This course is part of the 6th semester and its overarching topic "Data-driven decisions for sustainable value creation". To make good decisions, it is necessary to understand the broader environment in which companies and organizations operate and interpret how changes in macroeconomic and international conditions may affect market conditions, both for a single company and for whole industries. Such knowledge is crucial for decision making and for decision support. Building on the students’ insights in microeconomics and finance, as well as technology and data analysis from previous semesters, this course will give the students a solid foundation for analyzing how developments in the global economy affects firms and their environment.
The course draws on two broad fields within economics - macroeconomics and international trade - and aims to give students the necessary theoretical insights and practical tools to analyze and discuss important economic issues in the present geopolitical situation. The course will discuss short-term, as well as longer-term challenges and opportunities in the global economy with a particular focus on challenges related to technological developments and sustainability. Modern macroeconomics and international trade are both very quantitative. Thus, there will be an emphasis on using the same data sources as decision makers and researchers use to understand up-to-date events and trends. However, quantitative analyses are based on theory. The necessary theoretical background will therefore also be covered in this course.
Students will use their skills and competences acquired previously in the program to work on data and real-world cases, using for instance the FRED database, OECD Statistics, data from various central banks, and Statistics Norway. This will illustrate how the broader macroeconomic and trade environment affects the market conditions for households, industries, and firms. The course will be given as a combination of lectures and practical assignments in groups under the supervision of teaching assistants. This will be supplemented with guest lectures of people with relevant experience. The necessary theoretical background in the course will be introduced through a standard textbook.