ECONOMIC POLICY

1. Knowledge and understanding:The course aims at pointing out the role of the economic policy at the national and international level where market failures and facts that influence the macro-economic aggregates occur. The main objectives of the economic policy, the choices and in some cases the trade-off among the different objectives are analysed. The student has to know the issues treated in the course and to develop his own understanding skills, also through a deductive approach that allows him to apply the theoretical schemes explained in the course to interpret the most recent economic policy problems. Considering the teaching profile, the ways of delivery the contents of the course are front lectures, with the support of slides, and official documents of economic policy that can stimulate the participation of the students during the classes.

2. Applying knowledge and understanding: The student has to be able to apply the knowledge acquired to define the priorities among the different economic policy objectives and to compare and evaluate the different effectiveness of the economic instruments available. From the teaching point of view, referring to the most important present case studies, at national and international level, during the classes, represents a good opportunity to evaluate different economic policy receipts and to understand that, according to the peculiarities of the economic context, the priority in the objectives to pursue and the kind of economic instrument might change. The analysis of the case studies is carried on through the appropriate quantitative data and statistics coming from official documents. This approach allows to verify the skills of the student in the interpretation of quantitative data to understand economic phenomena, that is to verify her/ his capacity of “knowing how to do”.

3. Making judgments: The economic policy is a social science and therefore the priorities of the objectives, the choices operated and its role itself can be different according to the theoretical approach adopted. The student has to be aware that the different economic policy receipts come from different theoretical approach (sometimes based on a different ideology) and has to develop a critical approach and autonomy of judgment in the solutions of the case studies proposed. These skills can be improved stimulating the discussion and an active participation of the student during the classes, even through the participation to intermediate and final written essays and optional oral interviews, taken in account for the final exam.

4. Communication skills: During the course the student has to improve and develop the knowledge of the technical and economic language to use in an appropriate way as an useful instrument of communication especially to introduce herself /himself in the job market. He has to be able to distinguish the determinants of the main economic phenomena that nourish the economic policy debate (market failures, inflation, unemployment, public and external debt, economic growth) and to use the technical and economic language both in the written and in the oral form. The seminars can represent a good opportunity for the student to interact with academic and institutional experts and deepen the knowledge of selected issues treated in the course; they contribute to reinforce her/ his interaction skills and critical approach to the fundamental economic policy issues.

5. Learning skills: The learning skills of the student has to be checked not only at the end of course but during the classes, stimulating the participation and teaching the method of studying economic policy. The study of economic policy, compared to the other economic disciplines, requires to combine the study of the theoretical models with the study of specific historical and institutional environments. The main teaching instruments adopted are the following: front lectures with teaching materials mostly available on the on-line platform (”Studium”), seminars, exercises. The learning skills are tested for what concerns both the theoretical and the applied aspects (i.e. “to know how to do”) by intermediate exercises that allow to know what is the average degree of the learning of the class. In this way, it is possible to promptly intervene to adopt the appropriate changes without any inconvenient effect on the final mark of the exam. The exam is organized in a written test and an oral discussion.

Economic policy and conflicts. The normative theory of economic policy. The welfare economics. Microeconomic failures of the market: the market power; externalities and public goods. Merit and demerits goods; asymmetric information. Income distribution and social welfare. The welfare state.

The regimes of the macroeconomic disequilibrium. The level of the aggregate income in the fundamental models of the macroeconomic analysis. The fiscal policy. The role of money and the monetary policy. Inflation and the anti-inflation policy. The Phillips curve. Macroeconomic policies and strategic behaviors of Governments and citizens. Growth and development policy.

The balance of payments and currency rates. Macroeconomic policy in open markets: the IS-LM-BP model. The main European institutions and economic policies. The economic policy in the era of globalization

Cellini R., Politica Economica. Introduzione ai modelli fondamentali. McGraw-Hill, Milano, II edition, 2011.