15.015
Macroeconomic Policy Reforms
Focuses on the current policy and economic issues in the US economy. Students propose economic and policy reforms around issues such as labor markets, inflation and central banking, financial regulation, education, health, housing, transportation, social security, democracy, immigration, diversity, and environmental policy. Topics change year to year. In each class, proposals are presented and voted upon by the group.
Fall 2011 · Macro and International Economics
Topics
- The issues, short–term and long–term
- Determinants of long–term growth
- Exchange rates for emerging markets
- Exchange rates for industrialized countries
- Banking crises
- Modern financial crises
- Japan’s lost decade
- Crisis in Asia, 1997–98
- Who is more prone to crisis now—Europe or the US?
- Recap
Readings
- Mankiw, Gregory. Macroeconomics . 6th ed. Worth Publishers, 2006. ISBN: 9780716762133.
- Krugman, Paul, and Maurice Obstfeld. International Economics: Theory and Policy (7th Edition) . Addison Wesley, 2005. ISBN: 9780321293831.
- King, Philip, and Sharmila King. International Economics and International Economics Policy: A Reader . 4th ed. McGraw–Hill/Irwin, 2004. ISBN: 9780072873337.
- Kennedy, Robert E. “National Income Accounting.” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9–797–075, November 15, 1996.
- Alfaro, Laura, Rafael Di Tella, et al. “China: To Float or Not to Float? (A)” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9–706–021, March 2, 2006.
- Alfaro, Laura, Rafael Di Tella, et al. “U.S. Current Account Deficit.” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9–706–002, July 6, 2005
- SES #: 5 · TOPICS: Banking crises · READINGS: Moss, David A., and Cole Bolton. “The Federal Reserve and the Banking Crisis of 1931.” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9–709–040, January 20, 2009.
- Alfaro, Laura, and Renee Kim. “The First Global Financial Crisis of the 21st Century.” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9–709–057, April 7, 2009.
- Schraede, Ulrike. “Japanese Financial System: From Postwar to the New Millennium.” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9–700–049, October 20, 1999.
- Alfaro, Laura, Rafael Di Tella, et al. “Korea: After the 1997 Financial Crisis.” Harvard Business School Case. Harvard Business School Publishing. Case: 9–707–042, March 20, 2007.
- Johnson, Simon, and James Kwak. “Other People’s Oligarchs.” Chapter 2 in 13 Bankers: The Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown . Pantheon, 2010. ISBN: 9780307379054.
Prerequisites & course information
Prereq: Permission of instructor G (Spring; first half of term) 2-0-4 units
Sources
- Course catalogue ↗2026–2027
- MIT OpenCourseWare ↗Fall 2011
- MIT OCW syllabus ↗
- MIT OCW calendar ↗
- MIT OCW readings ↗
- Historical MIT OpenCourseWare offering. Named reading entries and schedule topics are automatically extracted from the linked source pages.