Economic Policy

The first part of the course (20 hours, 3 credits) aims to analyze the effects of macroeconomic policies, taking as a reference the set of theories present in the "toolbox" of macroeconomists and their use to understand and evaluate the economic policy decisions of governments (fiscal policies) and central banks (monetary policies).
The second part of the course (40 hours, 6 credits) covers a selection of political economy topics, adopting both a micro- and macro-economic perspective. The module starts with a discussion of the role of economic policy, the main reasons for public intervention in the economy and the methods to evaluate the results and outcomes of such interventions. The discussion will then focus on the concepts of income and wealth inequality, social mobility and poverty, analysing both empirical evidence and theoretical contributions and assessing the role of government redistributive policies. The module will then concentrate on two key areas of public policy aimed at fostering economic growth and reducing social equality: education policy and labour market policies. For both areas, the students will learn about issues of measurement and key elements of the theoretical framework, and will subsequently concentrate on studying different types of government intervention and the evidence on their effectiveness.

At the end of the first part of the course, the student will have acquired: i) the ability to understand the essential elements of fiscal policies, the meaning of debt sustainability, the risks it entails, the motivations for introducing rules and institutions in fiscal policy, and the limitations of these rules; ii) an understanding of the objectives of monetary policy, the transmission channels and unconventional tools, the interactions between monetary policy and fiscal policies, and the institutions involved in monetary policy.
At the end of the second part of the course, the student will have gained theoretical and empirical knowledge on a wide range of economic policy topics and the effects of state intervention in various economic areas. In particular, the student will be able to: i) understand the essential aspects of income distribution and economic inequality and be familiar with public interventions in this field; ii) critically evaluate the reasons and consequences of labor market reforms; iii) comprehend the effects of human capital accumulation and assess the role the state can play in promoting this process.