| Unit name | Economic Principles 1 (E) |
|---|---|
| Unit code | EFIM10018 |
| Credit points | 20 |
| Level of study | C/4 |
| Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) |
| Unit director | Professor. Spielmann |
| Open unit status | Not open |
| Pre-requisites |
A-level Mathematics (or equivalent) |
| Co-requisites |
None |
| School/department | School of Economics, Finance and Management |
| Faculty | Faculty of Social Sciences and Law |
The unit emphasises the role that economic analysis can play in understanding modern economies. It introduces a range of microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts and analytical tools.
It covers material such as trade-offs, marginal benefits and costs, intertemporal decision-making, the role played by prices in providing information and incentives, the role and limits of markets in allocating resources and an introduction to forms of industrial organisation.
At an aggregate economic level, the unit introduces basic concepts and analytical techniques used in macroeconomics, to enhance awareness of macroeconomic facts and to encourage ability to use macroeconomic theory to understand and interpret macroeconomic events.
The exposition is mainly diagrammatic but at times uses simple algebra and a certain amount of differential calculus.
Students will be able to:
1. Make appropriate use of core microeconomic concepts such as opportunity cost; elasticities; and marginal/average relationships in analysing economic behaviour.
2. Explain the role and limits of markets and the public sector in the organisation of economic activity, showing an awareness of the relevance of imperfect competition, strategic behaviour, informational constraints, regulation and externalities in economic activity.
3. Analyse the behaviour of firms in a variety of forms of industrial organisation.
4. Explain the contributions that economic analysis can make to addressing some problems of current concern such as pollution and unemployment.
5. Explain important macroeconomic concepts such as Gross Domestic Product, money supply, inflation, natural rate of unemployment, aggregate supply and exchange rates.
6. Analyse the behaviour of major macroeconomic variables such as aggregate output and the interest rate using models of aggregate economic behaviour.
7. Recognise some of the causes of aggregate economic fluctuations using simple models.
8. Appraise the scope and limitations of both fiscal and monetary policy
36 hours of lectures
9 hours of classes
Summative Assessment:
2.5 hour examination worth 100% at the end of the relevant teaching block. This tests all the learning outcomes.
Formative Assessment:
Students will complete 4 pieces of formative assessment during the unit each consisting of a combination of short (1000-word) essays and analytical questions. Students will also work in groups to produce a video on an economic topic. All the learning outcomes will be assessed.
The main reference is the CORE textbook at http://www.core-econ.org/
