Macroeconomics · 2025/26
  1º FICO, ECO, ADE, ADE+FICO, DADE (2024)



Antonio Quesada
Office 314
Departament d'Economia, Universitat Rovira i Virgili
Avinguda de la Universitat 1
43204 Reus

E-mail: aqa@urv.cat

Office hours (February - May 2026)
Tuesday (T) 7:30 - 09:00  &  11:00 - 12:00
Thursday (R)  7:30 - 11:00

 Classroom A0.12 · 3 February - 19 May 2026
Tuesday 9:00-11:00  & Thursday 11:00-13:00


TIMETABLE (Classes suspended are indicated in red)   
February
 3
 5 10 12 17 19 24  26 

March
 3
 5 10 12 17 19 24  26 
 
April
 7 9 14 16 21 23 28 30

May 5 7 12 14 19




12th February: Meteorological Danger Situation | 19th March: URV Festival 

“The Holy Grail of economics is the ability to integrate the real economy with the financial economy.” Marc Lavoie
“There are two kind of economists: those who work to make the rich richer and 
those, me included, who work to make the poor less poor.” José Luis Sampedro (1917-2013)

"My sense is that the scientific way of thinking, questioning, some delicate mix of creative encouragement of new ideas and the most rigorous and skeptical scrutiny of new and old ideas, I think that is the path to the future, not just for science but for all human institutions. We have to be willing to challenge because we are in desperate need of change."  Carl Sagan

"Truth is just an opinion dressed up the right way... Bad people take advantage of financial institutions all the time. And fortunately, it always ends the same way.
The bank gets investigated, we pay a speeding ticket, and then everyone justs gets back to work." The Night Agent 3x10 (2026)

"My advice to policymakers everywhere in this new global environment? Think of the unthinkable and prepare for it", Kristalina Georgieva, IMF Managing Director, Tokyo, 9 Mar 2026

'Mainstream macroeconomics is a set of political economy ideas of the rich, by the rich and for the rich.'

History repeats itself   |    Strauss–Howe generational theory 
The world is turning upside down: before the 28 Feb 2026 bombing of Iran and after


 
 


 Contents (course syllabus as presented in the teaching guide)
   
"1. Introduction  
1.1. Economic growth   Blanchard (2021, Ch. 10 & 13, pp. 33-34)
1.2. The role of the state   Blanchard (2021, Ch. 1-2 & 22-23, pp. 33-34)

2. Demand policies  
2.1. Fiscal policy    Blanchard (2021, Ch. 3-5 & 22)
2.2. Monetary policy   Blanchard (2021, Ch. 3-5 & 23)
2.3. Exchange rate policy   Blanchard (2021, Ch. 17-20)

3. Supply policies  
3.1. Supply shocks   Blanchard (2021, Ch. 7-9) 
3.2. Critiques of demand policies   Blanchard (2021, Ch. 19-20)

4. The world of the 21st century  
4.1. The Europe of the euro   Blanchard (2021, pp. 9-13, 431-432, 456-457)
4.2. The 2008 crisis    Blanchard (2021, pp. 4-6, 122-128)
4.3. The COVID crisis"   Blanchard, Amighini, Giavazzi (2021, Ch. 10)


 Orthodox readings

  Olivier Blanchard (2021): Macroeconomics, 8th ed, Pearson
  O Blanchard, A Amighini, F Giavazzi (2021): Macroeconomics. A European perspective, 4th ed, Pearson


A bit less orthodox readings

  The Economy 2.0 - Macroeconomics  |  W Carlin, D Soskice (2024): Macroeconomics 
  Emiliano Brancaccio (2018): Anti-Blanchard Macroeconomics, Edward Elgar 



Assessment · 1st call
 
20%  Multiple-choice exam 1 (15 multiple-choice questions, 4 options)  R 26 Mar 2026  |    Marks
  
0%  Ghost exam (15 multiple-choice questions, 4 options; 4 problems/exercises)  R 30 April 2026 

20%  Multiple-choice exam 2  (15 multiple-choice questions, 4 options)  R 07 May 2026  |    Marks 
              Option A (maximum mark 6)  |  Option B  
              
60%  Final exam (15 multiple-choice questions + 4 questions/exercises, topics 1-4)
   T 26 May 2026 18:00



 Assessment · 2nd call
           
100%  Final exam (15 multiple choice questions + 4 questions/exercises, topics 1-4)
    T 16 June 2026 18:00



 Problem sets  

  Problem set 0  (INCOMPLETE DRAFT)
  Problem set 1 (INCOMPLETE DRAFT)       
  Problem set 2 (INCOMPLETE DRAFT)   
  Exercise 1 (variations on the 45-degree model)



  Family tree of macro models |    Fun for thought   |  Trumpflation 1  2 

Lecture notes

  I. Introduction (INCOMPLETE DRAFT)  

  II. Central banks, forms of money (ROUGH DRAFT)         
  IIb. A model of money creation      
  M McLeay, A Radia, R Thomas (2014): 'Money creation in the modern economy' | Bank of England 
  S&P (2013): 'Banks cannot and do not 'lend out' reserves'   

  III. Monetary policy, financial assets, interest rates (DRAFT)
 
  IV. Exchange rates, arbitrage, speculation (DRAFT)

  V. Sectoral balances, fiscal policy (DRAFT)
  Vb. A model of GDP determination      

  VI. Links between fiscal policy and monetary policy (DRAFT)



Heterodox readings

  William Mitchell, L Randall Wray, Martin Watts (2019): Macroeconomics, Red Globe
  M Watts et al (2021): "Orthodox macroeconomic textbooks: A critical evaluation using institutional practice as a benchmark", Int. Rev. Econ. Educ. 37
  J Jonáš, O Komínek (2017): 'Sectoral balances and SFC models'  |  W Goodley, G Zezza (2006): 'Debt and lending'  



Graphs

  GDP per capita   1800-2022  |  1950-2022  
  ECB key interest rates 1999-2026  |  Euro area: inflation and interest rates 1  2   
  Euro area inflation rate 1997-2026  |  Brent oil price 7 Mar 2026  (oilprice.com) 
Fed reserves  ( source)  |    Deposits & currency US households ( source) 
  USD-EUR 1999-2026  2016-2026 | JPY-EUR | GBP-EUR | RUB-EUR | CNY-EUR



Links and further readings

  Nobel Prize in Economics 2025  |  Joel Mokyr | Philippe Aghion y Peter Howitt 
  William Mitchell's MMT blog   |    Tyler Cowen: 'Why I do not like the IS-LM model' 
  Trading Economics  |    FRED data   |    US debt clock  
  'Flawed economic models mean climate crisis could crash global economy'  5 Feb 26 

  Recalibrating Climate Risk Report   |  Energy trilemma index  
  Word Inequality Report 2026  
  Euro area inflation rate  |   Buffett indicator   Buffett indicator   4 Mar 26   
  Foreign exchange turnover (April 2025, 14th BIS Central Bank Survey)   |    Dominant international currencies 

  What to expect from a Nobel Prize in Economics (jump to 14:10; summary around 15:30: 'you shouldn't expect much from us')  
  Global imbalances and the Swan diagram  |    The COVID global recession in 5 charts
  IMF World Economic Report April 2026    Ch 1 |    Macroeconomics of conflicts     
  2 weeks of Iran war = 5 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent (QMUL study; Israel-Gaza = 30)

  On student absenteeism (in Spanish)

Last update: 9 May 2026 · 21:04
sickOFmacro