Calendar and Readings

For the first seven lectures, the students used the professor's lecture notes as their text. Please also see the additional readings below the table.  

[Macro] = Buy at Amazon Blanchard, Olivier, and David R. Johnson. Macroeconomics. 6th ed. Pearson, 2012. ISBN: 9780133061635.

L = Lecture session

R = Recitation session

SES # TOPICS READINGS KEY DATES
L1 Models of the financial crisis: Leverage No readings  
R1 Balance sheets and leverage No readings  
L2 Models of the financial crisis: Holmstrom-Tirole I No readings  
L3 Models of the financial crisis: Holmstrom-Tirole II No readings  
R2 Holmstrom-Tirole model No readings Pset 1 posted (leverage, Holstrom-Tirole, Diamond-Dybvig)
L4 Models of the financial crisis: Diamond-Dybvig I No readings  
L5 Models of the financial crisis: Diamond-Dybvig II No readings  
R3 Diamond-Dybvig model No readings Pset 1 due
L6 Models of the financial crisis: Tirole No readings  
L7 Models of the financial crisis: Kiyotaki-Moore No readings  
R4 Kiyotaki-Moore model No readings Pset 2 posted (Kiyotaki-Moore and IS-LM)
L8 Core: National accounts [Macro] Chapters 1 and 2.  
L9 Core: The IS-LM model [Macro] Chapters 3–5.  
R5 IS-LM No readings Pset 2 due
L10 Core: The IS-LM model (cont.) [Macro] Chapters 3–5.  
L11 Core: The IS-LM model (cont.) [Macro] Liquidity trap section, pp. 473–6.  
  Quiz 1 on lectures 1–11 No readings  
L12–13 Core: The medium run [Macro] Chapters 6–9.  
R6 Medium run No readings Pset 3 posted (Medium run)
L14 Core: The medium run (cont.) [Macro] Chapters 6–9.  
L15 Core: The open economy [Macro] Chapters 18–21.  
R7 Open economy No readings Pset 3 due
L16–17 Core: The open economy (cont.) [Macro] Chapters 18–21.  
  Quiz 2 on lectures 12–17 No readings  
L18 The Mundell-Fleming model [Macro] Chapter 20. Pset 4 posted (Open economy)
L19 Fixed and flex exchange rates [Macro] Chapter 21.  
R8 Fiscal policy

[Macro] Chapter 21.

 
L20 Fiscal policy (cont.)

[Macro] Chapter 23.

Pset 4 due
R9 Fiscal policy exercise No readings Pset 5 posted (Fiscal and monetary policy)
L21–22 Monetary policy and the crisis [Macro] Chapters 9 and 24.  
 R10 Monetary policy and the crisis exercises No readings  
L23 The state of the U.S. economy after the crisis—Bob Hall No readings Pset 5 due
L24 Review for the quiz No readings  
  Quiz 3 on lectures 18 to 24 No readings  

Additional Readings

Gapper, John. "Promises that Proved Ultimately Empty," Financial Times, January 9, 2012.

"Playing with Fire," The Economist, February 25, 2012.

"The Origins of the Financial Crisis: Crash Course," The Economist, September 7, 2013.

"The Dangers of Debt: Lending Weight," The Economist, September 14, 2013.

"Monetary Policy after the Crash: Controlling Interest," The Economist, September 21, 2013.

"Stimulus v Austerity: Sovereign Doubts," The Economist, September 28, 2013.

"Making Banks Safe: Calling to Accounts," The Economist, October 5, 2013.