Course Highlights
This course is taught by Lester Thurow, the Jerome and Dorothy Lemelson Professor of Management and Economics at the MIT Sloan School of Management. He has taught at MIT for more than 30 years, and was Dean of the Sloan School of Management from 1987 to 1993. In addition to authoring numerous best-selling books, Thurow has been an economics columnist for many national and international publications including The New York Times, The Boston Globe, Newsweek, and Nikkei Business Japan. This course boasts
lecture notes that outline, in simple terms, key concepts of the course. A
calendar that details optional readings corresponding to each class topic is also available.
Course Description
This course will focus on the environment of firms with particular emphasis on economic variables such as GNP, inflation, interest rates, exchange rates and international trade. The course is divided into five parts: The first presents the basic tools of macroeconomic management by focusing on historical episodes, particularly in the United States. The second looks at national economic strategies for development. The third section concentrates on the recent financial and currency crises in emerging markets. The fourth part looks at the problems faced by transition economies. Finally, the last module looks at challenges of developed countries.
*Some translations represent previous versions of courses.