Econ 4432W
International
Finance
Professor
Cristina Arellano
Department
of Economics,
Spring, 2009
Lectures: T-Th 9:45-11:00 a.m., Blegan Hall
145
My E-mail Address: arellano@econ.umn.edu
Office hours:
Thursday, 1 - 2:30 pm, 4-171 Hanson Hall
Course Website:
http://www.econ.umn.edu/~arellano/E4432W/E4432W.htm
Prerequisites:
Econ 3101 and Econ 3102. Knowledge of calculus is necessary.
Requirements:
The final grade will be based on the writing assignment (30%), homework
assignments (20%), a midterm exam (20%), and a final exam (30%).
Midterm Exam: Tuesday, March 10 in class.
Final Exam: 10:30am-12:30pm Saturday, May 16, in lecture
room.
Students who wish
re-grading of the midterm or the final examinations must submit a request in
written form, clearly explaining the case.
Writing Assignment: The class requires students to
write a research paper that studies a topic in International Finance. Students must complete the writing project to
pass the class.
Schedule for Writing
Assignment
February 12, Topic
March 5, Outline
April 2, First
draft
May 7, Final draft
Grading of Writing
Assignment
Topic: 5/100
Outline of the paper:
15/100
First Draft: 30/100
Final Paper: 50 /100
See the writing assignment
handout for specific instructions.
Homework Assignments:
There will be bi-weekly
problem sets. These can be done in pairs. Only one problem set needs
to be turned-in if working in pairs. Problem sets are due one week after they
are distributed.
Texts:
Stephanie Schmitt-Grohé and
Martin Uribe, International Macroeconomics. Lecture notes.
Paul Krugman
and Maurice Obstfeld, International Economics, Theory
and Policy, Addison-Wesley. This
is a useful textbook to have as background material, but I will not follow it
closely.
Course
Description:
This course will cover basic
concepts, tools and facts needed to understand the functioning of the global
economy and international financial markets. We develop a theoretical framework
for the analysis of the determinants of current account deficits, international
capital movements, real and nominal exchange rates. We also examine the
relationship between interest rates and exchange rates, and discuss various
measures of global capital market integration. This framework is then used to
discuss relevant policy issues such as the emergence of the