Unit Economic Policy

Course

Political sciences and international relations

Study-unit Code

10001809

Curriculum

Scienze politiche

Teacher

Marcello Signorelli

Teachers

Marcello Signorelli
Cristina Montesi (Codocenza)

Hours

42 ore - Marcello Signorelli
21 ore (Codocenza) - Cristina Montesi

CFU

Course Regulation

Coorte 2020

Offered

2021/22

Learning activities

Caratterizzante

Area

Discipline economiche-politiche

Academic discipline

SECS-P/02

Type of study-unit

Type of learning activities

Attività formativa monodisciplinare

Language of instruction

Italian

Contents

Reference texts

Libri di riferimento (i primi due sono da acquistare mentre il terzo si trova in pdf su Unistudium):

MARELLI E. e SIGNORELLI M. (2019) “POLITICA ECONOMICA – Le politiche nel nuovo scenario europeo e globale”, Giappichelli Editore, Torino.

MARELLI E. e SIGNORELLI M. (2018) “E SE L'ITALIA TORNASSE ALLA LIRA? Vantaggi, costi e rischi", LibreriaUniversitaria.it Edizioni, Padova.

MONTESI C. (2016), "Il Paradigma dell’economia civile. Radici storiche e nuovi orizzonti", Umbria Volontariato Edizioni, Terni.

Montesi C. (2020), La scommessa della felicità nel pensiero economico di Robert Michels, in Federici R. (2020) (a cura di), Robert Michels. Un intellettuale di frontiera, Meltemi, Milano, pp.75-110.

Educational objectives

The course of Economic Policy aims to provide the analytical tools of the fundamental theory of economic policy along with concrete applications related to the European and Italian economic policies in the new global context.
The student will be able to assess the costs and benefits of different policy options in the new European and global scenario. He will acquire both theoretical knowledge and, above all, an ability to analyze the empirical evidence and critically discuss the different possible policy options.

Prerequisites

A good knowledge of Political Economy is necessary.

Teaching methods

face-to-face

Other information

As for additional information please visit the Unistudium web platform dedicated to this specific course.

Learning verification modality

Oral exam.
Erasmus students can use Italian or one of the following languages: English, French, Spanish.
More details are included in the Unistudium platform, in a section dedicated to this specific teaching.

Extended program

Part I: Models, theories and policies

1. Political economy and economic policy. The macroeconomic models

2. Theory of economic policy

3. Type of economic policies

4. The Keynesian economic policies

5. Public intervention in economy: theory and empirical evidence

5.1 Market failures and government intervention

5.2 Theories on the secular expansion of the public sector

5.3 The schools of "public choice" and the "supply-side economics"

5.4 The expansion and reduction of the public sector

5.5 The weight of the public sector: evolution and comparisons

Part II: The role of economic policies

6. Unemployment and the labor market

6.1 Unemployment, cycle and growth

6.2 Indicators of the labor market

6.3 The Okun's Law: the link between unemployment and income

6.4 Frictional and structural unemployment

6.5 Unemployment, rigidity in the labor market and eurosclerosis

6.6 The models insider-outsider, the efficiency wages and the theory of hysteresis

6.7 Labour costs, wages and productivity

6.8 The evolution of the institutions of the labor market

7. The monetarists and the debate on stabilization policies

7.1 The monetarist school and debate with Keynesians

7.2 The Keynesian extreme cases

7.3 The monetarist extreme case and the quantity theory of money

7.4 The monetary policy, according to Keynesians and monetarists

7.5 Fiscal policy, according to Keynesians and monetarists

7.6 Effects crowding and wealth effects

7.7 Delays of economic policy and the permanence of the effects over time

7.8 The stabilization policies: effectiveness, objectives, rules and discretion

8. Inflation and disinflationary policies

8.1 Inflation: costs and benefits

8.2 The Phillips curve

8.3 The monetarist vision and the absence of trade-off in the long run

8.4 The disinflationary policies: the role of money

8.5 Incomes policy and wage negotiations

8.6 Effects of the rigidity of the price: the New Keynesian Economics

8.7 The hyperinflations and fiscal drag

9. Rational expectations and the credibility of economic policies

9.1 The New Classical Macroeconomics

9.2 Rational expectations

9.3 The supply curve à la Lucas and the real effects of the forecasting errors

9.4 Implications of economic policy and the "Lucas critique"

9.5 The Ricardian equivalence

9.6 The role of strategic interdependence

9.7 The time inconsistency of economic policy

9.8 Credibility, rules and institutions

Part III: Monetary policy and fiscal policy

10. Monetary policy: objectives, strategies and theories on central banking

10.1 The independence of central banks

10.2 Final objectives of monetary policy and types of conservatism

10.3 Intermediate objectives, monetary policy strategies and seigniorage

10.4 monetary policy instruments and the Taylor rule

11. Fiscal policy, the sustainability of public debt and return policies

11.1 Fiscal policy and public deficits

11.2 Deficit, debt and "risk premiums"

11.3 The public debt sustainability

11.4 Public debt and return policies: the Italian case

11.5 Financing monetary, interest rate policy and debt management

11.6 Primary budget, real growth and progression of fiscal consolidations

11.7 Public budget and planning documents in Italy

12. Macroeconomic policies in an open economy

Part IV: The world economy: growth and globalization

13. Growth and development in the world

13.1 Growth and development from a historical perspective

13.2 Problems and development policies

13.3 Development indicators and groups of countries

13.4 The Bric: growth, structure and policies of four emerging economies

14. Globalization and trade policies in an open economy

14.1 Globalization: historical stages and drivers

14.2 Liberalization, financialization and "global imbalances"

14.3 The internationalization of business and the effects of globalization on mature countries

14.4 Evolution of world trade

14.5 Theories of international trade and trade policies

14.6 Trade policies: instruments and evidence

14.7 International bodies: from GATT to WTO

Part V: The European economic integration

15. The process of EU integration: the customs union to the single market. The EU budget

15.1 The EU enlargements, the subsequent treaties and institutions

15.2 The customs union, competition policy and the Structural Funds

15.3 The Single Market and the four liberalization

15.4 Structure and evolution of the EU budget

16. The Maastricht Treaty and the European "economic and monetary union"

16.1 The European Monetary System

16.2 The Treaty of Maastricht and convergence criteria

16.3 Theory of Optimum Currency Areas: Benefits and costs of monetary unions

16.4 Shock asymmetric and insurance systems

16.5 The EMU is an OCA?

Part VI: The economic policies in the eurozone

17. The ECB and European monetary policy

17.1 The ECB, organs and characteristics

17.2 The inflation target and the two pillars of monetary strategy

17.3 Instruments of monetary policy and the degree of activism of the ECB

17.4 An assessment based on macroeconomic performance

17.5 The dispersion of inflation and the exchange rate

17.6 The crisis and unconventional operations

17.7 The new supervisory bodies and the European banking union

18. Rules on the financial statements: stability and growth pact, Fiscal Compact

18.1 Default Risk and rules on the budgets in a monetary union

18.2 The "Stability and Growth Pact" and its reforms

18.3 The crisis and the new rules for the Eurozone (Fiscal Compact)

18.4 Policies of austerity and stagnation: how to get out?

19. The financial crisis, the sovereign debt crisis and the EU's responses

19.1 The crisis in the US: the subprime mortgages and the bursting of the bubble

19.2 The spread of the crisis and the Great Recession

19.3 The policy responses in different countries of the world

19.4 The sovereign debt crisis and the characteristics of the "PIIGS"

19.5 The EU and uncertain policy answers

19.6 The proposals for Eurobonds and greater European integration

PART I
ALMOST TWO DECADES WITH THE EURO

1 Why Italy adopted the euro?
2 The initial weaknesses of the EMU
3 The first decade with the euro
4 The long crisis of the last decade: causes and consequences
PART II
WILL ITALY RETURN TO "LIRA"?

5 How it could happen?
6 Advantages
7 Costs and risks
PART III
THE FUTURE OF THE EURO AND THE EUROPE
8 Necessary reforms for the sustainability of the Eurozone
9 Possible scenario for the euro and the Europe

Part I

THE FUNDAMENTALS OF CIVIL ECONOMY

1.The fundamentals of Civil Economy

1.1 Relational Goods, Social Capital and Civil Economy

1.2 Characteristics of relational goods

1.3 The link between social capital and market: three virtuous plots

Bibliography

Part II

THE LEGACY OF ST.BENEDICT: A EUROPEAN LESSON OF
CIVIL ECONOMY

2. The legacy of St. Benedict: a European lesson of Civil Economy

2.1 The legacy of St. Benedict from an economic point of view

2.2 St. Benedict as a forerunner of Civil Economy

2.3 The different "lessons" from an economic point of view which can arise from Benedictine abbey

2.4 The lesson at macroeconomic level of Benedictine abbey
The role of spirituality in the economic field
The influence of Benedictine spirituality on the birth of a rational, peaceful and fruitful market economy

2.5 The lesson at mesoeconomic level of Benedictine abbey: the original relationship of the Benedictine abbey with the territory
The Benedictine abbey serves as a catalyst for Civil Economy
The Benedictine abbey serves as a magnet for an ante-litteram territorial marketing
The Benedictine abbey as a "civil" enterprise

2.6 The lesson at microeconomic level of Benedictine abbey
The work ethic of Benedictine abbey
The Benedictine abbey as a forerunner of social cooperation
The non-autocratic government of Benedictine abbey
The guiding principles of Benedictine abbey
The ethics of virtues in Benedictine abbey
The centrality of knowledge in Benedictine abbey
The centrality of innovation in Benedictine abbey

2.7 Conclusion

Bibliography

Part III

THE HISTORICAL EVOLUTION OF CIVIL ECONOMY

3. The historical evolution of Civil Economy

3.1 The contribution of Franciscan monasticism to Civil Economy

3.2 Civil Humanism and Civil Economy

3.3 Italian Enlightenment and Civil Economy
Antonio Genovesi, the father of Civil Economy

3.4 From the Italian Civil Economy to the British Political Economy

3.5 From British Political Economy to Economic Science of Neoclassical Economists

Bibliography

Part IV

CIVIL ECONOMY IN CONTEMPORARY WORLD

4.1 A new starting point for reflection

4.2 The elective affinities between profit world and non-profit world

4.3 A comparison between a socially responsible company and a civil enterprise

4.4 Together for a Civil Economy: from theory to training action

4.5 The Manifesto for Civil Economy

BibliographyMontesi C. (2020), La scommessa della felicità nel pensiero economico di Robert Michels, in Federici R. (2020) (a cura di), Robert Michels. Un intellettuale di frontiera, Meltemi, Milano, pp.75-110.

The essay deals with the problematic relationship between economy and happiness addressed by Robert Michels (1876-1936) in his book "The Economy of Happiness", printed in 1918. In this book Robert Michels, a true "frontier intellectual", anticipates and provides an answer to some of the questions, always recurring in the History of Philosophy, but also typical of the “science of happiness" of XXI century: what is happiness? What is the relationship between economy and happiness? What are the economic variables that determine it? What are the non-economic factors which affect happiness? What weight do the latter have in influencing happiness? Is it appropriate to think about public policies for happiness? What could these policies be? In the interdisciplinary reading of the different determinants of happiness and of their interactions, Robert Michels modernly manages to combine economics, psychology, sociology, history, courageously distancing himself from the reductionist paradigm of neoclassical economy prevailing in his time and suggesting a wide range of policies, to be carried out by the State and/or by workers' unions, for the achievement of happiness.