments and the implementation of monetary policy. Analysis of the central bank's reactions to demand and supply shocks in AD-AS. WEEK 11 Final written work. Presentation of a case study in the form of teamwork, discussion WEEK 12 International Trade. International movement of goods, services and capital Theory of absolute and comparative advantages. Graphic analysis of importing and exporting economies. Tariffs and quotas - tools of government protectionist trade policy. Balance of payments and its components. WEEK 13 Exchange rate mechanism and international monetary relations. International economic integration. Exchange rate - nominal and real exchange rate. Graphic analysis of the formation of equilibrium in the foreign exchange market. Basic exchange rate systems - causes and consequences of overvalued and undervalued exchange rates. International economic integration. Corrective date of the final written work.

Requirements to complete the course

individual work, written test, written exam
Seminars 40 %, of which:
Activity at the seminar 15 %
Elaboration and presentation of a case study 10 %
Written tests from quantitative and graphic tasks 15 %
Result of the final written exam

Student workload

156 hours of which:
Face to face instruction - lectures: 26 hours
Face to face instruction - seminars: 26 hours
Preparation for seminars: 13 hours
Preparation of a team case study: 18 hours
Preparation for written tests: 21 hours
Preparation for the final exam: 52 hours

Date of approval: 13.02.2023

Date of the latest change: 22.06.2022