Econ339
Home Up Ex.1.Growth Ex.3Employment Ex.2Money Midterms Past Finals Webcites Paper

 

UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS                                                                                                                     Spring 2004
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS                                                                                                 Prof. L. D. Neal

ECONOMICS 339
Contemporary European Economies

TEXTBOOKS:

Larry Neal and Daniel Barbezat, (1998),
The Economics of the European Community and the Economies of Europe,
New York: Oxford University Press.

Paul de Grauwe, (2003), Economics of Monetary Union,  5th ed., New York: Oxford University Press.

Web site: http://www.business.uiuc.edu/lneal/econ339.htm

Web site: http://door.library.uiuc.edu/crx//classes/econ339.htm
(This site provides excellent links to statistical and bibliographical resources, especially the country reports of the Economics Intelligence Unit, highly recommended for the research papers.)

RECOMMENDED:  
A subscription to the Financial Times and to The Economist.
and regular viewing of the Web sites of the:
European Union                 EUROPA - The European Union On-Line
EC Delegation in the US     EUROPEAN UNION IN THE UNITED STATES WEBSITE - EUROPEAN COMMISSION DELEGATION, WASHINGTON, DC
World Trade Organization WTO | Welcome to the WTO website
European Central Bank     ECB - European Central Bank
OECD                             
Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development
US Trade Representative Office of the United States Trade Representative
Economist magazine         http://www.economist.com
Financial Times                 FT.com Home US

REQUIREMENTS:
Each student will be required to take three examinations (February 18, March 17, and May 5), write one (1) paper due April 30 on an approved topic (10-15 typewritten pages, double-spaced, properly footnoted), and do three (3) computer exercises, due February 13, March 12, and April 13..  

Students may take alternative versions of any of the three midterm exams during the final examination (May 14, 8-11 a.m.). These can also serve as make-up exams or re-takes of exams to improve one's grade.

The course grade will be a weighted average of your performance on these requirements: Midterm 1, 20 %; Midterm 2, 20 %; Midterm 3, 20%; Paper 20%, and the combined computer exercises, 20%.
As much of the grading on each assignment depends on the instructor interpreting how much thought and work went into the written material, your grade will usually be helped by active participation in class discussions, not to mention regular attendance. Brief reports on class material will be expected of each student.

The computer assignments are due:
1. February 13 (Growth, Trade, and Convergence)
2. March 12 (Monetary policy)
3. April  13 (Structural Unemployment)
The midterm exams will be Wednesday, February 18, and Wednesday, March 17,
during the regularly scheduled class.
The final exam will be Friday, May 14, 8:00 - 10:00 a.m. `
This is the regularly scheduled Final Examination time. Makeup exams for the midterm exams will be offered after the final, from 10:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m..
The paper is due in three stages:
1. List of sources, February 13 (with computer assignment #1)
2. Outline of material, March 12 (with computer assignment #2)
3. Final paper, April 30 (last week of class)
Part of the paper assignment is reporting to the class the material found on one of your Web sites.

OFFICE INFORMATION:

Professor Neal's
Office: 328A David Kinley Hall;
Telephone: 333-4678
e-mail lneal@uiuc.edu
Web Econ339
Hours: MW 2:00 – 5:00 or by appointment.

 

PART I. The European Economic Community – Unity in Diversity?

Date         Topic                                                         Readings & Web Postings
Jan
. 21
       Introduction & Orientation                           Syllabus
                    http://door.library.uiuc.edu/crx//classes/econ339.htm   for class resources and paper sources.

Jan. 26       Overview of the European Union                ch. 1, Econ339\NewChapter 1.pd

Jan. 28
       Europe & US interact                                   ch. 2; Econ339\EichengreenVasquez.pdf

Feb. 2        Customs Union, theory                                ch. 3Econ339\CETgraphs.xls

Feb. 4        Customs Union, practice                              Econ339/CustomsUnionRevd.pdf

Feb. 9        Common Agricultural Policy                        ch. 6,   Econ339\CAPGraphs.xls; Econ339/AgricultureRevised.pdf

Feb. 11         Reforms of CAP                                          Econ339/CAPreform.pdf; Econ339/CAP&CEEC.pdf

Feb. 13        First Computer Assignment due (Growth and Convergence)

Feb. 16       Overview of Accomplishments of CET & CAP (review session)

Feb. 18       First Examination; The Economic Basics of the EU

Feb. 23       Single Market, goods                                  ch. 4; Econ339/IntermalMktScore12.pdf

Feb. 25      Single Market, labor & capital                    ch. 4
                     Econ339/LaborForce2003.pdf
   
                 Econ339/LamfalussyReport.pdf
                    Econ339/GFSRsept03.pdf

Mar. 1       European Monetary System & Union        de Grauwe, chs. 1, 3, & 4
                                                                                         Econ339/RevisedEuroChapter.pdf (an American perspective)
                                                                                         Econ339/Eurohistory.xls

Mar. 3       European Central Bank in Operation         de Grauwe, chs. 6, 7, & 8
                                                                                         MONETARY POLICY IN EMU (a European perspective)

Mar. 8       Regional Policy and Expansion Issues
                    Regional Dilemma -- Summary;

Mar. 10     EU and the Rest of the World                 ch. 8
                     Econ339\FromLometoCotonou.pdf
                    EU vs. US Comparison

Mar. 12    Second Computer Assignment (Monetary Policy) due
             Econ339\FTdataOct22_03.xls

Mar. 15     The Transformation of the EU (review session)

Mar. 17     Second Examination: The Economic Changes of the EU   

Spring Break

PART II. The European Nations and The Transformation of Europe
Date          Topic                                                             Readings & Web Postings
Mar. 29
     Ireland, The Celtic Tiger                              Econ339\IrishTiger.pdf; Econ339\Fall03Ireland.xls                        
                    (guest lecture, Prof. Gottheil)

Mar. 31     Greece, The Other Outlier                           Econ339\Pinterisetal.pdf; Econ339\Fall03Greece.xls       
                    (guest lecture, Prof. Pinteris)                        Econ339\Greece in the EU.ppt   

Apr.  5     Germany                                                          ch. 9
View data set in: Econ339\Fall03Germany.xls and EIU Country Report                                                                    
                        Econ339\EIUGermany03.pdf

Apr. 7     France   and   Italy                                           chs. 10 & 11
View data set in: Econ339\Fall03France.xls and EIU Country Report
                        Econ339\EIUFrance03.pdf
View data set in Econ339\Fall03Italy.xls  and EIU Country Report
                        Econ339\EIUItaly03.pdf

Apr. 9    Third Computer Assignment due (Employment)

Apr. 12    Britain, Denmark and Sweden                    ch. 12 and update in Econ339\RevBritainch.pdf
View data set in Econ339\Fall03UnitedKingdom.xls and EIU Report
                        Econ339\EIUUnitedKingdom03.pdf; Econ339\Fall03Denmark.xls; Econ339\Fall03Sweden.xls;

Apr. 14     The Rich Four  and  The Poor Four                                          chs. 13-14; Econ339\Lessons from Spain.ppt
View data sets in
                    Econ339\Fall03Belgium.xlsEcon339\Fall03Luxembourg.xls; Econ339\Fall03Netherlands.xls
and:            Econ339\Fall03Greece.xls; Econ339\Fall03Ireland.xls; Econ339\Fall03Portugal.xls; Econ339\Fall03Spain.xls

Apr
. 19
     The Expansion of the 1990s & Holdouts     chs. 15-16
View data set in
Econ339\Fall03Austria.xls;
Econ339\Fall03Finland.xls
Econ339\Fall03Iceland.xls;

Econ339\Fall03Norway.xls;
Econ339\Fall03Switzerland.xls;


Apr. 21     The Expansion for 2004: First Tier                 ch. 17; Econ339\facchini.pdf
View data in
Econ339\Fall03CzechRepublic.xls; Econ339\Fall03Hungary.xls;
Econ339\Fall03Poland.xls; Econ339\Fall03SlovakRepublic.xls

and Econ339\EIUPoland2003.pdf
Econ339\FIGSCH17Apr04.xls
Apr. 26     The Expansion for 2004: Second & Third Tier; External Relations     
   
          
 Econ339\strategy_en.pdf; Econ339\EU-MEDreport.pdf; Econ339\EU-LatinAmReport.pdf
           
Econ339\EsfahaniTurkey.pdf; Econ339\EU25vs15stats.pdf

Apr. 28
     The Future of the EU: Issues                                   de Grauwe, chs. 9 & 10
                                                                                                    

Apr. 30    Research Paper Due

May 3      The Future of the European Economies (review session)

May 5      Third Examination: The Transformation of the European Economies

Final Examination, Friday, May 14, 8:00 – 11:00 a.m.
Makeups for First, Second, and Third Exams: 10:00 – 11:00 a.m.