International Economics

Semester and Year Offered:

Course Coordinator and Team: Jyotirmoy Bhattacharya

Email of course coordinator: jyotirmoy[at]aud[dot]ac[dot]in

Pre-requisites: Microeconomics II and Macroeconomics II

Aim:

The analysis of the economic interaction between and across different national economies and their consequences shall be the focus of this course. Theories of international trade and capital flows, the process of exchange rate determination and balance of payments adjustment, etc., shall be covered and their implications for economic policy assessed.

Course Outcomes:

1. After the successful completion of the course students would be able to
2.  Describe the current and historical patterns of world trade.
3. Compare and contrast the major theoretical explanations of the patterns of trade and gains from trade using graphs and simple algebra and assess their empirical strengths and weaknesses.
4.  Describe the evolution of the international monetary and financial system.
5. Extend the models developed in prior macroeconomics courses to open-economy settings and identify the major sources of macroeconomic linkages between nations.
6.  Assess the merits of different positions in policy debates related to international economics on the basis of economic theory and empirical evidence..

Brief description of modules/ Main modules:

Comparative advantage and the gains from trade

1. Increasing returns, imperfect competition and international trade
2. Trade policy
3. Multinational firms and foreign direct investment
4. National income accounting and the balance of payments
5. The foreign exchange market
6. Open-economy macroeconomics in the short run
7. Balance of payments crises
8. The international monetary system

Assessment Details with weights:

1. Tests: best 2 of 3, 30% each
2. End-sem exam: 40%

Reading List:

1. Krugman,P, Obstfeld,M. and Melitz, M. (2017). International Economics, 10th ed., Pearson Education

ADDITIONAL REFERENCE: