A new, free online course has just launched on edx.org that will help thousands of learners study macroeconomic accounts, their interrelationships, and analysis of economic developments.This course is offered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) with financial support from the Government of Belgium.
In just 8-10 hours a week for six weeks, Financial Programming and Policies, Part 1: Macroeconomic Accounts & Analysis, taught by the impressive staff at the IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development, learners will be introduced to a framework to analyze the current state of the economy, forecast where the economy is headed, and identify economic policies that can change the course of the economy.
MOOCs (massive open online courses) provide greater access to learning, and edX’s courses come from the finest institutions and organizations in the world, including MIT, Harvard, Caltech, UC Berkeley, the University of Washington, among others.
How healthy is the state of the economy? How can economic policy help support or restore health to the economy? These questions are at the heart of financial programming. In this course you will learn the building blocks of how to answer to these questions.
In Part 1 of the FPP sequence, presented by IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development, you will learn the basic skills required to conduct financial programming. The course presents the principal features of the four main sectors that comprise the macroeconomy (real, fiscal, external, and monetary); demonstrates how to read, interpret, and analyze the accounts for these sectors; and illustrates how these sectors are interlinked. (Part 2 of the FPP sequence will cover preparation of a baseline forecast and design of an adjustment program.)
During the course, economists from the IMF will lead you through the accounts and analysis of an economy. Besides engaging with lecture videos, you will answer questions on the concepts explained, solve short numerical exercises, discuss economic developments in your country with fellow participants, and work with data for a hypothetical country. Whether you are a civil servant working on economic issues for your country, a professional working with economic data, or you are simply interested in better understanding the developments of an economy, this course will provide hands-on training on macroeconomic analysis.
This course is taught by Paolo Dudine – Senior Economist, Adolfo Barajas – Senior Economist, Eric Verreydt – Senior Economist, Luisa Zanforlin – Senior Economist and Nan Li, Economist, IMF’s Institute for Capacity Development. And, all course and reading materials will be provided to you.
The course starts 2 June 2014, and registration is ongoing. There are no prerequisites, and as an online course you can study at your own pace.