Econ 4432W
International
Finance
Professor Cristina
Arellano
Department of
Economics,
Spring, 2008
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, 1171 Heller Hall
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 11 in class.
Final Exam: Saturday, May 17, 1:30-3:30 p.m. in the 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. See the writing assignment handout for specific instructions.
Schedule for Writing Assignment:
February 12, Topic
March 4, Outline
April 10, First draft
May 8, Final draft
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