Economics - International and Macroeconomic Policy 

Overview

Courses included in the Economics - International and Macroeconomic Policy specialisation at Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam discuss, inter alia, strategies in coordination and cooperation needed to maintain and promote the integration of Europe: How are tasks divided between EU and national authorities, can the Euro area be stabilized and is further expansion desirable? Another area focuses on growth in developing nations: What role do institutional (social and political) factors play in promoting growth, how do incentives affect savings and investment of households and firms, and what is the impact of foreign aid on development? 

Finally, insight is given into the drivers of growth in industrialized countries, specifically the strategies of firms to boost innovation and growth, and the role of policy.

Career prospects

• Graduates become policy economists at consultancy firms or with government agencies, or work in various positions in financial and non-financial industries. Others start working as market analysts at, for example, the Netherlands Competition Authority, or De Nederlandsche Bank. 

• Still others go to work for multinationals such as banks and insurance companies. Some graduates work at economic research institutes or join PhD programmes at highly competitive research universities before continuing with their academic career.