Macroeconomics - Content Outline

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  1. Fundamental Relationships and Tools:
    • National income accounting
      • Know how GDP estimates are produced
      • Aggregate identities
        • Income side and Product side Accounting
    • Economic indicators
      • Interpretthe economic indicators as they relate to the economic forecast
      • Time series Analysis"basics"
        • Stock and Flow relationship
    • Saving Investment relationship
    • Sources of Inflation
    • Measurement of Inflation
      • Chain Measures - Fixed Weight
      • CPI, PPI, Deflaters, Employment Cost Index, Indexation,etc.
      • Notion of Core Inflation

         

  2. International Trade and Finance
    • Exchange rate determination
    • Trade flows/balance
    • Financial linkages/contagion
    • Purchasing Power Parity

       

  3. Static Models/Frameworks:
    • Basic Model Building Concepts
      • Expenditure relationships
      • Multiplier concepts
    • IS/LM model
    • Aggregate demand and aggregate supply
    • Aggregate output and production function

       

  4. Fiscal Policy
    • Stabilization policy

       

  5. Inflation Dynamics
    • Philips curve
    • Natural rate hypothesis
    • Quantity theory of money

       

  6. Money and Monetary Policy:
    • Money, banking, and credit
    • Money and credit creation
      • Reserve banking system/money multiplier
    • Monetary Policy
    • Targets and instruments
    • Traditional vs. Non-traditional monetary tools
    • Monetary rules and inflation targeting
      • Taylor "type" Rules

         

  7. (Macro/Finance)
    • Money market instruments
      • Fed Funds, Libor, Commercial Paper
    • Debt instruments
      • basics of treasuries, corporates, derivatives and structured products
    • Term structure of interest rates
    • Various measures of credit spreads
      • TED, Yield Spread in Leading Economic Indicators
    • CAPM/Cost of Capital

       

  8. Dynamic Models and Long-term Growth:
    • Growth Accounting
    • Overlapping generations
    • Life-cycle optimization
    • Real business cycle

       

  9. Business Cycle Analysis:
  • NBER (Nat'l Bureau of Economic Research) Business Cycle Dating Committee
  • Definitions of the Business Cycle
  • Theories of the business cycle
  • Consumption theories
    • Consumption and Saving
    • Permanent Income Hypothesis
  • Investment cycle
    • Investment and inventory theories
  • Inventory cycle