THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2020/2021

Information in the Degree Programme Tables may still be subject to change in response to Covid-19

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : Business School : Common Courses (Management School)

Postgraduate Course: Understanding Economies (MBA) (CMSE11244)

Course Outline
SchoolBusiness School CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) AvailabilityNot available to visiting students
SCQF Credits10 ECTS Credits5
SummaryThis course focuses on macroeconomics and is designed to provide sufficient understanding of the dynamics and developments in the economy to enable participants to engage in informed debate and to interpret relevant reports on contemporary economic issues.
Course description The course aims to support an understanding of business because macroeconomics affects all companies through: level of demand for products; interest rates - with their effect on the costs of the firm; and the exchange rate - which tends to intensify or reduce competition even for firms not overtly engaged in trade. Each of these elements interact both with themselves and with other factors, such as government policy.

Syllabus
Demand, Supply and the Market
The Determination of National Income
The Multiplier, Fiscal Policy and Foreign Trade
Money and Modern Banking
Interest Rates and Monetary Transmission
Aggregate Supply and Inflation
Inflation
Exchange rates and the balance of payments.

Student Learning Experience
Sessions provide the framework and agenda and motivate private study by providing the structure of the argument. These are supported by weekly workshops, which both clarify understanding and, by providing a forum for discussion, encourage the students to take an active role in working with the concepts and to develop the ability to explain how the different factors work. The workshops will provide a forum for feedback on understanding of concepts, clarity of problem solving, analytical skills and reasoning. The final half hour or so of most lectures will involve a commentary and an interactive discussion on immediate issues that have arisen in world economies, typically in the last 48 hours.
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
Pre-requisites Co-requisites
Prohibited Combinations Other requirements For Business School PG students only, or by special permission of the School. Please contact the course secretary.
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2020/21, Not available to visiting students (SS1) Quota:  None
Course Start Semester 1
Course Start Date 21/09/2020
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 100 ( Lecture Hours 24, Summative Assessment Hours 30, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 44 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 100 %, Coursework 0 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Written Essay -100 %
Feedback In addition to the lectures, the course includes continuous workshops demonstrating how economic principles work and can be illustrated graphically and quantitatively. Students therefore receive feedback continuously through the course in response to workshop exercises. The workshops and feedback provide preparation for the summative exam. Summative marks will be returned on a published timetable, which has been made clear to students at the start of the academic year.

Exam scripts cannot be taken away by students. Students who wish to view a marked exam script should contact the programme support team to arrange a time.
Exam Information
Exam Diet Paper Name Hours & Minutes
Main Exam Diet S1 (December)2:00
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
  1. Understand and discuss critically the macro-economy, particularly the elements measured by GNP, GDP and National Income.
  2. Understand and discuss critically the determinants of changes in the current and capital accounts of the balance of payments and their impact on exchange rates, and the implications of rising GNP for tax revenues and the current account of the balance of payments.
  3. Understand and discuss critically the role of savings and investment - and more generally the role of leakages (savings, taxation and imports) and injections (Investment, Government expenditure and Exports) in determining the level of GDP.
  4. Understand and discuss critically the role of government in expanding aggregate demand through fiscal policy.
  5. Understand and discuss critically the creation of money by the banking system and the limits due to reserve requirements, the role of the interest rate in affecting the demand for money, the role of money supply in inflation and the use of monetary policy to control inflation and the role of the central bank.
Reading List
The core textbook is D Begg, G Vernasca, S Fischer & R Dornbusch, Economics, 10th edition, McGraw Hill, 2011.
Additional Information
Graduate Attributes and Skills Cognitive and Subject-Specific Skills:
Apply a systems-thinking perspective when analysing economic and business problems
Apply logical thought when analysing cause and effect in the presence of interdependence
Apply symbols and simple equations to model real-world phenomena
Analyse and understand data in the presence of multi-causal phenomena

Transferable Skills:
Skills of argument development and persuasion.
Demonstrate skills of critical thinking and make effective use of data and analytical tools.
Plan and manage independent study and research, and communicate effectively in writing.
KeywordsEconomy Demand Supply Income Trade Banking
Contacts
Course organiserDr Augusto Voltes-Dorta
Tel: (0131 6)51 5546
Email: Augusto.Voltes-Dorta@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMrs Angela Muir
Tel: (0131 6)51 3854
Email: Angela.Muir@ed.ac.uk
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