Economics

The field of Economics has a complex history marked by contradictions. On one hand, it is a history of disagreement and changes, but on the other, it is a persistent effort to address crucial questions facing society. This interplay of discontinuity and continuity has shaped Economics into the theory we study today. By tracing the evolution of the science, one can gain a deeper understanding of its essence and how it has developed into its current form.

By the end of this course, students are expected to have:
- Developed an in-depth understanding of the context of contemporary economic theory.
- Acquired knowledge of the various schools of economic thought.
- Developed an understanding for why economics has changed over time.

The course provides a study of modern international finance theories. Topics include foreign exchange rates, international monetary systems, balance of payments, macroeconomic policy in the open economy, and China's foreign exchange rate policies and balance of payments issues. College level algebra and simple calculus is used frequently during lectures. 

This course provides students with tools to think critically and autonomously about economic ideas and public policy. The course develops the skills to elaborate a map of the successive interfaces between economics and policy, and to understand the major controversies surrounding the development of positive and normative economics. Economists think and write about the world in order to understand the way economic systems function, but also – sometimes – in order to transform them. This course provides an in-depth understanding of the role of economists in public policy since the end of the 19th century. The course is structured in three parts: 1) a description of the different regimes of the interventions of economists in policy. This part explores the evolution of the role of economists and the status of economic knowledge, from the margins to the core of policymaking, following the successive regimes of intervention. Then it analyzes the changing nature of economists’ role in policy after the Great Depression and post-war deregulation movement; 2) a series of case studies focused on institutions. This part is devoted to a series of historical case studies focused on the development of policies aimed at tackling poverty, inequality, and discrimination. The use of economics is explored in specific institutions; 3) an exploration of conflicting values through the history of public economics. The last part is about the practice and the scholarship on public policy. It investigates the history of the fields of welfare and public economics since the 1930s and the treatment of conflict between the positive and normative approaches in economics.

The course examines the inter-relationships between the development of the international economy and the growth of national economies until the late 19th century. The course introduces students not only to a wide variety of topics and issues, but also to the wide variety of approaches used by historians. The course includes analyses of the original leading nation, Britain, and its replacement, the United States, as well as the catch-up of areas such as continental Europe, and the failure to catch-up of earlier well-placed areas such as Latin America. 

This course covers maritime trade and cargo, the shipping market, the market cycle, supply and demand, freight and cost structure, tramp shipping, and liner shipping. 

This course examines the dynamic microfoundations of macroeconomics, and demonstrates how we can utilize these foundations to understand the trends and fluctuations of macroeconomic aggregates like national output, unemployment, inflation and interest rates, and to predict the outcome of alternative government policies related to current economic problems of New Zealand and the rest of the world.

This course address how the economy works and how it affects individuals and society by focusing on a critically important domain of the economy—namely, financial markets. Overall, the course provides a sociological understanding of why we have financial markets, who the key financial actors are, how financial markets are evolving, as well as how finance and financial logics affect individuals and society. More specifically, it introduces recent sociological discussions of two aspects of finance. The first concerns “financialization,” that is, the growing use and importance of financial logics in otherwise non-financial fields. One example of this is when production companies generate more revenue from finance operations than from their core production activities. Another dimension of financialization relates to the everyday life of ordinary citizens who are increasingly embedded in financial logics. For example, the course discusses inequalities pertaining to the ability to obtain loans (credit). The second aspect of the course focuses on the inner workings of contemporary financial markets. In addition to discussing the backdrop to the 2008 financial crisis, particular emphasis is given to understanding how financial markets have transformed in light of automated trading, that is, fully automated algorithms acting in markets without direct human involvement. It covers the main elements in present-day markets, including trading firms, financial exchanges, so-called dark pools, and financial regulation, as well as discusses the kinds of financial crashes automated trading might give rise to. The course draws upon a combination of classical sociological analyses and theories of financial markets (from Max Weber to Wayne Baker); more recent sociological discussions of performativity in markets; financialization literature; and social studies of science-inspired analyses of automation.

The course encompasses a wide range of topics and is inherently interdisciplinary. Fostering a participatory learning process, the course includes lectures with real-time examples of energy issues at the local, national, and global levels while focusing on the policy aspects of energy and their associated environmental impacts. The course acquaints students with various subjects, including energy economics, energy policy, and energy finance. Additionally, it familiarizes students with topics such as renewable energy, sustainable development, and green finance.

Class format: Online (mainly real-time format)

This course is part of the Laurea Magistrale degree program and is intended for advanced level students. Enrollment is by permission of the instructor. This course studies the economics of competition and antitrust, with a special focus on financial and banking markets. The course covers how to define the relevant markets, how to measure the market power of agents, and the degree of market concentration. The course then introduces major antitrust violations and the typical measures taken to stop competition-harming behavior (from price fixing to abuse of dominance). The course considers antitrust implications of network interconnectedness in different segments of financial markets (included payment systems). The economic analysis of merger regulation is also examined. At the end of the course, the student knows how to apply the most important economic models to antitrust cases, and knows how to use rigorous models in the analysis of competition policy issues. Topics covered in this course include: Introduction to competition policy: definition, history, and the law; Market power and Welfare; Market definition and the assessment of market power; Art 101 TFEU : Collusion and Horizontal Agreements; Horizontal mergers; Vertical mergers; and Predation, monopolization, and other abusive practices.

This course provides the foundations to econometrics and the use of software tools to perform econometrics data analysis. The course covers an introduction to causal inference and associated analysis models with a primary emphasis on linear regression. Examples are drawn from various industry domains and applications. The course requires students to have completed prerequisites.