OVERVIEW

This course offers a broad introduction to two leading issues in current economic debates, namely the international financial crisis and slow economic growth. In fact, most modern economies suffer from high public debt and productivity slowdown. The aim of this course is to enable the participants to better understand, first, the background to these problems and, second, how they may be mitigated through economic policy. Throughout the course, modern analytical tools will be used to address these issues. Intuition and real-world applications are prioritized over formal models and technical details. The reading material is based on textbook chapters, articles from international journals and reports from respected policy institutions and think-tanks. All sessions will comprise elements of both lectures and discussion, in plenum as well as in groups. The aim of the lectures is to provide the participants with an overview of the subjects, by highlighting key issues. In order to benefit fully from this course, preparation is vital. Since it is impossible to cover all topics in the lectures, a good amount of follow-up homework is also expected. Finally, to add further perspectives, participants are recommended to read supplementary material from newspapers, magazines etc.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

Participants completing this course are expected to be able to understand and explain a number of economic phenomena, such as:

• identify whether an economic phenomenon is micro- or macroeconomic;
• explain fundamental economic behaviour in the goods, financial and labour markets;
• explain the main differences between closed and open economies, including the role of exchange rates, international competitiveness, the balance-of-payment etc.;
• explain the role of the time horizon for economic behaviour, i.e. the difference between outcomes in the short, medium and long term;
• explain the differences between stabilisation policy (monetary and fiscal policy) and structural reforms (labour market policy, competition policy, research and education policy etc.);
• explain the differences between nominal (inflation) and real (output and employment) effects of economic shocks and policy initiatives;
• understand the causes behind economic crises, such as the financial crisis and the productivity slowdown;
• understand how economic policy could (or should) be designed to combat economic and financial crises.

FACULTY

Svend E. Hougaard Jensen graduated with a cand. oecon. degree from the University of Aarhus, an MA (economics) degree from the University of Manchester, and he earned his PhD (economics) degree from the London Business School. SHJ currently works as a professor of economics at the Department of Economics at the CBS. On leave from academia, SHJ has served as head of the Division of Economic Analysis within the Danish Ministry of Economic and Business Affairs. SHJ has extensive experience with research management, and he has served as a member of the Danish Council for Research Policy, a body which advises the Danish government and parliament on research policy. SHJs research has mainly been within the areas of macroeconomics and international economics, focusing on topics such as debt sustainability, stabilization policy in monetary unions, structural reforms and the knowledge economy. SHJ has published numerous articles in learned journals, he is the author/editor of several books, and he has contributed to many policy reports. He is a Research Fellow of Netspar (Network for Studies in Pensions, Aging and retirement) in the Netherlands and a Fellow of WDA (World Demographic Association) in Switzerland. Consultant to the World Bank and the European Commission. Further details: https://sf.cbs.dk/shj/