TEACHING INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS UK EXPERIENCES. HUGH METCALF: NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

TEACHING INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS  Introduction to my thought processes:  Who are our students?  What careers will they progress onto?  What core knowledge do they need?  What key skills do they need?  This allows us to identify they principal components of the curriculum.  Has the recent financial crisis caused us to re-evaluate this? HUGH METCALF NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

TEACHING INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS  Who are our students?  1% of undergraduates in UK study economics; 80% were males in  Economics primarily taught at higher status universities;  International economics even more so!  So the students are higher academically achieving (male) group. HUGH METCALF NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

TEACHING INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS  What careers will they progress onto?  Economics graduates are the second highest paid group of graduates in the country (after medicine).  Destinations include:  Government economic service; accounting and consulting firms; investment banks; hedge funds; multinational corporations; academia; research institutes and consultancies; etc. HUGH METCALF NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

TEACHING INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS  What core knowledge do they need?  International Economics will be an optional module that few will ‘use’ in later life!  General economic and quantitative theory, with a heavy emphasis on mathematical representations.  Opportunity cost.  General and partial equilibrium considerations of trading (or not) across borders.  Specifically theories of trade and of exchange rate determination combined with international macroeconomics.  Understanding of policy instruments that are used by governments in trade and exchange rate domains. HUGH METCALF NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

TEACHING INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS  What key skills do they need?  Presentational skills  Quantitative analysis skills  Ability to think like an economist!!  Problem framing skills.  Mathematical modelling skills. HUGH METCALF NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

TEACHING INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS  This allows us to identify the principal components of the curriculum.  General macroeconomic and quantitative analysis elements (generally covered elsewhere).  Trade theory and policies, tariffs and subsidies.  Patterns of trade: Ricardian, Specific Factors, H-O, movement of labour.  New trade theories: Increasing returns to scale, offshoring.  Trade policy: Tariffs, Subsidies, International Agreements.  Exchange rate determination, regimes and policies.  Exchange rates: monetary approach L.R., Asset approach S.R.  Balance of Payments: national accounts, global finance.  Policy: Fixed and Floating rates, pegs and crises, optimum currency areas. HUGH METCALF NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL

TEACHING INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS  Has the recent financial crisis caused us to re-evaluate this?  Role of interest rates  Role of money creation on inflation and exchange rates  Risk premiums  Contagion. HUGH METCALF NEWCASTLE UNIVERSITY BUSINESS SCHOOL