00256 - Political Economics

Course contents

In general terms, the course covers the following topics:

A) MICROECONOMICS

Production and Cost Theory: the inputs of the production process; causes behind productivity; economies & diseconomies of scale; short- and long-run costs; producer's equilibrium; genesis of supply curve; the firm and its modern developments.

Consumer Theory: consumer's equilibrium; consumer's choice theory (normative & descriptive); in particular:  cognitivist approach; roile of advertising.

Demand Theory: the demand curve; elasticity; index-numbers of citizen's well-being.

Firm Theory: market equilibrium & disequilibrium; perfect competition; monopoly; natural monopoly; monopolistic competition; oligopoly; anti-trust law.

Market Failures:  public goods; common goods; externalities; Coase's Theorem; information asymmetry; adverse selection; experience goods.

The Market and the State:   the role of the State in the economy; the Welfare State; liberalization; privatization; regulation & de-regulation.

 

B) MACROECONOMICS

Basic Notions and Definitions of  National Accounting: Gross Domestic Product: definition & components; how GDP is calculated (the Valie Added Method); Gross National Product; National Income; Aggregate Expenditure.

Macroeconomic equilibrium and tje Full Employment Concept:  Neo-Classical and Keynesian approaches; Public Expenditure; The Multiplier Relationship.

State Budget and the Debate over the Public Debt: the State Budget; deficit and debt; consequences of excessive Public Debt;  how to limit the Public Debt;  the Maastricht Agreement

Money and Banking : money (definition and historic development); money stock ; the banks (origins, development, current features); the Central Bank;  monetary policy; gold (past and present).

Inflation: hyper-inflation; theories of modern inflation.

The LabourMarket: basic statistical definitions; unemployement (theories and policies); flexibility in the Labour Market.

Foreign Trade:  Ricardo's principle of Comparative Advantages; the balance of payments; protectionism; terms of trade; depreciation and devaluation.

Financial Crises: the Stock Exchange; speculative bubbles and how they grow and explode; the 2007-2009 International Crisis.

Assessment methods

The exam is made up of 2 parts: a written test (compulsory), and an oral one, which is open to all those wishing to improve over the result of the written proof. Both proofs cover all the programme.

At the beginning of December, a written, non-compulsory, test will likely be held, covering the first part of the programme (Microeconomics). Those who succeed in it can pass directly to either the written or the oral proof of the Winter Session of examinations, to complete their proof and get the final mark. Therefore, it is to be understood that the resuts of such preliminary test will only be held valid as long as the Winter Session is open.

Office hours

See the website of Fabio Nuti Giovanetti