This course will give you the tools to answer questions like: How does rising inflation affect the demand that businesses face for their goods and services? What does it mean for businesses and workers when the Fed signals that they will raise interest rates? Can politicians really create jobs? We will build a unified framework and explore data that allows MBA students to answer these sorts of questions and to develop an understanding of how the broad economic environment affects business outcomes. Specifically, we will study long-run trends in economic growth (and where they come from), fluctuations around those trends (booms and recessions), and the importance of various government policy tools in determining output (i.e. interest rates, government spending, taxes, etc.). We will then apply this framework to understand historical episodes like the Great Recession as well as to evaluate the importance to businesses of recent macroeconomic phenomena such as high inflation, tightening monetary policy, or large pandemic recovery packages. The applied focus of this course makes it valuable even to those students who have taken previous macroeconomics courses as undergraduates.
Business 33001 or its equivalent recommended. Cannot enroll in BUSN 33050 if BUSN 33040 or 20200 taken previously: strict.
Abel and Bernanke, Macroeconomics. There will also be a Canvas site with lecture notes and supplementary readings, and occasional handouts from the business press. In addition, The Economist or an equivalent source of economic news is highly recommended.
Based on quizzes, a midterm (optional), and a final exam.
- Allow Provisional Grades (For joint degree and non-Booth students only)
- Early Final Grades (For joint degree and non-Booth students only)
Description and/or course criteria last updated: July 21 2023
