Macroeconomics 2, 2012

This is the website for Macroeconomics 2 (ECON 30120) taught by Prof. Karl Whelan (University College Dublin). Classes will be held in Lecture Theatre M in the Newman Building on Mondays and Wednesdays at 1PM, starting on January 16.

The course will focus on two main areas: The theory of long-run economic growth and the role of expectations in the macroeconomy.

There will be no set textbook. Instead, course materials will be provided in the form of handouts, lecture notes and readings.

This set of slides provides a full introduction to how the class will work.

Exam Guidelines: Here is a handout with guidelines for the final exam, sample questions and tips.

Final Exam: This will take place on Monday April 30 at Noon at the RDS Simmonscourt and will last for two hours.

Feedback: I would be very grateful if students can fill out the online feedback form for the module. You can fill out the form by clicking here or on the Student Surveys and Module Feedback channel on the UCD Connect home tab. The form only takes a few minutes but the feedback, whether positive or negative, is very valuable. The results are completely anonymous so just say what you think. The survey opens on April 10.

 

Lecture Notes

1. The Solow Model of Economic Growth.  Lecture Slides.

2. Empirical Evidence on Cross-Country Growth Patterns. Lecture Slides.

3. Endogenous Technological Change: The Romer Model. Lecture Slides.

4. Cross-Country Technology Diffusion. Lecture Slides.

5. Institutions and Efficiency. Lecture Slides.

6. Before Growth: The Malthusian Model. Lecture Slides.

7. Population and Resources: Malthus and the Environment. Lecture Slides.

8. Rational Expectations and Asset Prices. Lecture Slides.

9. Rational Expectations and Consumption. Lecture Slides.

10. Exchange Rates, Interest Rates and Expectations. Lecture Slides.

 

Links to Papers

Robert Solow (1956). A Contribution to the Theory of Economic Growth. (JSTOR: Access through UCD Connect)

Brad DeLong’s textbook chapter on the Solow model.

Kieran McQuinn and Karl Whelan (2008). Prospects for Growth in the Euro Area.

Robert E. Hall and Charles I. Jones (1999). Why Do Some Countries Produce So Much More Output per Worker than Others?

Xavier Sala-i-Martin (2005). The World Distribution of Income: Falling Poverty and ... Convergence, Period.

Gregory Mankiw, David Romer and David N. Weil (1992). A Contribution to the Empirics of Economic Growth.

Kieran McQuinn and Karl Whelan (2007). Solow (1956) as a Model of Cross-Country Growth Dynamics.

Douglass North (1994). Institutional Change: A Framework of Analysis.

Daron Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson (2001). The Colonial Origins of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation.

Dani Rodrik, Arvind Subramanian, and Francesco Trebbi (2002). Institutions Rule: The Primacy of Institutions over Geography and Integration in Economic Development.

Robert Gillanders and Karl Whelan (2010). Open For Business? Institutions, Business Environment and Economic Development.

Gregory Clark (2007). A Farewell to Alms. Chapter One: The Sixteen Page Economic History of the World.

Gregory Clark (2007). A Farewell to Alms. Chapter Two: The Logic of the Malthusian Economy.

Thomas Malthus (1798). An Essay on the Principle of Population.

James Brander and M. Scott Taylor (1998). The Simple Economics of Easter Island: A Ricardo-Malthus Model of Renewable Resource Use.

John Campbell and Robert Shiller (2001). Valuation Ratios and the Long-Run Stock Market Outlook: An Update.

Robert Hall (1978). Stochastic Implications of the Life Cycle-Permanent Income Hypothesis: Theory and Evidence.

 

 

Links to Other Resources

Cross-Country PPP-comparable data from the Penn World Table.

Developmentdata.org: A fantastic collection of all sorts of cross-country information and other development data.

Data from the World Bank Project: "Doing Business".

Gapminder: Wonderful animated graphs on health, incomes and other things.

NBER Workshop on Behavioural Finance.