MG 4014 MDU Macroeconomics

1  Overview

Macroeconomics is the study of how the decisions of individuals, families, firms and governments produce outcomes, such as economic progress or stagnation, inflation or unemployment, for the economy as a whole. This course is about understanding macroeconomics in the context of the questions the discipline asks itself: how can we understand inequality in society? What does it mean for an economy to ‘grow’? Is such growth sustainable? This course will equip students with a framework for asking these questions.

1.1  Lecturer Details

I’m in AM068a, my number is 061 233611. Office hours are 12-1 Tuesdays or by appointment. Email me at stephen.kinsella@ul.ie if you wish to make an appointment.

2  Lecture Outline & Course Textbook

Lectures run from 21 Feb to 2 May. All lectures will be in room S116 in the Schumann building. They are 2 hours long and participatory. Slides used during the lectures and links mentioned will be provided during the lectures and online at http://www.stephenkinsella.net. All readings will be taken from Samuel Bowles, Richard Edwards, and Frank Roosevelt, Understanding Capitalism: Command, Competition, and Change, Oxford University Press, 2005. Here is a link to the OUP site for the book: http://www.oup.com/uk/catalogue/?ci=9780195138658.