Macroeconomics

This course addresses key aspects of economics, including microeconomics, macroeconomics, and business economics. It also discusses how managers use economic analysis to make important decisions. Specific topics include Cost-Benefits Analysis; The Demand Curve; Inflation, Unemployment, and Interest Rates; and Strategic Behavior, Price Leadership, and Contribution Margins.

Faculty

Prof. Sebastian Edwards

Prof. Sebastian Edwards

Professor

Sebastian Edwards is the Henry Ford II Professor of International Business Economics at the UCLA Anderson School of Management.

From 1993 until April 1996, he was the Chief Economist for the Latin America and Caribbean Region of the World Bank. He is a research associate of the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a member of the advisory board of Transnational Research Corporation and co-chairman of the Inter American Seminar on Economics (IASE).

He is also past-president of the Latin American and Caribbean Economic Association (LACEA), an international professional association of economists with academic interests in Latin America and the Caribbean region and a member of the Scientific Advisory Council of the Kiel Institute of World Economics, Kiel, Germany. In September 2004, Professor Edwards was appointed to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s Council of Economic Advisors.

Edwards has been a columnist for the Wall Street Journal, and is the author of more than 200 scientific articles on international economics, macroeconomics and economic development. His articles have appeared in The American Economic ReviewThe Journal of Monetary EconomicsThe Economic JournalOxford Economic PapersThe Journal of Development EconomicsThe Quarterly Journal of Economics, the Journal of Economic Perspectives and others. His work and views are frequently quoted in the media, including by the New York Times, the Financial Times, the Los Angeles Times, the Wall Street Journal and The Economist.

Edwards is an associate editor of The World Economy, the Journal of International Trade and Economic Development, the Journal of International Financial MarketsInstitutions and Money, and Analisis Economico. For almost ten years he was the co-editor of the Journal of Development Economics.

Edwards has been a consultant to a number of multilateral institutions, including the Inter-American Development Bank, the World Bank, the IMF, and the OECD. He has also been a consultant to the United States Agency for International Development and to a number of national and international corporations. He has worked in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Egypt, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Korea, Mexico, Morocco, New Zealand, Nicaragua, Tanzania and Venezuela. He has also consulted for a number of international financial institutions and multinational firms.

Sebastian Edwards was born in Santiago, Chile. He was educated at the Catholic University of Chile, and received an M.A. and Ph.D. in economics from the University of Chicago.

Education

Ph.D. Economics, 1981, University of Chicago
M.A. Economics, 1978, University of Chicago
Licenciado Economics, 1975, Universidad Catolica, Chile

Interests

Mercosur, monetary policy, capital markets, Consumer Price Index, currency crises, devaluation, currency, emerging markets, employment, exchange rates, the Federal Reserve, inequality, inflation, Latin America, Mexico, NAFTA, and poverty

Course Learning Objectives:

By the end of this course, you will be able to:

  • Select strong economies to consider for market expansion, based on GDP, PPP, and consumption statistics.
  • Evaluate a group of countries as possible market expansion targets, based on inflation, unemployment, and interest rates.
  • Using data on public sector debt and deficits, as well as currency strength, evaluate a group of countries as possible market expansion targets.

Syllabus

Module Components:

Video Lectures:

  • Macroeconomics – Key Concepts
  • Inflation, Unemployment and Interest Rates
  • Public Deficit, Debt, International Trade and Currencies

Readings:

  • The Macroeconomic Perspective
  • Explaining Bitcoin through Macroeconomics

Case Study:

  • Case Study: Good Home, Inc. (Continued – Part 2)

Quiz:

  • Macroeconomics

Support

Please email [email protected] for any support required with respect to the program, course or platform.