MACROECONOMICS 2

This course belongs to the fundamentals teaching activities of the Master programme in "Economics and Finance" curriculum "Economics - QEM". The course focuses on short-run to medium-run macroeconomic phenomena and thus presents the main conceptual tools necessary for their analysis, with a particular emphasis on financial frictions. The aim of the course is to acquaint students with the set of concepts, tools, and techniques used in modern dynamic macroeconomics and to explain the central mechanisms through which financial variables, especially credit and asset prices (stock, bond, and currency prices), interact with macroeconomic variables such as consumption, investment, and GDP over the business cycle and during financial crises.

Regular and active participation in teaching activities offered by the course and individual study enable students to:

- analyze intertemporal dynamic optimization choices;
- analyze the role of uncertainty, complete/incomplete markets, assumptions on individual preferences in determining consumption and saving choices, and asset values;
- compare the different ways used by macro-financial economists to give value to money and understand their consequences;
- analyze the double interaction between macro and financial variables;
- analyze financial crises and the design macroeconomic policies.

Part A
Probability and Statistics, Optimization, Macroeconomics I, Microeconomics I

Part B builds on Part A. Furthermore you are expected to be comfortable with basic undergraduate course in theory of finance and econometrics.

Part A
- Dynamic programming under uncertainty
- Search, matching, and unemployment
- Exchange economies with complete markets
- Incomplete markets and Bewley models
- Benchmark monetary theories

Part B
- Microfoundations of financial frictions
- The balance-sheet channel, the lending channel, and macroeconomic activity
- Macroeconomic implications of financial frictions in dynamic settings
- Evidence on the macroeconomic consequences of financial frictions
- Financial crises, systemic risk, and financial stability (if time allows)

Part A
- Ljungqvist and Sargent, “Recursive Macroeconomic Theory”, MIT Press. [selected chapters]

Part B
- Ljungqvist and Sargent (2014), “Recursive Macroeconomic Theory”, MIT Press. [selected chapters]
- Tirole (2010), "Theory of Corporate Finance", Princeton University Press [selected chapters]
- Selected academic papers

In each academic year, there are 4 exam sessions. The first session takes place right after the end of the course. It is articulated in a midterm written exam on the contents of Part A, a final written exam on the contents of Part B, and in a group assignment. The final evaluation is obtained as a weighted average of these three parts. The remaining sessions (from June until January) consist of a single comprehensive examination on the full contents of the course. Questions and exercises are chosen to test whether students have acquired the knowledge about the foundations of the macro-financial analysis and the ability to apply to concepts to the analysis of macro-financial phenomena.

The course follows a rather conventional teaching approach, based on lectures, tutorial sessions, and discussions.

English

Accessibility, Disability and Inclusion
Accommodation and support services for students with disabilities and students with specific learning impairments

Ca' Foscari abides by Italian Law (Law 17/1999; Law 170/2010) regarding support services and accommodation available to students with disabilities. This includes students with mobility, visual, hearing and other disabilities (Law 17/1999), and specific learning impairments (Law 170/2010). If you have a disability or impairment that requires accommodations (i.e., alternate testing, readers, note takers or interpreters) please contact the Disability and Accessibility Offices in Student Services: disabilita@unive.it.

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