The goal of this course is to not only prepare you for your next job after completing your MBA but also prepare you for your last job when you are in upper levels of management. In particular, this course will give you the tools to answer questions like: How do tariffs affect the macroeconomy? 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? What effect will automation have on worker employment and wages? What are the benefits and costs of having an independent central bank?
To answer these questions, we develop a unified modeling framework, explore data that supports the model 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 the introductions of tariffs, rising and falling inflation, tightening monetary policy, large pandemic recovery packages, and global supply chain issues. The applied focus of this course and its focus on providing a framework for business leaders makes it valuable even for those students who have taken previous macroeconomics courses as undergraduates.
