Course goals
This course will analyse a range of current questions in monetary economics through a variety of lenses. Students will develop a critical understanding of both theoretical and empirical strategies used in the literature. We will study the evolving role of the central bank, starting from the importance of its independence, considering the role of commitment and credibility in monetary policy, and progressing to the frontier of unconventional monetary policy (such as forward guidance and quantitative easing) and macroprudential policy. The recent experience of the Great Recession followed by disinflation and post-Covid increase in inflation have raised questions in effectiveness of monetary policy. At the same time, new methods to address these challenges have been developed, and new tools have been used. We will also explore a variety of other topics in monetary economics, including financial stability issues, exchange rate regimes, sovereign debt, and the European debt crisis. The students will also gain practical experience in research, report writing, and organizing and delivering professional presentations. The course requires a substantial amount of preparation by the students and active involvement during and outside of class. Feedback from students regarding course content and delivery is always welcome. The students will be asked to read various articles before every lecture and be prepared to discuss those articles in class.
Course results
- Students will learn to understand monetary policy research in the field of economics, how actions of the central banks affect various economic agents and overall economy.
- Students will learn to predict monetary policy responses to changing economic conditions. Describe monetary policy transmission channels in the context of monetary theories.
- Students will develop and deliver a presentation of their project work, providing the skills needed to present results and implications monetary policy research in practice.
- Conceptualize, research and write a state of the art review of a chosen area of financial economics and analyse empirical data on the phenomenon under investigation; be able to evaluate the appropriateness of the use of social science research methods, both qualitative and quantitative, including a number of different econometric tools, in a particular context.
