Prof Alan Manning 32L 2.36A and Dr Mohan Bijapur 32L 1.31

This course is available on the BSc in Business Mathematics and Statistics, BSc in Economic History, BSc in Environment and Development, BSc in International Relations and BSc in Management Sciences. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit and to General Course students.

This is an introductory course in microeconomics and macroeconomics for those not expecting to take specialist courses in economics. It may not be taken if Economics B has already been taken and passed. No previous knowledge of economics is assumed. The treatment will be non-mathematical, but students are expected to be able to interpret graphs.

This course provides a foundation in micro and macroeconomics, primarily to those without background in the subject. The course aims to provide students with methods of economic analysis that can enable them to think about when markets work well, when they are likely to fail and what policies might improve outcomes.  Macroeconomics is the focus of Lent Term,  which covers questions such as unemployment, inflation, monetary policy and an introduction to international economic issues. The analytical methods taught are applied to questions of contemporary importance e.g. issues of inequality, climate change, economic growth.

20 hours of lectures and 8 hours of classes in the MT. 20 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the LT. 2 hours of classes in the ST.

Lecture handouts are distributed at frequent intervals; they contain the outline of the lectures, details of suggested readings and questions for discussion in classes.

Classes 20 Sessional.

These classes are usually taught by Graduate Teaching Assistants. They deal mainly with questions arising out of the lectures and questions on the lecture handouts. They are also used to discuss students' written work.

Class teachers will normally set and mark four pieces of written work from each student during the course.

N. Gregory Mankiw and Mark P. Taylor (2011) Economics, South-Western Cengage Learning, Second Edition.

Exam (100%, duration: 3 hours) in the main exam period.

A three-hour written examination in the ST based on the full syllabus. The best guide to the year’s final examination will be the class exercises undertaken through the year, with previous years’ examination papers reflecting different emphases specific to each year.