Graduate Level Intermediate Macroeconomics

The first 4 weeks of class

Be sure to download and install the open source econometric software gretl … here.  See the next PPT frame. 

We will begin the class by looking at the most important problem in macroeconomic today ….secular stagnation. The original idea aofsecular stagnation began with the views of Alvin Hansen in 1938. 

Secular stagnation has been discussed bySummers, Krugman, Gordon, Rogoff, andBernanke. Gordon has an excellent video onhis TED talk.

http://larrysummers.com/category/secular‐stagnation/

The week after secular stagnation, we will review pre‐1936 macroeconomic theory.  This includes Ricardo, Walras, Wicksell, Hayek, and Keynes. Their pictures and most important works are on the next PPT frame. 

The week after pre‐1936 macroeconomictheory we will consider Keynes' GeneralTheory of Employment, Interest, andMoney.

The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money was written by the English economist John Maynard Keynes. The book, generally considered to be his magnum opus, is largely credited with creating the terminology and shape of modern macroeconomics.[1] Published in February 1936, it sought to bring about a revolution, commonly referred to as the "Keynesian Revolution", in the way some economists believe. Especially in relation to the proposition that a market economy tends naturally to restore itself to full employment after temporary shocks.Regarded widely as the cornerstone of Keynesian thought, the book challenged the established classical economics and introduced important concepts such as the consumption function, the multiplier, the marginal efficiency of capital, the principle of effective demand and liquidity preference.

1936

There are modern theoretical and empiricalframeworks to macroeconomics, but these are quitecomplicated mathematically, and they often do notshed much light on the real problems ofmacroeconomics. They are generally not very usefulfor intuition and do not help us to think clearly andlogically about the structure of macroeconomicproblems. However, they are very precise and theycan be tested using data.

General Equilibrium ‐ Theoretical Frameworks

(1)  Ramsey Model

(2)  Solow Growth Model

(3)  Overlapping Generations Model

General Equilibrium ‐ Empirical Frameworks

(1)  Simultaneous Equations Models

(2)   Structural VAR Models

(3)  Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) Models

Modern Approaches to Macroeconomics

This is your suggested text. Itwas published in 2013, butnewer versions have modifiedthe book to account for changesin the way that dynamicmacroeconomics is taught tomake it more in line withcontemporary economic policy.

The authors of the text

The Table of Contents (partial)