LECON4205 Introduction to Economics Course Descriptor

Course Overview

This course has been designed to give those studying business an understanding of the fundamentals of economic analysis and reasoning to enable learners to successfully participate in debates on economic matters. It will deliver the foundation on which future economics and business courses will build on. 

Past and present economic decisions have a great influence on our daily lives since they shape the physical environments we live in and determine the character of society and within that, how businesses operate and consumers behave.. Therefore, studying economics will enable students to understand businesses and their actions better. A basic understanding of economics is essential to understand how societies work and to being an informed citizen.

In this course students will learn how to think like an economist and how to develop and use economics models. The big questions of microeconomics and macroeconomics will be discussed, as well as how economists tackle them. The first half of the course will focus on the essential ideas and tools of microeconomic theory. In particular, the theory of consumer behaviour and the theory of the firm will be analysed. Students will learn how markets work and will be able to distinguish between different market structures. The role of government and government intervention tools will round up the discussion at the micro level. The second half of the course will ensure students become familiar with the key topics and concepts in macroeconomics. Examples from various global contexts will be used to teach learners about economic growth and its drivers, money and the banking system, short-run economic fluctuations, inflation, unemployment, and the role of fiscal and monetary policies in correcting macroeconomic instabilities.

Learning Outcomes

On successful completion of the course, students will be able to:

Knowledge and Understanding

Subject Specific Skills

Transferable and Employability Skills

Teaching and Learning

This course has a dedicated Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) page with a syllabus and range of additional resources (e.g. readings, question prompts, tasks, assignment briefs, discussion boards) to orientate and engage students in their studies.

The scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course are:

Lectures and seminars

40 scheduled hours – typically including induction, consolidation or revision, and assessment activity hours.

• Version 1:all sessions in the same sized group

OR

• Version 2: most of the sessions in larger groups; some of the sessions in smaller groups

Faculty hold regular ‘office hours’, which are opportunities for students to drop in or sign up to explore ideas, raise questions, or seek targeted guidance or feedback, individually or in small groups. 

Students are to attend and participate in all the scheduled teaching and learning activities for this course and to manage their directed learning and independent study.

Indicative total learning hours for this course: 150

Assessment

Both formative and summative assessment are used as part of this course, with purely formative opportunities typically embedded within interactive teaching sessions, office hours, and/or the VLE.

Summative Assessments

Assessments will test students’ ability to think like economists in relation to a variety of macroeconomic and microeconomic issues at the local or global level. Students will be required to make use of suitable economic terminology and conventions, apply the models and theories discussed throughout the term, and critically evaluate their findings.

Further information about the assessments can be found in the Course Syllabus.

Feedback

Students will receive formative and summative feedback in a variety of ways, written (e.g. marked up on assignments, through email or the VLE) or oral (e.g. as part of interactive teaching sessions or in office hours).

Indicative Reading

Note: Comprehensive and current reading lists are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative reading list provided below is for a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

• Core text: Mankiw N.G., Principles of Economics, 6^th or more recent edition, South-Western Publishing Co. 2011
• Alternative: Case K.E, Fair R.C, Oster S.E, Principles of Economics, 10th or more recent edition, Pearson 2012

Indicative Topics

Note: Comprehensive and current topics for courses are produced annually in the Course Syllabus or other documentation provided to students; the indicative topics provided below is used as a general guide and part of the approval/modification process only.

Students will typically study the following topics:

Microeconomics

• How markets work: demand, supply, market equilibrium and elasticities
• Household behaviour and consumer choice
• The theory of the firm: the costs of production and firms in competitive markets
• Imperfect market structures: monopoly, oligopoly, monopolistic competition
• Markets and welfare (CS, PS, DWL of taxation)

Macroeconomics

• The data of macroeconomics: measuring a nation’s income & measuring the cost of living
• The economy: Inflation , unemployment,  productivity, economic growth and fluctuations
• Money: the banking system, fiscal and monetary policy, flow of capital and goods ,exchange rates