Introduction to Macroeconomics

Description

ECON105 will challenge your views of how you see the world.  You will read the newspaper, watch the news and listen to economic and political commentators in a different way than you used to.  Maybe you will even read the newspaper, watch the news and listen to economic and political commentators for the very first time because you have discovered there is some interesting stuff there.

ECON105 will help shed light on some important real-world questions.  Questions like:
• What is so bad about inflation?
• Why do we care what the Governor of the Reserve Bank says?
• Which is better – a high or low exchange rate?
• What does the government do and what should it be doing?
• Do tax cuts only benefit the rich and, if so, is that fair?
• What makes for a good taxation system?
• Why is economic growth so important or is it?
• Is society becoming more or less equal and does it matter?
• What is the best way to help the world’s poorest?

To put these questions into some context we will also spend a bit of time looking at what the NZ economy looks like – where it has come from; the ideas that have influenced our economic history; our growth and inflation record compared to other countries; and recent changes and important pieces of legislation.

ECON105 serves as a pre-requisite for ECON201 (Intermediate Macroeconomics) which is a compulsory subject for students majoring in economics.