HTE406a
Applied Economics
Faculty
Ignacio Mas
Outside Director at Gojo & Company, Japan
Course length
Duration
Total hours
Credits
Language
Course type
Fee for single course
Fee for degree students
Skills you’ll learn
Overview
In this course, we explore some of the major economic issues in today’s global economy. Along the way, students learn key economic concepts and develop a basic understanding of how the global economy works. The course aims to be free of ideology; instead, it encourages the development of a critical understanding of the range of perspectives that may exist on any given issue, and challenges established views and conventional wisdom against the available data. The focus is primarily on macroeconomic (economy-wide) issues rather than on the microeconomics of individual and firm-level decision-making. Through this course, students acquire the tools needed to develop their own informed perspective on the current state of the economy and on which policies ought to be favoured.
Learning highlights
- This course helps demystify economic jargon and arguments, giving students a sense of how much we do and do not know about how the economy works.
- It also helps students better understand the economic news they read in newspapers and develop their own views on key economic issues and policies of the day.
- Throughout the course, students apply the main concepts explored in the classroom to their own country, or to a country of their choice.
Course outline
15 classes
Session 1
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Session 2
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Session 3
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Session 4
What underpins capitalism, and just how capitalistic are modern economies?
Session 5
What determines the value of things?
Session 6
What is money and how does it work?
Session 7
Technological change: What drives innovation, how does it drive the economy?
Session 8
Globalisation: Should we put sand in the wheels of international trade?
Session 9
Financialisation: Why are banks so powerful and yet so prone to crises?
Session 10
Snow Summit (No Class)
Session 11
Snow Summit (No Class)
Session 12
Demographics: What to look forward to at the most fundamental level? Inter-generational dynamics: What world will we leave behind for our children?
Session 13
Economic growth: Drivers of productivity
Session 14
Income inequality: Within countries and across countries
Session 15
What underpins capitalism, and how capitalistic are modern economies?
Prerequisites
There are no prerequisites for this course, beyond some basic curiosity about how the world works.
Methodology
The class will be lecture-based, while encouraging active student participation. The economic tools developed conceptually in the course will be applied to current global economic issues — such as globalisation, technological change, financialisation, and demographic trends — helping to bring out students’ ideas and perspectives.
Grading
Ignacio is a non-executive director at Gojo & Company in Japan and Humo Bank in Tajikistan, Senior Fellow at the Fletcher School's Council on Emerging Market Enterprises at Tufts University, and an independent consultant.
During 2015-2020, Ignacio was co-founder and executive director at the Digital Frontiers Institute, a not-for-profit that develops professional development training courses around digital money and payments. Previously, he was Deputy Director in the Financial Services for the Poor program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and Senior Advisor at the Technology Program at CGAP. Ignacio has been Director of Global Business Strategy at Vodafone Group, Executive VP of Marketing and Account Management at DoCoMo interTouch, and Senior Manager responsible for telecoms investments in Europe for Intel Capital. Ignacio started his career as a financial economist at the World Bank.
See full profileApply for this course
Applied Economics
by Ignacio Mas
Total hours
45 Hours
Dates
Jan 12 - Jan 30, 2026
Fee for single course
€1500
Fee for degree students
€750
How to secure your spot
Complete the form below to kickstart your application
Schedule your Harbour.Space interview
If successful, get ready to join us on campus
FAQ
Will I receive a certificate after completion?
Yes. Upon completion of the course, you will receive a certificate signed by the director of the program your course belonged to.
Do I need a visa?
This depends on your case. Please check with the Spanish or Thai consulate in your country of residence about visa requirements. We will do our part to provide you with the necessary documents, such as the Certificate of Enrollment.
Can I get a discount?
Yes. The easiest way to enroll in a course at a discounted price is to register for multiple courses. Registering for multiple courses will reduce the cost per individual course. Please ask the Admissions Office for more information about the other kinds of discounts we offer and what you can do to receive one.