Module overview
This module provides a comprehensive introduction to economics, covering both microeconomic and macroeconomic aspects. It analyses how fundamental economic concepts affect individuals, companies, and financial institutions and systems. It illustrates how core economic principles may be used to aid decision making and to guide behaviour.
Aims and Objectives
Learning Outcomes
Learning Outcomes
Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:
- Describe and discuss the major factors affecting the rate of inflation, the level of interest rates, the exchange rate, the level of unemployment, and the rate of economic growth in the economy of an industrialised country
- Discuss the interaction between supply and demand and the determination of equilibrium prices
- State and describe the key macroeconomic variables that governments seek to control;
- Discuss how the government may use monetary policy and fiscal policy to manage a country’s economy
- Analyse how specialisation and international trade can benefit countries and firms
- Describe and apply utility theory to economic and financial problems
- Analyse the interdependence of firms in imperfectly competitive markets and use game theory to characterise firms’ strategies
- Explain how profit maximising firms make short run and long run production choices
- Describe and discuss the structure of the public sector finances of an industrialised economy
- Describe the various measures and components of national income
- Describe the scope of economics and the various types of markets;
- Analyse the effectiveness of supply-side policies pursued by governments
- Define and calculate elasticities of supply and demand and explain the implications of varying elasticities for the workings of markets
- Analyse different pricing strategies that can be adopted by firms
- Identify the determinants of demand and supply in competitive markets
- Discuss the role of a firm’s growth strategy on its profitability and survival
- Explain what is meant by globalisation and how it affects business;
- Describe the reasons for government intervention in the market and critically analyse the implications of this intervention for market efficiency and social equity
- Define different market structures and explain how the distinguishing features of each market structure affect the behaviour of individual firms and market equilibrium
- Discuss the role of exchange rates in the economy and the various constituents of the balance of payments
- Analyse how the determinants of money demand and money supply affect interest rates
Syllabus
The following main topics will be covered in this module:
1. markets and firms:
- economic concepts;
- demand and supply;
- elasticity and uncertainty;
- consumer demand;
- production and costs;
- revenue and profit;
2. market structures and business strategy:
- perfect competition and monopoly;
- imperfect competition;
- products and advertising;
- growth strategy;
- pricing strategies;
3. government intervention and international trade:
- government intervention in markets;
- government and the firm;
4. globalisation and international trade:
- globalisation and multinational business;
- international trade;
5. macroeconomic theory, problems, and policies:
- macroeconomic environment;
- balance of payments and exchange rates;
- money and interest rates;
- business activity, unemployment, and inflation;
- demand-side macroeconomic policies;
- supply-side policies.
Learning and Teaching
Teaching and learning methods
Lectures, tutorials, class tests and solutions, office hours, and private study
Type | Hours |
---|---|
Teaching | 48 |
Independent Study | 102 |
Total study time | 150 |
Resources & Reading list
Textbooks
H. R. Varian (2006). Intermediate Microeconomics: A Modern Approach. Norton.
N.G. Mankiw and M.P. Taylor (2008). Macroeconomics. Worth.
M. Parkin, M. Powell, and K. Matthews (2007). Economics. Pearson Education.
Sloman, J., Garratt, D., and Guest, J. (2018). Economics. Pearson.
Mankiw, N. G. and Taylor, M. P. (2014). Economics. Cengage.
Bade, R. and Parkin, M. (2015). Foundations of economics. Pearson.
Sloman, J. (2014.). Economics. Pearson.
Sloman, J. and Garratt, D. (2010). Essentials of economics. FT Prentice Hall.
Sloman, J., Garratt, D., Guest, J., and Jones, E (2016). Economics for Business. Pearson.
Krugman, P. and Wells, R. (2013). Economics. Macmillan.
Begg, D. K. H., Fischer, S., and Dornbusch, R. (2008). Economics. McGraw-Hill.
Perman, R. and Scouller, J (1999). Business economics. Oxford University Press.
Jones, C.I. (2014). Macroeconomic. Pearson.
J. Perloff (2008). Microeconomics -Theory and Applications with Calculus. Pearson.
Begg, D. K. H. and Ward, D. (2013). Economics for business. McGraw-Hill.
Assessment
Summative
This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Class Test | 10% |
Class Test | 10% |
Exam | 80% |
Referral
This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.
Method | Percentage contribution |
---|---|
Exam | 100% |
Repeat Information
Repeat type: Internal & External