Postgraduate Course: Economic Policy (ECNM11017)
Course Outline
| School | School of Economics |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 11 (Postgraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 10 |
ECTS Credits | 5 |
| Summary | This course should be particularly of interest to students interested in pursuing a career as an applied economist in academia, business or the policy community. A key feature of the course is the opportunity to learn how to apply different aspects of economics to real-world policy problems. |
| Course description |
The aim of this course is two-fold.
The first is to present students with a series of current issues in economic policy ¿ e.g. the cost-of-living crisis, Brexit, health inequalities & ¿deaths of despair¿ and macroeconomic uncertainty ¿ and to provide them with an understanding of how economics can be used to enlighten these debates.
The second is to introduce the students to some of the core methods ¿ e.g. econometric analysis, economic modelling & qualitative methods ¿ that can be used to evaluate economic policy.
The topics are reviewed annually in line with the current key economic policy topics of the day.
Recent topics have included:
-The macroeconomic effects of the global pandemic
-Computable General Equilibrium (CGE) modelling: foundations and applications
-Climate Change & Economic Policy
-The use of qualitative methods in economic policymaking
-Topics in health economics
-Introduction to Qualitative Research Methods for Economists
-Econometrics in an applied policy environment ¿Observational studies vs. techniques for causal estimation¿
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Students should be enrolled on MSc Economics, MSc Economics (Econometrics), MSc Economics (Finance) or MSc Mathematical Economics and Econometrics.
Any other students must email sgpe@ed.ac.uk in advance to request permission.
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Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Students should be enrolled on MSc Economics, MSc Economics (Econometrics), MSc Economics (Finance) or MSc Mathematical Economics and Econometrics.
Any other students must email sgpe@ed.ac.uk in advance to request permission.
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| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
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| Academic year 2024/25, Available to all students (SV1)
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Quota: None |
| Course Start |
Block 4 (Sem 2) |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
100
(
Lecture Hours 18,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 2,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
80 )
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| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
50 %,
Coursework
50 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
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| Additional Information (Assessment) |
Assessment will be through both coursework and exam. Each will be worth 50% of the final grade.
The exam will be 2-hours in the April/May exam diet.
The coursework will comprise of a 1,500 word report discussing and appraising key economic policy issue of the day (own choice) including recommendations and a 10 minute presentation of report with Q&A. |
| Feedback |
Not entered |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
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| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- Successful completion of this course involves participating in the lectures, submitting the coursework assessment and writing the final exam.
- You will learn about some key debates in economic policy and, crucially, be able to apply your general economics knowledge to solving real-world economic problems.
- You will learn how to communicate technical economic concepts and methods to a non-technical audience.
- You will learn how to apply technical methods to real-world policy questions, to help inform decision making.
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Reading List
Economic Observatory: www.economicobservatory.com
VoxEU
Financial Times
The Economist
Economic Policy: Theory and Practice, Agnès Bénassy-Quéré,¿Benoît Coeuré,¿Pierre Jacquet, and¿Jean Pisani-Ferry |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | |
Course secretary | |
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