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Macroeconomics, Government and the Economy - ATAX0011
Library

 
Faculty: Faculty of Law
 
 
School:  Australian School of Taxation
 
 
Course Outline: See below
 
 
Campus: ATAX Campus
 
 
Career: Undergraduate
 
 
Units of Credit: 6
 
 
EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)
 
 
Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 0
 
 
Fee Band: 3 (more info)
 
 
Further Information: See Class Timetable
 
 
Available for General Education: Yes (more info)
 
 

Description

Macroeconomics is the study of the economic performance of nations and the effectiveness of policies that governments use to try to improve that performance. Among the issues that macroeconomists study are the sources of our increasing material standard of living, the causes of economic instability reflected in high unemployment and inflation, and the impact globalisation has on the management of our economy. The performance of our economy impacts on the availability of jobs, mortgage interest rates, the value of the Australian dollar, the prices we pay in the supermarket and our overall standard of living. As such, macroeconomic performance affects everyone. In this course we explore simplified models of the macroeconomy, and use deductive reasoning and available data, to try to understand how the various macroeconomic variables interact and produce the outcomes that so concern society as a whole. In particular, we concentrates on the interaction of the taxing and spending of government with the wider economy. Some of the issues we will examine are hotly contested and we introduce controversies among economists regarding macroeconomic theory and policy.


Recommended Prior Knowledge

None

Course Objectives

This course seeks to help you to develop knowledge based on a thorough critical understanding of macroeconomic thought. The central learning objectives of the course are defined in terms of the following outcomes:
  • To recognise the nature of a variety of macroeconomic issues facing Australia and the possible remedies for these problems
  • To develop skills and perspectives to locate tax issues in the wider context of macroeconomic policy choices
  • To further develop skills of independent policy formulation, evaluation and intelligent decision-making in the context of contemporary problems and real world dilemmas

Main Topics

  • Introduction to growth and fluctuations in open economies
  • Internal balance: economic growth, inflation and unemployment
  • Measuring national income and income-expenditure analysis
  • Aggregate demand and aggregate supply
  • Fiscal policy: government budgets and taxation
  • The financial system and monetary policy
  • Recent macroeconomic policy developments
  • Open economy macroeconomics

Assessment

2 Assignments
1 Exam

Course Texts

Prescribed
Information regarding the Atax Textbook Lists for Semester 1 will be available on the UNSW Bookshop website from 1 February.

Information regarding the Atax Textbook Lists for Semester 2 will be available on the UNSW Bookshop website from 1 July.

Citation and Style Guides

The following is a selection of acceptable citation and style guides, which you may use as the basis for your written work. You must purchase or have access to one of the following publications:
  • Rozenberg P, Australian guide to uniform legal citation (Sydney: Lawbook Co, 2nd ed, 2003)
  • Stuhmcke A, Legal referencing (Sydney: Butterworths, 3rd ed, 2005)
  • Australian guide to legal citation (Melbourne University Law Review Association, 2nd ed, 2002) - Available from http://mulr.law.unimelb.edu.au/aglc.asp

Note that in disciplines other than Law (ie, Accounting and Economics) the literature in these courses has, for the most part, been written in the Harvard style and in these courses you may prefer to use the Harvard style of referencing. Guides to using the Harvard style can be accessed at the following websites:

http://www.lc.unsw.edu.au/onlib/ref.html
http://www.usq.edu.au/library/infoabout/ref_guides/default.htm

In this course, it is acceptable to use either one of the prescribed legal styles, or the Harvard style. However, whatever style you adopt must be used consistently and correctly - you must not mix one style with another.

Recommended
The latest editions of the following texts may be useful supplementary reading. There is no need to purchase these.

  • Dornbush R et al, Macroeconomics (Sydney: McGraw Hill)
  • Jackson J & McIver R, Macroeconomics (Tokyo: McGraw-Hill International Book Co)
  • Kriesler P, The Australian Economy (Sydney: Allen and Unwin)
  • McTaggart D, Findlay C & Parkin M, Macroeconomics (Sydney: Addison-Wesley)
  • Sloman J & Norris K, Macroeconomics (Sydney: Prentice Hall Australia)
  • Taylor J &Moosa I, Macroeconomics (Milton: John Wiley & Sons)

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© The University of New South Wales (CRICOS Provider No.: 00098G), 2004-2011. The information contained in this Handbook is indicative only. While every effort is made to keep this information up-to-date, the University reserves the right to discontinue or vary arrangements, programs and courses at any time without notice and at its discretion. While the University will try to avoid or minimise any inconvenience, changes may also be made to programs, courses and staff after enrolment. The University may also set limits on the number of students in a course.