Economics
The course
Mad for Economics is a course developed by the Centre for Research in International Economics (CREI) which has the support and collaboration of the Department of Economics at Pompeu Fabra University aimed at 1st and 2nd year A-Level students, which wants to make known the multidisciplinary environment offered by the economy, where different disciplines such as mathematics and statistics come together, to solve challenges related to some of the most relevant economic and social phenomena in our society.
Students will have the opportunity to learn closely about research in the main areas of macroeconomics and microeconomics, among others, during 13 theoretical and practical sessions, led by researchers and professors linked to the CREI and the Department of Economics of the UPF.
The sessions will be in Catalan, Spanish and English, and a competent level of English and mathematics is required.
The course will cover the following areas:
- Globalisation and economic development
- Financial markets
- Gender inequality
- Monetary policy
- Economic geography
- Immigration
Sessions 2024
Day: Saturday 20th January, 2024.
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm.
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27.
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri.
Session given by: Albert Marcet.
Language: catalan.
In this course, we talk about determining the prices of financial assets, such as stocks, private bonds, government bonds, options, and so on. We initially discuss the efficient market hypothesis, where the price reflects the real value of each asset at any given time. We then discuss the role of investor expectations in determining these prices. We will contrast the conventional approach to rational expectations with an approach based on the formation of expectations of financial bubbles.
Day: Saturday 27th January, 2024.
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm.
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27.
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri
Session given by: Isaac Baley
Language: English
Am I in the right career path, or am I over- or underqualified? Should I look for a job that better suits my abilities? Are recessions better times to switch careers? In this lecture, we will study how imperfect information and labor market frictions affect workers' career choices and how these choices interact with the business cycle.
Day: Saturday 3rd February, 2024.
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm.
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27.
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri.
Session given by: Victoria Vanasco.
Language: spanish.
The class introduces students to information frictions in economics, with an application to financial markets. The concepts of adverse selection and moral hazard are presented, followed by a discussion on how such frictions may affect the good functioning of financial markets and the real economy, and on which mechanism can ameliorate these frictions.
Day: Saturday 10th February, 2024.
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm.
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27.
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri.
Session given by: Jan Eeckhout.
Language: english.
Since 1980, the world economy has been undergoing a fundamental transformation. Profits and stock valuations of dominant firms are growing faster than ever, seemingly a sign of economic growth and progress. At the same time, we see that wages for production and service workers are stagnating, that labor dynamism and labor participation are falling, and that the number of startup companies is decreasing. This lecture asks what is going on in the global economy, and discusses policy solutions.
Day: Saturday 17th February, 2024.
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm.
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27.
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri.
Session given by: José Apesteguia.
Language: spanish.
Economics is built on the basis of a model of individual behavior. In the first part we will outline the basics of the standard rational model of economic decision-making. We will emphasize it's instrumental value for the understanding of a large diversity of economic issues. In the second part we will cover recent attempts in the behavioral economics literature that have the aim of enriching the psychological foundations of economic models of decision-making in order to improve it's predictive power.
Day: Saturday 24th February, 2024.
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm.
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27.
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri.
Session given by: Rosa Ferrer.
Language: spanish.
During this session we will study the possible determinants of gender gaps in the labour markets among individuals with high-education level. We will study traditional explanations for gender gaps in earnings such as discrimination and child rearing, as well as more recently studied alternative hypotheses such as performance pay and the potential effects of gender roles in career aspirations.
Day: Saturday 2th March, 2024.
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm.
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27.
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri.
Session given by: Humberto Llavador.
Language: spanish.
Mitigating the impact of climate change requires a drastic reduction in emissions and significant investments in adaptation. Who has to reduce emissions and how much? Who finances the adaptation? or what mechanisms induce countries to reach agreements and comply with them? these are difficult questions to answer but for which the instruments of economic analysis can help. In this session we will see that the economy of climate change is a global and intertemporal social dilemma that requires cooperation and suffers from great uncertainties, negative externalities and the tragedy of the commons. His study demands a broad conception of economics, including behaviors, institutions, international relations, and ethical perspectives.
To participate in the session you will need a phone or tablet with internet connection and enough battery.
Day: Saturday 9th March, 2024.
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm.
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27.
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri.
Session given by: Mar Reguant.
Language: catalan.
In this session we talk about how the economy helps us to understand how electricity markets work and to understand all the changes that have taken place in this sector. We will also talk about the challenges of climate change and the energy transition, and the economic and social impacts that these have.
Day: Saturday 16th March, 2024.
Opening hours: 10 am to 1:30 pm.
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27.
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri.
Session given by: Albert Carreras.
Language: catalan.
Economic history helps us understand how the economy worked in the past, for which we often have more information than for the present and the future. It makes us travel in time and gives us lessons on how to face the future better. We will explore some daughter lessons from very long-term (millennia), long-term (centuries) or medium-term (generations) experiences. We will then jump to see how this knowledge can illuminate the management of current public affairs and what is the advantage of knowing economic history well.
Day: Saturday 6th April, 2024.
Opening hours: 11.00h a 13.30h.
Location: Centre de Recerca en Economia Internacional - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27.
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri.
Session given by: Davide Debortoli.
Language: english.
Government policies, such as government spending, taxation and interest rates, can have an enormous impact on the prosperity of our economies and social welfare. This session provides an overview of the empirical evidence on the effects of such policies, and of the economic models used to guide policymakers’ choices.
Day: Saturday 13th April, 2024.
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm.
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27.
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri.
Session given by: Caterina Calsamiglia.
Language: english.
In many economic contexts we find that resource allocation is not governed by a price system. For example, there is no market with prices for kidneys, or the allocation of children to schools or universities, or residents to hospitals or children to adoptive families. The rules that define these types of assignments have an impact on our society’s equal opportunities. We will analyze the specific case of the mechanisms for allocating children to public schools in Catalonia and around the world.
Day: Saturday 20th April, 2024.
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm.
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27.
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri.
Session given by: Giacomo Ponzetto.
Language: english.
More than half of the world's population now lives in cities. Why do so many people live in so few places? This lecture will provide an overview of the economic study of the causes and consequences of urban agglomeration. We will introduce the seminal concept of spatial equilibrium: people choose to live where they are more productive, where they face a lower cost of living, and where they enjoy a higher quality of life. We will discuss housing markets as the crucial determinant of the urban cost of living. We will investigate why cities make us more productive, introducing the concept of agglomeration economies and focusing on the importance of the flow of ideas in a dense urban environment.
Day: Saturday 27th April, 2024.
Opening hours: 10:30 am to 1:30 pm.
Location: International Economics Research Centre - Carrer de Ramon Trias Fargas, 25-27.
Session coordination: Marko Irisarri.
Session given by: Giacomo Ponzetto.
Language: english.
Collaborating entities
The Centre for Research in International Economics (CREI) is a research institute sponsored by the Government of Catalonia and the Pompeu Fabra University (UPF). Our research activities are focused on international economics and macroeconomics, which are broadly understood (i.e., including growth, economic cycles, monetary economics, macroeconometrics, international trade and finance, economic geography, etc.). Given its origin, location and spirit, it seeks to emphasise the European dimension of these fields of study.
Our goal is to promote research with the highest academic standards. Always in contact with this dimension of research, we also want to be a source of training and dissemination of new ideas. We are lucky to have the UPF Department of Economics and Business very close (link is external), and to be an academic unit of the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics (Barcelona GSE) (link is external) with whom we collaborate in many research and teaching activities.
We all share a commitment to CREI's ultimate mission: to contribute to a better understanding of the functioning of economics in contemporary society. This understanding, based on rigorous study, is needed to improve the design of policies and institutions that will increase economic growth and, ultimately, the well-being of citizens around the world.
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