Macroeconomics: An Introduction (Online)

Unit 1: Useful tools and concepts

• Lecture: Tools, concepts and what economies do
• Our tools for understanding
• Economic tradeoffs
• The role of markets
• The four essential economic activities

Unit 2: Supply and demand

• Lecture: Supply and demand
• Markets and macroeconomics
• The theory of supply, demand and market adjustment
• Real-world markets

Unit 3: Macroeconomic measurement: The current approach

• Lecture: The current approach to macroeconomic measurement
• GDP: Measuring a country’s aggregate behaviour
• GDP: Calculating its value
• Growth, price changes and real GDP
• Savings, investment and trade

Unit 4: Macroeconomic Useful tools and concepts measurement: Environmental and social dimensions

• Lecture: Environmental and social dimensions of macroeconomic measurement
• Accounting for the environment
• Measuring household production
• Measuring economic well-being

Unit 5: Employment and unemployment

• Lecture: Employment and unemployment
• Measuring employment and unemployment
• Types and theories of unemployment
• Employment, unemployment and well-being

Unit 6: Aggregate demand and economic fluctuations

• Lecture: Aggregate demand and economic fluctuations
• The business cycle
• Aggregate demand
• The Keynesian model

Unit 7: Fiscal policy

• Lecture: Fiscal policy
• The role of government spending and taxes
• Budgets, deficits and policy issues
• The international sector

Unit 8: Monetary and monetary policy

• Lecture: Money and monetary policy
• Lecture: The global credit crunch of 2008 and its aftermath
• The theory of money, prices and inflation
• Complications and policy controversies

Unit 9: Aggregate supply, aggregate demand and inflation: putting it all together

• Lecture: Aggregate supply, aggregate demand and inflation
• Inflation and aggregate demand equilibrium
• Capacity and the aggregate supply response
• Putting the ASR/ADE model to work
• Competing theories and stabilisation and sustainability

Unit 10: Finance, trade and investment

• Lecture: Finance, trade and investment
• Macroeconomics in a global context
• The case for ‘free trade’
• Why nations often resist ‘free trade’
• International finance

We strongly recommend that you try to find a little time each week to engage in the online conversations (at times that are convenient to you) as the forums are an integral, and very rewarding, part of the course and the online learning experience.

To participate in this course you will need to have regular access to the Internet and you will need to buy the following book:

Goodwin, N., Nelson, J.A., and Harris, J., Macroeconomics in Context 2nd edition (M.E. Sharpe, 2014)

or

Goodwin, N., Harris, J., Nelson, J., Rajkarnikar, P., Roach, B., Torras, M. (2018), Macroeconomics in Context, 3rd Edition, Routledge

The 3rd edition or the 2nd edition of the book can be used.

To earn credit (CATS points) for your course you will need to register and pay an additional £10 fee for each course you enrol on. You can do this by ticking the relevant box at the bottom of the enrolment form or when enrolling online. If you do not register when you enrol, you have up until the course start date to register and pay the £10 fee.

See more information on CATS point

Coursework is an integral part of all online courses and everyone enrolled will be expected to do coursework, but only those who have registered for credit will be awarded CATS points for completing work at the required standard. If you are enrolled on the Certificate of Higher Education you need to indicate this on the enrolment form but there is no additional registration fee.

Assignments are not graded but are marked either pass or fail.

All students who successfully complete this course, whether registered for credit or not, are eligible for a Certificate of Completion. Completion consists of submitting the final course assignment. Certificates will be available, online, for those who qualify after the course finishes.

You will be set two pieces of work for the course. The first of 500 words is due halfway through your course. This does not count towards your final outcome but preparing for it, and the feedback you are given, will help you prepare for your assessed piece of work of 1,500 words due at the end of the course. The assessed work is marked pass or fail.

English Language Requirements

We do not insist that applicants hold an English language certification, but warn that they may be at a disadvantage if their language skills are not of a comparable level to those qualifications listed on our website. If you are confident in your proficiency, please feel free to enrol. For more information regarding English language requirements please follow this link: https://www.conted.ox.ac.uk/about/english-language-requirements

FHEQ level 4, 10 weeks, approx 10 hours per week, therefore a total of about 100 study hours.