1/8/24, 2:39 PM Course Outline - International Finance

INTERNATIONAL FINANCE WINTER 2024

ECON 332
Published Dec 16, 2023

CLASS SCHEDULE

Section Location Time Instructor(s)

Saeed Rana
Mondays
ECON 332 001 [LEC] AL 208 saeed.rana@uwaterloo.ca
6:30 p.m. - 9:20 p.m.

This table is generated automatically

INSTRUCTOR & TA (TEACHING ASSISTANT) INFORMATION

Instructor: Saeed Rana

Office: Hagey Hall 162 Office Hours: Mondays (9:30 pm - 10:30 pm) or by appointment.

E-mail: saeed.rana@uwaterloo.ca (saeed.rana@uwaterloo.ca)

Teaching Assistant:

The name, office hours, and email address of the teaching assistant will be posted on LEARN

COURSE DESCRIPTION

Calendar Description for ECON 332

An analysis of the main issues in international finance. Topics include international borrowing and lending,
intertemporal gains from trade, current account and balance of trade movements, the determination of exchange
rates, and foreign exchange markets.

Prereq: ECON 206; ECON 201 or ECON 290

LEARNING OUTCOMES

By the end of this course students should be able to:

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This course introduces students to basic principles, concepts and tools to analyze standard international monetary
economics theories. The course material will help students to analyze current international economic affairs in terms
of theoretical models. The theories learnt in this course will address topics like international monetary framework
and financial crisis which could be utilized for an in-depth analysis of global economic crises.

TENTATIVE COURSE SCHEDULE

Weeks Lecture Topic/Chapter

Part-I: Introduction to International Macroeconomics

Jan 08 Chapter 1: The Global Macroeconomy

Part-II: Exchange Rates

Jan 15 Chapter 2: Introduction to Exchange Rates and the Foreign Exchange Market

Jan 22 Chapter 3: Exchange Rates I: The Monetary Approach in the Long Run

Jan 29 Chapter 4: Exchange Rates II: The Asset Approach in the Short Run

Part-III: The Balance of Payments

Feb 05 Midterm I: Chapter 2, 3, and 4

Feb 12 Chapter 5: National and International Accounts: Income, wealth, and the Balance of Payments

Feb 19 Reading Week - No Class

Feb 26 Chapter 6: Balance of Payments I: The Gains from Financial Globalization

Part-IV: Applications and Policy Issues

Mar 04 Chapter 7: Balance of Payments II: Output, Exchange Rates, and Macroeconomic Policies in the Short Run

Mar 11 Chapter 8: Fixed Versus Floating: International Monetary Experience

Mar 18 Midterm II: Chapter 5, 6, and 7

Mar 25 Chapter 9: Exchange Rate Crises: How Pegs Work and How They Break

Apr 01 Chapter 11: Topics in International Macroeconomics

Apr 08 Review

TEXTS / MATERIALS

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Title / Name Notes / Comments Required

Robert C. Feenstra and Alan M. eTextbook Yes

Taylor, “International
Macroeconomics” 5th edition, Worth
Publishers, 2021, ISBN:978-1-319-
21850-8

Additional Resources:

Additional resources (e.g. lecture slides, practice problem sets) are posted on LEARN. Students are responsible for
downloading and saving course material on LEARN before the access to their courses is shut off.

STUDENT ASSESSMENT

Assessment Distribution
Component Value

Quizzes (LEARN) 15%

Midterm Exam I - Monday, February 05 25%

Midterm Exam II - Monday, March 18 25%

Final Exam (Cumulative) - TBA 35%

Total 100%

Assessment Schedule and Coverage

Component Value

Quiz 1: available 9am Jan 27, Sat. – 9pm Jan 28, Sun Chapter 2 and 3, (3%)

Quiz 2: available 9am Feb 03, Sat. – 9pm Feb 04, Sun Chapter 4 , (3%)

Quiz 3: available 9am Mar 02, Sat. – 9pm Mar 03, Sun Chapter 5 and 6, (3%)

Quiz 4: available 9am Mar 09, Sat. – 9pm Mar 10, Sun Chapter 7, (3%)

Quiz 5: available 9am Apr 06, Sat. – 9pm Apr 07, Sun Chapter 8 and 9, (3%)

Midterm Exam I: Monday, February 05, 7:00pm - Chapter 2, 3, and 4, (25%)

9:00pm

Midterm Exam I: Monday, March 18, 7:00pm - 9:00pm Chapter 5, 6, and 7, (25%)

Learning in this course results primarily from lectures, in-class discussions, home readings, and practice problem sets.
Students' learning and progress in this course will be evaluated on an individual basis.

Please Note:

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Online quizzes are scheduled during specific weeks, as indicated in the above Table on the course outline. For
those weeks, quizzes will be available from 9:00 am on Saturday until 9:00 pm on Sunday. You may submit the
quiz anytime in the timeframe. Each quiz consists of 15 questions and must be completed in 30 minutes.
Detailed instructions will be available on avenue.
For some chapters, selected portions will be covered as a part of the course material.
If a student misses a lecture for any reason, it is the student’s responsibility to obtain class lecture notes and
other relevant material.
There will be no make-up midterms.
If a midterm exam is missed, given proper documentation, the weight will be transferred to the final exam.
All exams, midterms and final, are individual and closed-book.
Both the in-class midterms and the final exam will consist of a mix of short answer questions, analytical
problems, numerical calculations, mathematical derivations, true-false, multiple-choice, and fill-in-the-blank
questions, and will draw on material covered in the lectures.
It is mandatory that students bring their UW student ID card to the midterms and the final exam.
Your grades on midterms will be posted on LEARN. Please immediately report to the instructor any discrepancy
between the posted and actual grades.
Only the Registrar’s Office can issue final grades. Hence, marks for the final exam will not be posted on LEARN.
Missing the final exam is a very serious matter which automatically results in a grade of zero for the final exam
and possibly a failing grade for the course. Please carefully read the Economics Department policy on deferred
final exams for instructions.
No deferred final exam will be provided for students who missed all the exams (including the final exam) in this
course. For instructions on the deferred final exam policy please refer to the Deferred Final Exam Policy, located
at https://uwaterloo.ca/economics/current-undergraduates/policies-and-resources
(https://uwaterloo.ca/economics/current-undergraduates/policies-and-resources) .
You are encouraged to contact the course instructor or course TA for any questions on the course material and
outlines, evaluation scheme, and the final exam.

Communication and Feedback:

I will be using LEARN to post relevant course material. Students are encouraged to contact with instructor or TA to
seek help or to discuss course-related matters. The instructor’s office hours are listed on page 1. If scheduled office
hours conflict with your schedule, you can request an appointment with me via email (saeed.rana@uwaterloo.ca
(saeed.rana@uwaterloo.ca) ). Please ensure that your email has a subject line starting with “ECON 332” this will
minimize the risk of your email being overlooked or perceived as spam.

Piazza:

All class-related discussions will be conducted via Piazza. The quicker you begin asking questions on Piazza (rather
than via emails), the quicker you'll benefit from the collective knowledge of your classmates and instructor. I encourage
you to ask questions when you're struggling to understand a concept—you can even do so anonymously.

Guidelines and Expectations:

For getting the most out of this course grade-wise and in terms of learning, active participation on your behalf is
essential. In order to make this journey successful, each student’s cooperation, diligence, sincerity, and above all a
great deal of interest and involvement in learning the course material are important. This will ensure that we receive
the maximum value-added from the course.

I will deliver my lectures using slides. The slides will be distributed through LEARN. I will also use the
blackboard/whiteboard to cover additional material. The slides are not lecture notes. They are mainly providing

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outlines of what will be discussed in class. I will set the lecturing pace based on the assumption that you have copies of
the slides with you in class.

Students are assumed to have read the material ahead of the lectures. Please refer to the Tentative Course Schedule on
page 2 for the reading schedule. Students should NOT expect me to talk about every single textbook page. The lectures
will focus on the most important and challenging parts of the material. More basic material will be left for the students
to study on their own. I will refer to this more basic material in the lectures, hence the need to read ahead to
understand the lectures.

ASSIGNMENT SCREENING
No assignment screening will be used in this course.

ADMINISTRATIVE POLICY

MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT

All of us need a support system. The faculty and staff in Arts encourage students to seek out mental health support if
they are needed.

On Campus

Due to COVID-19 and campus closures, services are available only online or by phone.

Counselling Services: counselling.services@uwaterloo.ca (mailto:counselling.services@uwaterloo.ca) / 519-

888-4567 ext. 32655
MATES (https://wusa.ca/services/uw-mates) : one-to-one peer support program offered by the Waterloo
Undergraduate Student Association (WUSA) and Counselling Services

Off campus, 24/7

Good2Talk (https://good2talk.ca/) : Free confidential help line for post-secondary students. Phone: 1-866-925-
5454
Grand River Hospital: Emergency care for mental health crisis. Phone: 519-749-4300 ext. 6880
Here 24/7 (https://here247.ca/) : Mental Health and Crisis Service Team. Phone: 1-844-437-3247
OK2BME (https://ok2bme.ca/) : set of support services for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender or questioning
teens in Waterloo. Phone: 519-884-0000 extension 213

Full details can be found online on the Faculty of Arts website (https://uwaterloo.ca/arts/get-mental-health-support-
when-you-need-it)

Download UWaterloo and regional mental health resources (PDF)

(https://uwaterloo.ca/arts/sites/ca.arts/files/uploads/files/counselling_services_overview_002.pdf)

Download the WatSafe app (https://uwaterloo.ca/watsafe/) to your phone to quickly access mental health support
information.

TERRITORIAL ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
We acknowledge that we are living and working on the traditional territory of the Attawandaron (also known as
Neutral), Anishinaabe and Haudenosaunee peoples. The University of Waterloo is situated on the Haldimand Tract,

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the land promised to the Six Nations that includes ten kilometres on each side of the Grand River.

For more information about the purpose of territorial acknowledgements, please see the CAUT Guide to
Acknowledging Traditional Territory (https://www.caut.ca/content/guide-acknowledging-first-peoples-traditional-
territory) .

CROSS-LISTED COURSES
Please note that a cross-listed course will count in all respective averages no matter under which subject code it has
been taken. For example, a PHIL/PSCI cross-list will count in a Philosophy major average, even if the course was taken
under the Political Science subject code.

ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT DEFERRED FINAL EXAM POLICY

All deferred Final Exam requests for economics courses are administered by the Economics Undergraduate Office.
Please consult the Deferred Exam Policy at

https://uwaterloo.ca/economics/undergraduate/resources-and-policies/deferred-final-exam-policy.
(https://uwaterloo.ca/economics/undergraduate/resources-and-policies/deferred-final-exam-policy.)

Applications for Accommodation

Students applying for accommodation due to illness or extenuating circumstances should submit their documentation
(verification of illness forms, narratives concerning circumstances) to the Arts Undergrad Office using the form
available at

Accommodations for illness or extenuating circumstances | Arts (uwaterloo.ca)

(https://uwaterloo.ca/arts/undergraduate/student-support/accommodations-illness-or-extenuating-circumstances)

Instructors have a VIF system window linked to Quest that lists students’ exemptions (including self-declared
absences). Both the category of exemption granted, and the relevant dates appear in the system. This procedure is
meant to protect student privacy. For further information on the process, see the page listed above.

Discretion regarding the form the accommodation takes rests with the course instructor. Guidelines are described in
the course calendar,

Undergraduate Studies Calendar | University of Waterloo (uwaterloo.ca)

(https://ugradcalendar.uwaterloo.ca/page/Acad-Regs-Accommodations)

UNIVERSITY POLICY
Academic integrity: In order to maintain a culture of academic integrity, members of the University of Waterloo
community are expected to promote honesty, trust, fairness, respect and responsibility. [Check the Office of Academic
Integrity (https://uwaterloo.ca/academic-integrity/) for more information.]

Grievance: A student who believes that a decision affecting some aspect of their university life has been unfair or
unreasonable may have grounds for initiating a grievance. Read Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances, Section 4
(https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-70) . When in doubt, please be certain to
contact the department’s administrative assistant who will provide further assistance.

Discipline: A student is expected to know what constitutes academic integrity to avoid committing an academic
offence, and to take responsibility for their actions. [Check the Office of Academic Integrity

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(https://uwaterloo.ca/academic-integrity/) for more information.] A student who is unsure whether an action

constitutes an offence, or who needs help in learning how to avoid offences (e.g., plagiarism, cheating) or about “rules”
for group work/collaboration should seek guidance from the course instructor, academic advisor, or the undergraduate
associate dean. For information on categories of offences and types of penalties, students should refer to Policy 71,
Student Discipline (https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-71) . For typical penalties,
check Guidelines for the Assessment of Penalties (https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/guidelines/guidelines-assessment-
penalties) .

Appeals: A decision made or penalty imposed under Policy 70, Student Petitions and Grievances
(https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-70) (other than a petition) or Policy 71,
Student Discipline (https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-71) may be appealed if
there is a ground. A student who believes they have a ground for an appeal should refer to Policy 72, Student Appeals
(https://uwaterloo.ca/secretariat/policies-procedures-guidelines/policy-72) .

Note for students with disabilities: AccessAbility Services (https://uwaterloo.ca/accessability-services/) , located

in Needles Hall, Room 1401, collaborates with all academic departments to arrange appropriate accommodations for
students with disabilities without compromising the academic integrity of the curriculum. If you require academic
accommodations to lessen the impact of your disability, please register with AccessAbility Services at the beginning of
each academic term.

Turnitin.com: Text matching software (Turnitin®) may be used to screen assignments in this course. Turnitin® is
used to verify that all materials and sources in assignments are documented. Students' submissions are stored on a U.S.
server, therefore students must be given an alternative (e.g., scaffolded assignment or annotated bibliography), if they
are concerned about their privacy and/or security. Students will be given due notice, in the first week of the term
and/or at the time assignment details are provided, about arrangements and alternatives for the use of Turnitin in this
course.

It is the responsibility of the student to notify the instructor if they, in the first week of term or at the time assignment
details are provided, wish to submit alternate assignment.

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