The European Economy
Module Code: EC3030
Module Title: European Economy
- ECTS Weighting: 10
- Semester/Term Taught: Michaelmas + Hilary Term
- Contact Hours: 44 hours of lectures and 8 hours of tutorials
- Module Personnel: Lecturer - Professor John O'Hagan / Lecturer - Selen Sarisoy Guerin
Learning Outcomes
On successful completion of this module, you will be able to:
- Review and summarise published material on various key aspects of European economic integration.
- Explain the importance and relevance of the information contained in this reading material on European economic integration.
- Explain and apply some basic economic theory and diagrams to issues of European economic policy.
- Compare and contrast, using this theoretical economics framework, different aspects of the policy debate surrounding European economic integration.
- Formulate a balanced, critical judgment on the status of each of these debates.
Module Learning Aims
The aim of this course is to equip students with a critical understanding of the major issues facing the European economy. The course provides a blend of descriptive information, theory and empirical analysis. The emphasis is on economic issues but these issues are studied in their political, institutional, and historical context. Theoretical analysis forms an essential part of the course and requires knowledge of intermediate micro- and macroeconomics. Particular attention is devoted to policy areas in which EU co-ordination has progressed furthest: monetary integration, internal market, external trade policy, regional policy, factor mobility, agriculture, and competition policy. The course is suitable for any JS student who has taken Economics in his/her SF year and all Visiting Students who have acquired an equivalent level of Economics training.
Module Content
Michaelmas Term (Prof. O'Hagan):
- Historical evolution of the European Union.
- Law, institutions and budget.
- Decision making: fiscal federalism, distribution of power and legitimacy.
- Economic growth. Facts and explanations.
- Employment. Performance, labour market rigidities and EU labour market institutions.
- Location effects, economic geography and regional policy.
- Agriculture: reasons for intervention, history, reforms and outlook.
Hilary Term (Selen Sarisoy Guerin)
- Customs Union: The microeconomics of preferential liberalization
- The EU Trade policy: theory and practice, policy making, multilateralism vs bilateralism, policy coherence
- The macroeconomics of monetary integration
- European exchange rate history
- European Monetary Union.
- Fiscal policy in EMU.
- EMU and financial markets.
Recommended Reading List
Baldwin, R. and Wyplosz, C. (2012) (4th edition), The Economics of European Integration, McGraw-Hill.
De Grauwe, Paul (2007). The Economics of Monetary Union (7th edition), OUP.
El-Agraa, A.M. (2011). The European Union: Economics and Policies, (8th edition), Prentice Hall.
The first of the above is essential reading for both modules. Lectures will follow closely the material in this book. The second of these books provides more information on European monetary issues covered in the second module. In addition to the above, students should keep abreast of current European economy issues through newspapers and magazines, particularly the: Financial Times and the Economist, and the Web references provided in the Baldwin and Wyplosz book.
Contact Hours/Methods of Teaching and Student Learning
The main mode of teaching is the use of standard lectures, running for 50 minutes twice a week, throughout both semesters. The lectures will be used primarily to stimulate interest in the subject, provide introductions to some of the more difficult material in the core textbook, and to supplement the book where relevant. While the numbers taking the course can exceed 90, questions are welcomed, at least to a limited extent, during lectures.
There are no lecture notes produced for Module A, just bullet points to provide a context and focus for students during lectures. These will not be placed on the web for two reasons: first some students misleadingly think they are lectures and second to provide an incentive for students to attend lectures regularly and thereby benefit from the considerable advantages of so doing.
There will also be a class programme (details to be provided later) at which students will be asked to contribute to class discussion. Both lecturers will also be readily contactable by email to answer queries in relation to the course and to make face-to-face appointments if required.
Students will be asked to evaluate the course and any overall suggestions for improvement taken on board where possible.
Assessment Details
Module A
This module accounts for 50 per cent of the marks for the course. This 50 will be allocated as follows.
- 10 per cent for short test Week 8, MT
- 10 per cent for essay due first week HT (details to follow later)
- 30 per cent for summer examination (this will consist of two parts, the first part on this module and the second on Module B)
For students taking only Module A, they will have to do the first assignment, plus two essays for the second assignment (details to be provided later). Each assignment will carry 50 per cent of the marks.
Module B
This module accounts for 50 per cent of the marks for the course. This 50 per cent will be allocated as follows.
- 15 per cent for an essay assignment due in Week 8 HT
- 35 per cent for summer examination
For students taking only Module B, the breakdown will be 30 per cent for the assignment and 70 per cent for the end of course exam (on which they will only have to do questions pertaining to Module B).
Module Website
Michaelmas Term: http://www.tcd.ie/Economics/staff/johagan/ec3030/
Hilary Term: TBC