This course looks at how economic outcomes can be affected by politics and the institutional structure underlying it. Topics such as heterogeneity of interests, electoral competition, partisan politics, fiscal and monetary policy, institutional design, political business cycles, politics and growth are addressed.  Students are expected to have a firm grasp of microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts, at least at the advanced undergraduate level.

A student successfully completing this course should be able to:
• Understand key issues and questions in political economy.
• Develop some idea about how to think about and analyze situations where political and economic outcomes are intertwined.
• Understand the connection between assumptions made and the conclusions drawn.
• Appreciate the shortcomings of models and to provide alternative improvements.
• Construct logical arguments and provide politico-economic explanations consistent with the  workings of the model used.

Problem sets (40%) plus a final examination (60%).

Two lectures per week with tutorials.

ECON2102/2112 Macroeconomics 2 (P or H). Recommended co-requisite: ECON2141/2142 Strategic Thinking: An Introduction to Game Theory

Torsten Persson and Guido Tabellini (2002), Political Economics: Explaining Economic Policy, paperback edition, MIT Press.

Please refer to Course Website