Course website: https://sites.google.com/site/katrinrabitsch/teaching/wu2015quantmacro

This course will be on methods and applications in quantitative macroeconomics: that is, the tools to set up, solve, analyze and simulate Dynamic Stochastic General Equilibrium (DSGE) Models, applied to some of the workshorse models from several fields in macroeconomics (Real Business Cylces, New Keynesian, Open Economy, Matching,...)

The course will be very applied: students need to do the actual solving, analyzing, simulating, etc. on the computer (in Matlab)

Methods: 

• ( Log-)linearlization of nonlinear systems of equations
• Math related to solving linear rational expectations systems of difference equations
• User friendly 'packages' to solve, analyze and simulate DSGE models with 1st or 2nd order perturbation methods:
• Schmitt-Grohe and Uribe package
• Dynare
• Uhlig toolkit
• (selective nonlinear solution methods: only if time permits)
• (Bayesian estimation of DSGE models: only if time permits)

Models/ Applications:

• Basic Real Business Cylce models
• basic New Keynesian model
• Macro models with financial frictions
• Search and Matching models
• Small Open Economy/ Two-Country models

2 Problem Sets (in groups of 2 or 3)

1 individual term paper (replication of a recent state-of-art published paper in macro, to be assigned)

MA knowledge in dynamic macroeconomics; this includes, in particular, the mathematical background knowledge on solving difference equations and systems of difference equations (on the level of standard textbooks on mathematics for economists, such as Alpha C. Chiang or Simon and Blume)