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Business Economics
In this course you will be introduced to economic principles, concepts and models; have opportunities to see how these are applied to a range of real world situations; and to apply them yourself.
Economics is a social science. It is the study of the choices people make and how they interact with others in the allocation and use of scarce resources. This course will introduce you to a range of fundamental economic principles. By applying these principles to everyday real life you will gain some idea of what it means to “think like an economist”. This course will not turn you into an economist (for which you can be thankful) but it will help you understand the language of economists. This course will not provide you with the right answer to every question but it will help you ask the right questions. And anyway, economists may disagree on the answers to any particular question but they usually agree on what questions to ask.At the end of this course you will find that economics is all around you – not just in the world of business but in the whole world.You will be able to use the tools of economics to understand why people do what they do – tools like supply and demand will help explain the behaviour of people, firms, governments, countries and markets. We will examine the role of information in markets and what happens when there are lots of market participants and what happens when there are not many. We will look at the wider economy and try to understand why growth and inflation matter.Economics is not about graphs though we will use a lot of graphs because graphs can help reduce otherwise complex situations to something that can be more readily analysed. Economics is about explaining behaviour and so we will use news items, stories, facts and figures to help with that explanation and connect to the real world. Sometimes we will have to work through a bit of theory to get to where we want to go but it will be worth it.A final word – this is not a mathy course. The emphasis is on observing which leads to questioning which leads to understanding.Measurable learning outcomes:1. Students will be able to apply economic principles and reasoning in explaining the behaviour of individuals and organizations as those individuals and organizations go about their everyday lives.2. Students will use economic theory to provide an in depth explanation of observed real world outcomes.3. Students will communicate economic ideas in language appropriate to the audience.
Subject to approval of the Head of Department.
Stephen Hickson
Julie Clarke
Assessment in this course will be as follows:Item Weight DueMini Assignments 24% Due: the following classJournal 30% Due: Monday 8 JuneEssay 28% Due: Monday 15 JuneTest 18% TBA (probably 19/6)
There is no single text book for this course. In general the slides will form the core of the material. I will post useful readings from selected texts on Learn to support the material covered in class and provide a text book like resource for students.
Learn Timetable
Domestic fee $1,432.00
International Postgraduate fees
* All fees are inclusive of NZ GST or any equivalent overseas tax, and do not include any programme level discount or additional course-related expenses.
For further information see Executive Development Programme .