Policy-makers are often forced to make decisions under conditions of uncertainty, but the results of these decisions may directly influence a country’s overall economic performance.
While a thorough understanding of aggregate economy dynamics is necessary for success, it is not entirely sufficient. Organizations must also be knowledgeable of the many sources of aggregate risk and uncertainty, and must rely on the analytical tools available to study the aggregate economy.
Students in the Barcelona GSE Macroeconomic Policy and Financial Markets Program will obtain relevant knowledge about the central issues in Macroeconomic and Financial Economics analysis, as well as the key tools, data, models, and techniques now being used by public and private institutions.
Financial and consulting firms increasingly utilize complex economic theories. Students will not only learn how to use these modeling and statistical techniques, but will conduct an independent master's project to learn how to apply these new skills to real empirical work.
Our program also offers students guest seminars and lectures by international academics and practitioners.
A closing conference will be held as an interactive forum between the academic and professional worlds. The presentation and discussion of students' applied work will be combined with expert talks covering both institutional topics as well as the presentation of original academic research.
This program covers economic models such as the dynamic stochastic general equilibrium (DSGE), vector autoregression (VAR), and autoregressive conditional heteroskedasticity (ARCH). Our graduates are prepared with an expert grasp of aggregate economy and financial function fundamentals, able to build macroeconomic and market forecasts - skills that consulting firms, investment banks, and government agencies are all in need of.
Program schedule:
Given the applied, quantitative nature of this program, students will need to furnish their own laptop computer.
All Macroeconomic Policy and Financial Markets Program students are required to take a mathematics, statistics, and computer tools brush-up course.
A limited number of places will be available to practitioners who would like to enroll in specific courses.
Course offer is subject to change.
Fall Term (September - December)
Students will begin with the necessary general background in macroeconomics, microeconomics, and statistics.
These courses will review the fundamental macro models that are commonly used in policy evaluation and quantitative work, and will discuss important concepts and analysis tools in modern equilibrium theory.
Course work will progressively focuses on tools that are relevant for the study of macro policy and financial markets.
Students will looking at models of financial economics, applied finance, applied macroeconomics, growth, computational methods, and time series analysis. This engages work on theoretical developments simultaneously with the necessary quantitative techniques to evaluate them.
Students will concentrate on monetary and fiscal policy using specific models, and will continue acquiring expertise in quantitative methods. Students will also submit a final paper on financial regulation.
A master project, which will be supervised in regular meetings with an advisor, will allow each student to put their knowledge into practice and improve their writing and exposition skills.
Policy LessonsPolicy Lessons are shared by all programs in the Master's in Specialized Economic Analysis. Students must choose two Policy Lessons among those organized by any of the programs (Competition, EPP, ITFD, and Macro)
The Macro Program brings leading practitioners to campus to speak exclusively to Barcelona GSE students. Speakers for 2016-17 include:
Rafael Domènech Head of Macroeconomic Analysis, BBVA Research
Rafael Doménech is Head of Macroeconomic Analysis of BBVA Research and Professor of Economics at the University of Valencia. He holds an MSc in Economics from the London School of Economics. He was Director General at the Economic Bureau of the Spanish Prime Minister (2007-8). He was also appointed by the Spanish Government as a member of the Expert Committee on the Sustainability Factor of the Public Pension System. He has published numerous articles in well-known international scientific journals on economic growth, human capital, business cycles, and fiscal and monetary policies. His most recent book on the Spanish economy, titled En Busca de la Prosperidad, was jointly written with Javier Andrés.
Atanas Kolev Senior Economist, European Investment Bank
Atanas Kolev is a Senior Economist at the Economics Department of the EIB. He joined the EIB in 2005 and over the years has worked on a wide range of topics related to investment and investment financing at the firm-, sector- and economy-wide level. He has been an organizer and contributor to the annual economics conference of the EIB on topics such as investment in the energy sector, in adaptation to climate change, public investment and infrastructure investment. Over the past two years, he has been economic editor of the EIB’s Economics department flagship publication on investment and investment finance. He holds a PhD in Economics from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona.
Master degree awarded
Upon successful completion of the program, students will receive a Master Degree in Specialized Economic Analysis awarded jointly with Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and Universitat Pompeu Fabra (UPF).
All Barcelona GSE master degrees have been recognized by the Catalan and Spanish Education authorities within the framework of the Bologna Process (in Spanish, “Master Universitario o Master Oficial”). Indicadors de qualitat
What skills and knowledge will I acquire in this program?
Deep knowledge of the economic theory behind macroeconomic models of financial markets
Comprehension of the dynamics affecting financial and policy-oriented decision-making
Numerical methods and simulation techniques applied to quantitative macroeconomics, policy design, and evaluation
Precise econometric techniques required for a state-of-the-art applied analysis
Ability to create and deliver technical and executive reports and publicly communicate and discuss research work
Who will benefit from this program?
Graduates in Economics, Business Administration, and Engineering
Junior analysts and other professionals at central banks and public institutions seeking to improve their profile
Prospective PhD students looking for a solid master's program in Economics
Since coming to the Barcelona Graduate School of Economics I have been constantly challenged and pushed, yet I have enjoyed every second of it. We work with a wonderful faculty in great facilities, but the best thing for me are my coursemates, all of them brilliant and from very diverse backgrounds, from whom I continually learn so much.
Choosing the Barcelona GSE gave me the possibility to benefit from some of the world's most innovative and leading master programs. Early on, the Macro Program has proved to be an intense, challenging and excellent education. In combination with a continuous collaboration with highly competent and hardworking fellow students from all over the world, this lays the foundation for our ambitious career pathways.
In my opinion, the most important message you send when successfully completing this degree is that you are able to basically take up any challenge coming your way. It does sound kind of cheesy, but it is really the way you feel after graduation. This degree certifies your ability to work under pressure, to get familiar with very different and challenging topics in a short amount of time, to work in and adapt yourself to different groups and on top of all that you have a general technical aptitude. All these skills are important selling points when it comes to applying to any potential employers.
One thing I enjoy as an economic trainee at the EIB is working on topics directly related to what I have learnt at the BGSE. Sharing outlooks with knowledgeable economists from all around Europe makes it a truly unique experience.
The master's has prepared me both directly and indirectly: directly, through courses such as Financial Economics, Empirical Finance, Banking and Financial Fragility, and Regulation in Financial Markets; and indirectly, by teaching me how to shape the right mindset in order to successfully approach economic and financial problems.
I chose Barcelona GSE for being a highly recognized school offering rigorous programs that provide a strong combination of theoretical and practical knowledge. I was also motivated by first hand experiences from Barcelona GSE alumni who were fully satisfied with the quality of their courses and their usefulness for their professional careers.
Rafael Domènech
Atanas Kolev
