International Finance and Macroeconomics

This is an advanced graduate-level course in international finance and macroeconomics. The course focuses on empirical methods, stylized facts, new advances in large-scale empirical work, and applied theory. This course is targeted to advanced second year PhD students. The course assumes familiarity with the basics of graduate-level macroeconomics and finance. Students without the necessary familiarity with these techniques are welcome to take the course, but should expect to have to fill the gaps on their own (and with the help of their classmates!). Given the target audience above, the course has three main objectives. 1) To introduce and investigate both classic and new economic issues at the frontier of current research in international finance and macroeconomics. The purely pedagogical part of the course aims to make students familiar with the questions, the current state of research, and the empirical tools currently being used. 2) To create a mental framework and intuitive understanding of important and active questions. What makes a question interesting? What makes a paper a good paper? How to develop a reasoned view of new (and perhaps yet un-studied) issues in international finance and macroeconomics? This objective is less direct and less formal, but aims to transition the students into full-time researchers. 3) To kick-start students on independent research. For those interested in applied work the course makes you familiar and tries to connect you with existing data at the frontier of the field, both public and proprietary. For those interested in theoretical work the course staff acts as a sounding board for early research ideas.