This course examines the underlying economics of successful business strategy: the strategic imperatives of competitive markets, the sources and dynamics of competitive advantage, managing competitive interactions, and the organizational implementation of business strategy.
The course combines case discussion and analysis (approximately two thirds) with lectures (one third). The emphasis is on the ability to apply a small number of principles effectively and creatively, not the mastery of detailed aspects of the theory. The course offers excellent background for all consultants, managers and corporate finance generalists.
Macroeconomics is in the news every day. Anyone who pays attention to the news knows that the crash in the US housing market in 2008 caused dramatic perturbations to financial markets all around the world. This, in turn, triggered very strong responses by governments in the US (in particular the Federal Reserve and the Treasury), as well as in other countries. This meltdown in financial markets and the interventions from policymakers raise a number of key questions about the health and the future of the economy in the US and abroad, which we will address in the Global Economic Environment II course.This course is a sequel to the core course Global Economic Environment. Building on the fundamentals introduced in that course, we develop a conceptual framework to explain the complex interactions between macroeconomic policy, asset prices, and business cycle fluctuations. In particular, we examine macroeconomic forecasting, determinants, and implications of budget deficits, the conduct and implementation of monetary policy, and the determinants of inflation in the U.S. and other market economies around the world. Special attention is given to the interactions between macroeconomic forces and asset prices.Since an important goal of this course is for students to become informed and sophisticated consumers of economic news, the issues discussed in this course draw heavily from current events and real-world examples.
Note I: The core course GEE while recommended is not a pre-requisite for taking GEEII. Students who expect to exempt from the core course GEE are recommended to take GEEII instead.
Data analysis in economics, or "econometrics" as it is called by practitioners, has moved away from mathematical complexity and towards simpler tools that are accessible to businesses and can be applied easily to big data. This course will provide students with an understanding of three widely used techniques in modern econometrics: randomized control trials, regression discontinuity, and differences-in-differences. After learning how these tools provide superior analytic results than traditional regression techniques in making inferences about the real world, students will gain the practical knowledge to wield them successfully and make better decisions with data.