The course aims to provide students with:

- The concepts and theoretical foundations necessary to understand the basic phenomena of international monetary economics;

- Analysis of the main macroeconomic policy instruments in an open economy and knowledge of the historical development of the international monetary system;

- the analysis of the main problems of the current international economy: globalisation, financial crises and monetary areas, with particular reference to the European Monetary Union.

The first part, devoted to the analysis of foreign exchange markets and international macroeconomic equilibrium, examines: the balance of payments and the accounting structure of an open economy; the characteristics of the foreign exchange market; the determination of the short-run equilibrium exchange rate under flexible exchange rates; the relationship between the money market and the foreign exchange market and between the price level, the exchange rate and output in the short and long run; the modalities of central bank intervention under fixed or floating exchange rates.

The second part of the course, devoted to international macroeconomic policies, examines: the historical evolution of the international monetary system from 1870 to the present; macroeconomic and coordination policies under fixed and floating exchange rate regimes.

The third part will deal with issues related to currency areas, the crisis of the European Monetary Union and international financial crises.

Introduction to the Course.

1.National Income Accounting and the Balance of Payments
2.Exchange Rates and the Foreign Exchange Market: An Asset Approach
3.Money, Interest Rates, and Exchange Rates
4.Price Levels and the Exchange Rate in the Long Run
5.Output and the Exchange Rate in the Short Run
6.Fixed Exchange Rates and Foreign Exchange Intervention
7.International Monetary Systems: An Historical Overview
8.Optimum Currency Areas and the Euro

9. Globalization and financial crisis

10. Developing countries and reform of international financial system
 

- Knowledge and understanding: Students are expected to acquire knowledge of the main theoretical tools developed to understand the determination of exchange rates and international macroeconomic equilibrium. The teaching methods used to achieve these outcomes are: lectures, analysis and discussion of concrete cases, group work and in-depth seminars.

- Applied knowledge and understanding: Students are expected to acquire knowledge of the historical development and functioning of currency markets and of the main instruments of international macroeconomic policy. The teaching methods used to achieve these outcomes will include: lectures, analysis and discussion of concrete cases, group work and in-depth seminars.

- Making judgements : Students should be able to assess the costs and benefits of international financial transactions and of the various macroeconomic policies adopted in open economies. The teaching methods used to achieve these results will include: lectures, analysis and discussion of concrete cases, group work and in-depth seminars, writing of papers.

- Communication skills: Students should be able to discuss the main issues of international economic and financial globalisation with conceptual and terminological rigour. The teaching methods used to achieve these outcomes will include: lectures, analysis and discussion of concrete cases, group work and in-depth seminars, writing of papers.

- Learning skills: Students are expected to acquire the ability to keep abreast of developments in the international economy and of the main issues in international economic affairs. The teaching methods used to achieve these objectives are: lectures, analysis and discussion of concrete cases, group work and in-depth seminars, writing of papers.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

Teaching

The course uses a variety of teaching methods:

- Lectures;

- Individual or group work and essay writing;

- class discussions.

In particular, individual or group work will be carried out during the course, in which the participating students will be actively involved in the analysis of some of the main problems of contemporary international economics. This work will be based on specific readings that will be specified and discussed in class during the lectures. Students will be required to write a paper, which will then be presented in class and discussed with the rest of the class. 

Attendance

To be considered attending, students must frequent 75% of lectures.

Course books

Paul R. Krugman, Maurice Obstfeld, Marc Melitz, International Economics: Theory and Practice, Pearson Education, 2018 (excluding appendices and case studies).

Assessment

Oral examination and ongoing evaluation of the work in the classroom. The oral interview is aimed at assessing the level of competence, acquired in the ability to coordinate knowledge and skills, to deal with complex situations or problems in the context of international economic analysis.

Attending students, who have submitted a paper discussed in class, are exempt from answering questions relating to the third part of the syllabus (chapters 9, 10, 11 of the textbook) in the final examination.The final assessment will also be based on the essay, the presentation in class and the discussion on the topic dealt with in the group work. For this purpose, the student will have to demonstrate that he/she has acquired full knowledge and competence of the concepts related to the topic studied, that he/she is able to express him/herself with appropriate language and that he/she is able to apply the acquired concepts in the analysis and critical evaluation of case studies.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Course books

Paul R. Krugman, Maurice Obstfeld, Marc Melitz, International Economics: Theory and Practice, Pearson Education, 2018.

Assessment

Oral examination on the whole course program.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

The student can request to sit the final exam in English.