Key words
Social and economic policy, macroeconomic policy, the Belgian economy, the international economy, domains of economic and social policy.
Objectives
This course discusses principles and mechanisms that are important for macroeconomic and social policy. In the practical part of the course the students apply these insights to a concrete policy problem. The objective of the paper is learning how to collect and process relevant source material regarding social and economic policy. Special attention is devoted to the economic importance of government activity: magnitude, employment, sectors, earning, spending, investment and added value, the government according to different theoretical economic systems. We discuss fiscal and monetary policy and examine the Belgian and the international economy. We especially discuss several domains of social and economic policy. We conclude our survey with insights from institutionalism and political economy.
Topics
I. INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC POLICY
1. Introduction to social and economic policy
2. Inequality, poverty and redistribution of wealth
3. Public goods and external effects
4. Non-market mechanisms
II. MACROECONOMIC POLICY
5. The demand side (in real terms)
6. The real and the monetary parts of the economy
7. Aggregate demand and aggregate supply
8. Aggregate demand and supply policy
9. Inflation
10. European monetary policy
III. THE BELGIAN ECONOMY
11. Consumers
12. Producers
13. Belgian public finance
IV. INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC POLICY
14. Introduction to international economics
15. International economic policy
16. Developing countries
V. DOMAINS OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC POLICY
17. Social policy
18. Labour policy
19. Transport policy
20. Environmental policy
21. Cultural policy
VI. ADDITIONS AND EXTENTIONS
22. Introduction to institutionalism
23. Extentions of the economic domain
24. Introduction to political economy
25. Special subjects and contemporary problems
Prerequisites
General Economy
'Algemene economie' (1st year course 'General Economics')
Final Objectives
Materials used
L. Berlage & A. Decoster, Inleiding tot de economie, Leuven, Universitaire Pers, 2000. Additions edited and published by the tutor.
Study costs
Manual ca. 37 €; additional material ca. 7 €, paper ca. 12,39€.
Study guidance
Is available for all students by simple request.
Teaching Methods
52 hours of lectures and 26 hours for writing a paper. Every subject discussed during the lectures will be complemented with practical exercises and real-life examples. Besides these hours, the average student will devote 192 hours to private study, including preparing lectures, processing the course material and preparing for the final exam. For the paper, all students are monitored individually by the lecturers. The paper will be written in different subsequent stages.
Assessment
Written exam.
Lecturer(s)
Anne GRAUWELS
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