Warsaw School of Economics
Macroeconomics II
Michal Gradzewicz, PhD
Winter semester 2021/2022
Main textbook:
Burda, Wyplosz, Macroeconomics textbook European, 3ed, 2012
Additional literature:
Williamson, Macroeconomics, 5ed (especially chapters 1,2,3)
Mankiw, Macroeconomics, 7ED (particularly Chapter 14)
Romer Advanced Macroeconomics (especially chapter 6A)
Website of the course:
https://n.e-sgh.pl/course/jlLcit
Very important link! You can find there all the necessary information, organizational
info, tasks, auxiliary materials for lectures and exercises, links to scores as well as current in-
formation and news.
Course description:
The aim of the course is to understand the mechanisms governing the economy at the
macro level and to build knowledge of research tools, in particular mathematical. The course
creates opportunities to enrich your own macroeconomic analysis, as well as provides the the-
oretical basis for macro-econometrics. The main issues raised during the course will be: 1) the
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microeconomic basis of decisions of the most important agents (consumer demand, invest-
ment, labor, money demand), 2) the behavior of the economy in the long term, 3) the behavior
of the economy in the short-term cycle (cyclical properties of the fundamental macroeconomic
variables, the role of monetary policy in stabilizing the economy, the Phillips curve, short-term
frictions, Lucas information rigidity model, dynamic AD-AS model)
Exercises
The aim of the exercise is to solve problems, which will help students understand the material
and become familiar with the analytical tools used in macroeconomics. Part of the tasks will
take the form of group work, with the results evaluated later by the teacher. As we are not
planning any homework, we expect active participation in the classes.
Assessment and evaluation:
During the semester there will be a mid-term test (colloquium, during a lecture in the
middle of the semester, lasting 90 minutes). Test and exam will consist of test questions, com-
puting and drawing tasks and possibly a short essay on a given topic. You can obtain max. 30
points from the test. In addition, the work in groups during exercises throughout the semester
will be assessed and you can get a total of 20 points.
The final exam in exam period I also lasts 90 minutes. You can get maximum of 50 points
with the test. The threshold to pass the exam is 40% (20 points from the test).
Final evaluation. It will be determined on the basis of the total points earned during the
semester and the final exam (ie. max. 100 points).
Grading scale:
90-100: 5; 80-89: 4+; 70-79: 4; 60-69: 3+; 50-59: 3; 0-49: 2;
The lecturer reserves the right, in very specific cases, to scale these thresholds.
In the exam period II evaluation will be determined by the formula: max {total score of
the test in exam period II, points from exercises and mid-term test; 2 times total score of the
exam in period II } (in the formula is multiplied by 2 to rescale exam points to 100). In other
words:
- for people who had a low number of points from the exercises and test and wrote well in the
second exam period the final evaluation (in the II period) will be based on points from this
exam,
- for people who have a large number of points from the exercises and mid-term colloquium
the final evaluation in period II allows to take then into account in the final assessment (if they
improve the assessment).
Academic honesty
In the course zero tolerance policy for cheating applies, as any form of cheating opposes
to the fundamental objective of the study, which is learning. Students caught cheating (eg.
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asking for help to other students during the test, the use of technology or prohibited materials
during tests) gets grade 2 from the course.
Tools allowed during the tests and exam
During the test and the exam you can use a calculator, but you cannot use mobile phones,
computers, tablets, etc. Please remember to bring a student ID card with you.
Planned timetable
1. Introduction macro measurement (W-1,2,3 & BW-1,2)
2. Elements of the growth theory and income inequalities (BW-3,4)
3. Consumption and intertemporal choice (BW-7,8)
4. Labor market (BW-5)
5. Investments (BW-8)
6. Exchange rate (BW-6 15.3-15.5), and the Balassa Samuelson effect
7. Money. Monetary policy (BW-6,9)
8. Rigidity in the economy: Phillips curve (BW-12) and the model of Lucas (Romer, Chap-
ter 6A)
9. The AD-AS model: analysis of the effects of fiscal and monetary policies (M-14 & BW-
13,16)
10. The role of the government in the economy (BW-17,18)
Where:
BW - Burda, Wyplosz, Macroeconomics 3ed,
W - Williamson, Macroeconomics 5ed,
M - Mankiw, Macroeconomics 7ed
