MGMT 824: Topics in Macroeconomics
Yale SOM Spring 2

Tu/Thu 240-400
(last updated: 2019.5.7)

A. Introduction

This course explores topics beyond those covered in the SOM MBA macro core, including long-run growth (e.g., the Solow model), international trade and exchange rates. As with core macro, this course will survey a variety of models and discuss how these models might be useful for understanding current events in both business and policy.

B. Office Hours

If you would like to meet outside of class, please email me (peter.schott@yale.edu) a few times that work for you and I will pick one. Please feel free to email questions at any time.

C. Calendar

The schedule below outlines the order in which we will cover models, and the associated timing of readings and problem set assignments. Note that ABC and YGE correspond to the Abel et al. Macroeconomic textbook used in SOM core macro and a textbook being developed by the Yale Economics Department, respectively. The latter is located in /files/textbook on canvas. Numbers in parentheses refer to chapters.

Date	Meeting	Topics/slides	Assignment Due	Optional Reading
Tu 3/26	1	Introduction; Solow Growth Model
Thu 3/28	2	Solow Growth Model		Textbooks: ABC (6); YGE (5)
Tu 4/2	3	Solow Growth Model
Thu 4/4	4	Solow Applications	PS 1	Dreaming with BRICS: The Path to 2050 (Goldman Sachs Paper 99); Reassessing Longer-Run US Growth (Fernald 2016); Piketty’s Inequality Story in Six Charts (NY 2014.3.26); Forces of Divergence (NY 2014.3.13); Is US Economic Growth Over? (Gordon 2012); Krugman Reviews ‘The Rise and Fall of American Growth’ (NYT 2016.1.25)
Tu 4/9	5	Solow Applications
Thu 4/11	6	Solow Applications	PS 2	Growth Accounting Primer (Source unknown)
Tu 4/16	7	Endogenous Growth Theory		Romer on Romer (2007)[SP1] ; Jones on Romer (2018); The Growth of Growth Theory (Economist 2006.5.18); Economic Theories that Have Changed Us (Conversation 2015.6.21)
Thu 4/18	8	Endogenous Growth Theory		Six Big Economic Ideas (See #3; Economist)
Tu 4/23	9	Ricardo		Getting Real About Rural America (NYT 2019.3.18)
Thu 4/25	10	Ricardo
Tu 4/30	11	Ricardo
Thu 5/2	12	HO		Six Big Economic Ideas (See #3; Economist)
Tu 5/7	13	HO, Currency Crises	PS 3	A Lesson in the Virtue of a Stable Currency (WSJ 2019.4.2); Wikipedia
				Behavioral Macroeconomics and Macroeconomic Behavior (Akerlof 2002)

ABC=Abel, Bernanke and Crushore, any edition after 9, the text used in Core Macro.
YGE=The Global Economy: A View from Yale (in /files/textbook)

D. Textbook

This course does not have a required textbook, but here are some recommendations:

Growth: Chapter 6 of Abel, Bernanke and Crushore (ABC), the text we used in the macro core.

Trade: TBA

Industrial Policy: “One Economics, Many Recipes” by Dani Rodrik

E. Meetings

Class meetings will be a mixture of lecture and discussion. I expect the students to have reviewed the slides or case we will cover before coming to class.

F. Assignments and Grading

There will be four graded assignments, spaced two weeks apart, all equally weighted.

Note that I re-use assignments over time. It is a violation of academic integrity to rely on any work from prior iterations of this or any related course in working on your assignments for this iteration of the course.

G. Academic Integrity

No student’s name should appear on a group project if the student has not contributed to the production of the project. The following is an example of unacceptable conduct: Neo agrees to produce a case write-up, putting Trinity’s name on the case write-up. Trinity agrees to repay Neo by producing a subsequent assignment on his own.

In group work, all group members are responsible for the integrity of work that is submitted. Group members should always question other members about the source of material and analysis that is being included in group projects. If a group member has any concerns about the integrity of material being submitted by the group, that group member should discuss those concerns with the instructor.

H. Plagiarism

The members of any academic community are expected not to present ideas or material from other sources as their own. In the context of this course, it is acceptable to, for example:

· Refer to concepts, frameworks, and analytical tools from the readings or class lectures without citation. For example, you may refer to the five forces, added value, sustainable competitive advantage, signaling, and so on without citing the source.

· Refer to the material in cases without citations. For example, you do not need to cite the HBS case in your case analysis when you refer to factual information from the text or tables.

· However, it is not acceptable to quote or paraphrase analysis from another source and present it as your own. For example, it would be unacceptable to find an analysis of your case project company on the web and quote or paraphrase it in the analysis you hand in without correctly attributing it. There is a difference between consulting a source and then forming your own opinion based on what you have read, and “lifting” material directly.