Teaching activities

Thursdays, 14:30 - 16:30  Rooms to be announced

Course content:

After a brief historical review of international monetary arrangements after WW2 and the tedious run-up to Economic and Monetary Union, including the introduction of the single currency, the course will provide an overview of macroeconomic developments in the EU since the inception of the euro, the (changing) settings of macroeconomic policy designs and governance mechanisms, and its analytical underpinnings. Topics and issues covered will include:

   Introductory session (mandatory, October 16) 

   General issues (October 23, 30; November 6, 13, 20)

• From Bretton Woods to flexible exchange rates

• The European Monetary System before the euro

• The Maastricht-Treaty and the early years of EMU

• The “orthodox” economic policy paradigm at the turn of the century

• Analytics: the new Keynesian DSGE model and the "divine coincidence"

• Bubbles, intra-area capital flows, economic convergence, and divergence

• The financial crisis 2008 and its fall-out

• Governance mechanisms: intellectual, political and institutional failures and repair efforts

• More or less Europe? Further integration for a "better" Europe

• The main economic challenges at the current juncture

    Special topics ​(December 4,11, 18; January 8, 15)

• EU enlargement and catching-up                                            

• Income inequality in the EU                                                          

• Greece and the Troika                                                                

• Brexit                                                                                                                                                   

• The secular stagnation hypothesis                                                 

• EU fiscal and monetary governance reconsidered                           

• The macro-policy response to the Covid-pandemic                   

• The return of inflation

•  The EU in the global economy

•  Tariffs, trade and global imbalances reconsidered

                                                                   

   Final Q & A session (mandatory January 22)

Teaching/learning methods:

The general issues will be covered by the instructor in a lecture format with Q&A; homework questions for discussion will be posed for each lecture. Special topics will be dealt with in presentations (30 minutes max) and discussion by students’ teams; two topics per session.

Learning outcomes:

Students will be offered a quick historical refresher of the run-up to the euro, learn about the main macroeconomic developments in the EU over the past 25 years, and gain knowledge and a broad analytic understanding of the evolving patterns of macroeconomic policy settings, governance mechanisms and institutional designs at the Community level, set against the background of perennial tensions in the integration process. Students will practise literature search, exercise teamwork, and improve presentation techniques and discussion proficiency.

Attendance requirements:

Students must not miss more than two sessions; additionally, attendance at the introductory session  for students’ teams work assignment, and at the final Q & A session  is mandatory.  

Assessment:

Students´ presentation (35%)

Active participation in class (20%)

Final Q & A session (25%)

Students' special topic paper (20%)

Special topic papers due no later than February 14, 2026 (length ~ 8 -10 k words).

Background reading:

Students are invited to search/consult the relevant pages on the websites of the European Commission, the European Central Bank and the European Stability Mechanism. Further reading suggestions will be provided in class.

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Course material will be provided at www.wu.learn.at and upon request.

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