Saint-Louis University - Bruxelles
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ECGE1314 - International Economics


USL-B


Credits : 5

Lecturer :
Mode of delivery :
Face-to-face , second term, 30 hours of theory.

Timetable :
Second term
Thursday from 08:30 to 10:30 at 43 Botanique 4

Language of instruction :
The course is taught in English. Reading material is in English.

Learning outcomes :
An exhaustive list of expected learning outcomes will be provided for each chapter of the course.

Prerequisites :
For the Bachelor : Business Engineering :

For the Bachelor in Economics and Management :

For the Bachelor of Science in Business Engineering :


Co-requisites :
For the Bachelor of Science in Business Engineering :


Course contents :
The course provides an introduction to International Economics. This field of Economics analyses how nations interact through trade of goods and services, flows of money, and investment and what are the consequences of these interactions. This field is as old as the discipline of Economics itself (see e.g. David Hume (1758), Of the Balance of Trade) but it is increasingly important as over the last decades, international trade and financial integration have been growing between nations.
The course consists of the two main parts.
The first part covers international trade theory and policy. It analyses questions like 1) what explains the patterns and volume of trade between countries, 2) why and how countries (potentially) gain from trade and why gains from trade are usually not shared equally between and within countries, 3) the labour market implications of international trade, 4) the instruments of trade policy.
The second part is about open-economy macroeconomics. It studies how international trade and capital mobility impact macroeconomic outcomes. Covered topics are a.o. 1) the determination of the current account, 2) the limitations on foreign borrowing and lending, 3) the determination of the nominal and real exchange rates, 4) the consequences of financial globalization.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
During the lectures, a selection of the chapters of the reference book is presented and illustrated on the basis of various real life examples and complementary readings.
Students must also make a few personal readings (either of other chapters of the book or of relevant articles).

Assessment methods and criteria :
Written final exam of three hours.
The exam questions are based on the lists of the learning outcomes provided for the different chapters of the course (and for the personal readings).

Recommended or required reading :
Krugman Paul, Maurice Obstfeld and Marc Melitz (2018), International Economics: Theory and Policy, Global Edition, Pearson, 11th edition (the 10th edition suits as well).

Other information :
All class material (but the book) will be made available on moodleuslb.uclouvain.be