6 ECTS credits
180 h study time
Offer 2 with catalog number 1008988ANR for all students in the 2nd semester at a (A) Bachelor - preliminary level.
"Inleiding tot de Macro-economie" (Introduction to Macroeconomics) explains the circular flow, the determination of a country's output and income, economic growth, employment and unemployment, the interest rate, and the inflation rate. Discusses monetary and fiscal policy, and the macroeconomics of open economies. Introduces the fundamental models of macroeconomics and illustrates the principles using real-world cases. Comparative and European perspective throughout.
The textbook is available in the Standaard Student Shop.
Students are expected to read the economic news. The Financial Times en The Economist are available in the library. During the semester references to newspaper articles will be posted on the learning platform. During tutorials teaching assistents can hand out additional materials.
The student develops the first four competences described in Hansen, W. (2001). Expected proficiencies for undergraduate economics majors. Journal of Economic Education, 32(3): 231–242.
1. The student can track down economic data and data sources (on-line and in print). The student can find information about the generation, construction, and meaning of macroeconomic data.
2. The student can explain key economic concepts and describe how these concepts can be used. The student can summarize in a two-minute monologue or in a 500-word written statement what is known about the current condition of the economy and its outlook. The student can summarize the principal ideas of an eminent economist. The student can elaborate a recent controversy in the economics literature. The student can state the dimensions of a current economic policy issue.
3. The student can explain and evaluate what economic concepts and principles are used in economic analyses published in daily newspapers and weekly news magazines (or nontechnical analyses written by economists for general purpose publications). The student can describe how these concepts aid in understanding these analyses.
4. The student can interpret and manipulate economic data: explain how to understand and interpret numerical data found in published tables such as those in the Annual Report of the National Bank of Belgium. The student can covert nominal variables to real variables; compute growth rates and percentage growth rates; n; convert variables to another exchange rate. The student can construct tables from already available data to illustrate an economic issue. The student can describe the relationship among three different variables (e.g., unemployment, prices, and GDP).
The final grade is composed based on the following categories:
Written Exam determines 90% of the final mark.
Practical Exam determines 10% of the final mark.
Within the Written Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Within the Practical Exam category, the following assignments need to be completed:
Written examination and one written assignment, assigned in advance on the learning platform.
The written assignment is group work. No re-take of the written assignment is possible in the second exam session; you keep the grade that earned during the weeks of class. Evaluation is based on contribution to teamwork, the ability to link the economic issues to the course content, writing skills (spelling, grammar, and style), the abliity to respect deadlines, attendance and participation at the classroom discussions, and presentation skills. Students with legitimate reasons (with valid written documentation submitted in advance) can request an individual assignment.
This offer is part of the following study plans:
Bachelor of Business Engineering: Default track (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Business Economics: Default track (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Business Economics: Minor Political Science (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Business Economics: Minor Law (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Business Economics: Minor Sociology (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Business Economics: Minor Philosophy and Moral Sciences (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Business Economics: Minor Management and Policy in Health Care (only offered in Dutch)
Bachelor of Business Economics: Minor Minor Education (only offered in Dutch)
Bridging Programme Master of Science in Management: Traject 2 (only offered in Dutch)
Bridging Programme Master of Science in Management: Traject 3 (only offered in Dutch)
Bridging Programme Master of Science in Management: Traject 4 (only offered in Dutch)
Bridging Programme Master of Science in Management: Traject 1 (only offered in Dutch)
Bridging Programme Master of Science in Management: Traject 5 (only offered in Dutch)
Bridging Programme Master of Science in Management: Traject 6 (only offered in Dutch)