K2SP 3785 - International trade and macroeconomics

This course in International Economics examines current policy-relevant issues through the lens of recent academic research and contemporary policy debates.

The first part, taught by Antoine Berthou, covers mainly international trade while the second part, taught by Julia Schmidt, covers international macroeconomics and finance. Topics include current debates on the state of globalization, how to measure global value chains from available data, quantifying the gains from trade, geopolitical tensions and fragmentation, quantifying the impact of a trade war using tools presented in class, the Global Financial Cycle, safe asset demand, the International Monetary System, exchange rate dynamics or the implications of dominant currency pricing.

Students should have basic knowledge of macroeconomics and international economics.

In addition, if you have not covered the following topics, we strongly recommend you familiarise yourself with them:

For international trade: Specialization and gains from trade in textbook trade models. See in Krugman, Obstfeld and Melitz, “International economics: theory and evidence”: Ricardian model of trade, Heckscher-Ohlin-Samuelson, Oligopolistic competition, Melitz chapter on heterogeneous firms model.

For international macro: monetary policy tools and transmission, exchange rates and exchange rate regimes, Balance of Payments and national accounting, Mundell-Fleming framework.

Lectures