Frontier Research in Macroeconomics

Description:
This course aims to enable students to conduct research in promising areas in macroeconomics. One of these areas is research on the role of the interaction between household heterogeneity, inequality, and the transmission of macroeconomic policies. These policies range from classical business cycle stabilization tools, such as monetary and fiscal policies, to more novel macroeconomic policies such as carbon pricing. A second currently very fruitful area of research is the analysis of how economic considerations influence geopolitical decisions and vice versa. This field of research is called Geoeconomics and is concerned with questions such as: How does global economic fragmentation impact economic growth? How do economic factors such as trade linkages and currency choices influence international political decisions? What are the implications of a global dominant currency? In a first step, recent research papers are read, presented, and discussed. Based on the discussions in class and the intensive engagement with the topics students will then develop independent research ideas.

Literature:
Mohr, C., & Trebesch, C. (2025). Geoeconomics. Annual Review of Economics , 17.
Violante, G. (2021). What have we learned from HANK models, thus far?. Beyond the pandemic: the future of monetary policy, 267.
Auclert, A., Rognlie, M., & Straub, L. (2024). The intertemporal Keynesian cross. Journal of Political Economy , 132 (12), 4068-4121.

Time & venue:
Tuesdays, 10:00-12:00; HU Berlin, Spandauer Str. 1, room 125

Exam:
Portfolio: The students are required to choose a paper from the reading list and present the key insights from this paper in class. Furthermore, they are tasked with writing a short referee report for one of the papers presented by another student, such that they start the discussion after the presentation. Lastly, in the term paper, the students should sketch an independent research idea that is related to the topics discussed in class. The presentation will account for 50% of the overall grade, whereas the report and term paper will account for 25% each.

More information can be found on Moodle.