Teaching post-intermediate macroeconomics with a dynamic 3-equation model

The 3-equation model by Carlin and Soskice (2014) introduces the current consensus in modern monetary macroeconomics to undergraduates through a static framework in which adjustment occurs via the monetary policy rule of an inflation-targeting central bank. In this article, the authors present a dynamic extension of this model and an Excel-based simulation tool for upper-level undergraduate and master’s-level macroeconomics courses. This dynamic framework allows instructors and students to tackle conceptual issues (e.g., understanding a world with output growth and steady inflation) and contemporary applications (e.g., hysteresis and secular stagnation) that are difficult to interpret in static models. Depending on the goals of the course, instructors can either cover the full presentation of the model or instead use the simulation tool to compare scenarios.