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Course

Macroeconomics, Government and the Economy - ATAX0011

Faculty: Australian School of Business

School: Australian School of Taxation and Business Law

Course Outline: ATAX0011 Course Outline

Campus: ATAX Campus

Career: Undergraduate

Units of Credit: 6

EFTSL: 0.12500 (more info)

Indicative Contact Hours per Week: 0

Excluded: ATAX0111

CSS Contribution Charge: 3 (more info)

Tuition Fee: See Tuition Fee Schedule

Further Information: See Class Timetable

View course information for previous years.

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

Course Texts

Textbook lists for ATAX courses will be available from the UNSW Bookshop from 1 February for Semester 1 courses and from 1 July for Semester 2 courses.
Library

Study Levels

Undergraduate Study Postgraudate Study Postgraduate Research Study Non-Award Study

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