Admission requirements
This course is only available for students in the BA International Studies.
Limited places are also open for exchange students. Please note: this course takes place in The Hague.
Description
This course is designed to introduce students in the BA International Studies to the major concepts, principles, and models of introductory macroeconomics. The course will familiarize students with the central concepts and applications of economics, equip them with the necessary tools to apply these concepts to economic trends in the global economy, and set a foundation on which students may build their capacity in assessing local, regional, and international economic affairs.
Course objectives
By the end of this course students will have a thorough understanding of the most important macroeconomic issues and mechanisms. They will get accustomed to economic key terms like the invisible hand, market failure, GDP, CPI, equilibrium price and labour productivity. This knowledge will enable students to gain insights into most economic problems, issues and debates. They will be able to read not only the economic pages of newspapers and weeklies like for example the International Herald Tribune, the Financial Times, or the Economist but more importantly, they should obtain sufficient skills to analyse economics-related literature and learn how to interpret data sets on such things as trade flows and inflation rates concerning the region that they study from year 2 onwards.
Timetable
The timetable is available on the BA International Studies website
Mode of instruction
One two hour lecture per week; bi-weekly tutorials. Lectures are held every week, with the exception of the midterm exam week. Weekly lectures will cover both issues discussed in the readings, and issues outside of the readings.
Attending all tutorial sessions is compulsory. If you are unable to attend a session, please inform the tutor of the course in advance, providing a valid reason for your absence. Being absent without notification and valid reason or not being present at half or more of the tutorial sessions will mean your assignments will not be assessed, and result in a 1.0 for the tutorial (30% of the final grade).
Course Load
Total course load for this course is 5 EC (1 EC = 28 hours), this equals 140 hours, broken down by:
Atending lectures: 2 hours per week x 12 weeks: 24 hrs
Atending attending tutorials 2 hours per two weeks: 12 hrs
Assessment hours (midterms and final exam): 4 hrs
Time for studying the compulsory literature: 64 hrs
Time for completing assignments, preparation classes and exams: 36 hrs
Assessment method
Assessment and weighing
This course is divided into two parts: lectures and tutorials.
I. Tutorials (participation and assignments) 30%
II. Mid-semester examination 30%
III. Final examination 40%
The examinations include closed questions, and short, open questions.
Resit
If the final grade is insufficient (lower than a 6), there is the possibility of retaking the full 70% of the exam material, replacing both the earlier mid- and endterm grades. No resit for the tutorials is possible.
To pass the course, the average of mid- and end term exams (70%) has to be 5.5 at least.
Blackboard
Blackboard will be used. For tutorial groups: please enroll in blackboard after your enrolment in uSis
Students are requested to register on Blackboard for this course.
Reading list
Required Text
Paul Krugman & Robin Wells, Macroeconomics, 4th edition, 2015
Tentative possible lecture topics (subject to change prior to class start. Please refer to updated syllabus on Blackboard):
What is Economics?
Supply and Demand
Meddling with Markets
International Trade
Economic Performance
Long-run Economic Growth
Savings, Income, Investment, and Finance
Aggregate Demand, Aggregate Supply, and Crises
Fiscal Policy and Keynesian Economics
Money, Banking, and Monetary Policy
Open Economy
Summary and Review
Registration
Enrolment through uSis is mandatory.
General information about uSis is available in English and Dutch
Registration Studeren à la carte and Contractonderwijs
Not applicable
Contact
For tutorials
Dr. C.A. Ennis
Dr. S. Shibata
Remarks
Students are advised to familiarize themselves with Leiden University’s policies on plagiarism:
http://www.regulations.leiden.edu/education-students/plagiarism.html
Violations of academic integrity will be met with severe penalties.