Course Detail (Course Description By Faculty)

Macroeconomics and the Business Environment (33050)

This course will give you the tools to answer questions like: How does rising inflation affect the demand for businesses’ products or their ability to hire and retain workers? How much control does the government have over inflation and can politicians really create jobs? What does it mean for business and workers when the Fed starts raising interest rates?

We will build a unified framework, explore data and discuss current research that allows MBA students to answer these sorts of questions and to develop an understanding of how the broad economic environment affects business outcomes. We will then apply this framework to understand historical episodes like the Great Recession as well as to evaluate the importance to businesses of current macroeconomic phenomena such as rising inflation, tightening monetary policy, large pandemic recovery packages, and global supply chain issues arising from the pandemic and international conflict. The applied focus of this course makes it valuable even for those students who have taken previous macroeconomics courses as undergraduates.

Business 33001 or its equivalent recommended.  Cannot enroll in BUSN 33050 if BUSN 33040 or 20200 taken previously: strict.
  • Strict Prerequisite
Optional: Abel and Bernanke, Macroeconomics. There will also be supplementary readings and occasional handouts from the popular press. In addition, The Economist or an equivalent source of current economic news is highly recommended.
Based on quizzes and a final exam.
Description and/or course criteria last updated: June 05 2024
SCHEDULE
  • Winter 2025
    Section: 33050-01
    M 8:30 AM-11:30 AM
    Harper Center
    C04
    In-Person Only
  • Winter 2025
    Section: 33050-02
    T 8:30 AM-11:30 AM
    Harper Center
    C04
    In-Person Only
  • Winter 2025
    Section: 33050-81
    M 6:00 PM-9:00 PM
    Gleacher Center
    408
    In-Person Only

Macroeconomics and the Business Environment (33050) - Vavra, Joseph>>

This course will give you the tools to answer questions like: How does rising inflation affect the demand for businesses’ products or their ability to hire and retain workers? How much control does the government have over inflation and can politicians really create jobs? What does it mean for business and workers when the Fed starts raising interest rates?

We will build a unified framework, explore data and discuss current research that allows MBA students to answer these sorts of questions and to develop an understanding of how the broad economic environment affects business outcomes. We will then apply this framework to understand historical episodes like the Great Recession as well as to evaluate the importance to businesses of current macroeconomic phenomena such as rising inflation, tightening monetary policy, large pandemic recovery packages, and global supply chain issues arising from the pandemic and international conflict. The applied focus of this course makes it valuable even for those students who have taken previous macroeconomics courses as undergraduates.

Business 33001 or its equivalent recommended.  Cannot enroll in BUSN 33050 if BUSN 33040 or 20200 taken previously: strict.
  • Strict Prerequisite
Optional: Abel and Bernanke, Macroeconomics. There will also be supplementary readings and occasional handouts from the popular press. In addition, The Economist or an equivalent source of current economic news is highly recommended.
Based on quizzes and a final exam.
Description and/or course criteria last updated: June 05 2024
SCHEDULE
  • Winter 2025
    Section: 33050-01
    M 8:30 AM-11:30 AM
    Harper Center
    C04
    In-Person Only
  • Winter 2025
    Section: 33050-02
    T 8:30 AM-11:30 AM
    Harper Center
    C04
    In-Person Only
  • Winter 2025
    Section: 33050-81
    M 6:00 PM-9:00 PM
    Gleacher Center
    408
    In-Person Only