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| Detailed information |
| Pre-requisites |
(*)keine
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| Original study plan |
Bachelor's programme Economics and Business 2025W |
| Learning Outcomes |
Competences |
| Students are able to examine the effects of exogenous changes (e.g., fiscal and monetary policy measures or energy price shocks) on the short- and medium-term equilibrium in goods, financial, and labor markets through graphical and formal analysis.
Course Objectives:
Students are familiar with the fundamental concepts of macroeconomic theory for closed economies and the empirical regularities of the business cycle. They are able to apply this knowledge to analyze typical scenarios (e.g., a recession or the effects of monetary and fiscal policy) and can read and understand general and specific newspaper articles on national and global economic developments. Students know how equilibrium GDP is determined in the goods market and how the equilibrium interest rate and money supply are determined in financial markets, as well as how goods and financial markets interact. They can analyze the effects of monetary and fiscal policy measures on the short-term equilibrium in an economy. They understand how the medium-term equilibrium in the labor market is established and how changes in the unemployment rate relate to inflation and GDP growth in an economy.
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| Skills |
Knowledge |
- Learning Outcome 4 (LO4): Students can determine the equilibrium GDP of an economy before and after a fiscal policy measure.
- Learning Outcome 5 (LO5): Students are able to graphically depict the short-term simultaneous equilibrium in the goods and financial markets using the IS-LM model.
- Learning Outcome 6 (LO6): Students can extend the IS-LM model to include the Phillips Curve (PC) and use the resulting IS-LM-PC model to analyze the effects of fiscal and monetary policy measures or energy price fluctuations in the short and medium term.
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- Learning Outcome 1 (LO1): Students are familiar with the essential components of aggregate demand in an economy and the three methods of calculating GDP.
- Learning Outcome 2 (LO2): Students understand that in the short-term goods market equilibrium, production must match aggregate demand, and how the equilibrium GDP of an economy can be calculated from this.
- Learning Outcome 3 (LO3): Students understand the relationship between the (change in) inflation rate and the unemployment rate in an economy, and how this so-called Phillips Curve is related to assumptions about the inflation expectations of economic agents.
Teaching Content:
- Introduction
- National Accounts
- The Goods Market
- Money and Financial Markets
- The IS-LM Model
- The Labor Market
- The Phillips Curve (PC)
- The IS-LM-PC Model
- Okun's Law
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| Criteria for evaluation |
The assessment for the course "Introduction to Macroeconomics" is based on a single-choice exam, which will be held on two dates at the end of the semester. If students attend both exam dates, only the better result will count towards the final grade. The main exam and the retake exam each consist of 12 single-choice questions covering all chapters of the course and will be assessed according to the following grading scale:
| Correct Answers | in % | Grade |
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| 11-12 | 91.7-100 | 1 |
| 9-10 | 75-83.3 | 2 |
| 7-8 | 58.3-66.7 | 3 |
| 6 | 50 | 4 |
| 0-5 | 0-41.7 | 5 |
The main and retake exams will take place in the examination rooms of Johannes Kepler University and are to be completed independently without any aids (i.e., no course materials, textbooks, etc.). The exam questions will cover both formal and graphical derivations as well as conceptual questions related to the underlying assumptions or empirical regularities.
Synchronization of Learning Outcomes and Assessment Criteria:
- LO1: Main exam & Retake exam
- LO2: Main exam & Retake exam
- LO3: Main exam & Retake exam
- LO4: Main exam & Retake exam
- LO5: Main exam & Retake exam
- LO6: Main exam & Retake exam
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| Methods |
This course is a "lecture" in the traditional sense. However, the lecture is enriched by the questions and interaction with the students. The goal is to:
- Maximize the students' understanding of the course content and methods,
- Convey the economic intuition and interpretation of the content to the students,
- Encourage the students to independently engage with and understand the course material.
For selected chapters of the lecture, comprehension questions are available on JKU Moodle.
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| Language |
German |
| Study material |
- Lecture slides (with links to economic databases & sources)
- Video recordings of the in-person lectures in the auditorium
- Comprehension questions for selected chapters of the lecture
- Selected chapters from the textbook by:
Olivier Blanchard and Gerhard Illing, *Macroeconomics*, 8th updated and expanded edition, Pearson, 2021
Lecture materials, video recordings, and comprehension questions will be made available to students on JKU Moodle (https://moodle.jku.at).
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| Changing subject? |
No |
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