Duration: 3 hours per week - 13 weeks [ECTS: 6]

Course outline

The Theory of Economic Policy offers the conceptual framework and the cognitive background to approach, understand and methodologically address the general issues concerning the exercise of economic policy.

The timeless necessity for a scientific approach to the decisions and actions of economic policy bodies, but also under the given economic conditions, the course of the Theory of Economic Policy emerges for the student as a tool for understanding as well as a tool of critical position on current issues of economic policy. During the lectures we will approach the theory of economic policy, analyzing the basic concepts, methodology, political processes, effectiveness, logic and philosophy of economic policy models. We also introduce the realistic dimension of economic policy, analyzing the obstacles to optimal economic policy such as bureaucracy, the shadow economy, time lags, etc.

The Economic Policy course is divided into two sections. The first concerns the theory of Economic Policy and includes an introduction to the theory of Economic Policy, social choice and social process, describes the logic of Economic Policy, presents models of fixed and variable objectives, analyzes the relationships between the objectives of economic policy and analyzes the implement the Economic Policy.
The second section includes the extensive analysis and study of a program of fiscal adjustment and economic stability, in comparison with the theory of economic policy.

Learning objectives

Upon completion of the lectures and successful completion of the course, students should:

• Have a deeper understanding of the terminology used in economic policy theory
• Know the general aims, purposes and objectives of economic policy.
• To be aware of the effectiveness and limitations in the exercise of economic policy.
• To be able to analyze economic policy models of fixed goals and varying goals.
• Know the factors that determine the relationships between economic policy objectives, but also the problem of the conflict of economic policy objectives.
• To be familiar with the main obstacles in the exercise of economic policy (bureaucracy, shadow economy, tax evasion, governance and corruption).
• To have the ability to analyze an economic policy program into its structural components and to understand and interpret its components in accordance with economic policy theory as well as economic theory.