INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS-1

Microeconomics is the study of how people interact with each other and with their natural surroundings to provide for their livelihoods. We will use the principle that individuals face tradeoffs regarding how they allocate scares resources to build a “model” of human behavior, and use (some) math and a lot of graphs to understand when voluntary interactions between individuals promote the social good, when they do not, and what policy can do about it. We will look at many contexts, among others we will use economic models to study social dilemmas, economic power, labor markets, monopolistic markets, competitive markets, and inequality

1. Knowledge and understanding
- Understand how households and businesses make economic decisions and interact in different market structures in order to determine the price and quantity of goods traded;
- Understand the consequences of public interventions in the markets;
- Recognize the characteristics of the different market structures and the implications for business behavior.
- Understand that the tools of microeconomic analysis are essential for have a critical view on the great challenges the world is facing

2. Ability to apply knowledge and understanding
- Knowing how to interpret economic data using spreadsheets

3. Judgment skills
- Ability to apply the graphical and mathematical tools typical of microeconomics to analyze how public policies can be designed to effectively address the challenges the world is facing

4. Communication skills
- Knowing how to talk about economic problems using the appropriate terminology
- Knowing how to communicate the results of an economic analysis in a precise and effective way

5. Learning skills
- Knowing how to exploit the multiple sources of information regarding the topics of the course present on the sites suggested by the teachers and on the web in general
- Knowing how to use economic reasoning to critically analyze the world around us

It is advisable to have a course in Mathematics. In particular, students must be able to draw and interpret functions of two variables, to solve simple systems of two equations and to take derivatives.

1. The capitalist revolution
2. Technology, population, and growth
3. Scarcity, work, and choice
4. Social interactions
5. Property and power: Mutual gains and conflict
6. The firm: Owners, managers, and employees
7. The firm and its customers
8. Supply and demand: Price-taking and competitive markets
9. The labour market: Wages, profits, and unemployment
10. Banks, money, and the credit market
11. Rent-seeking, price-setting, and market dynamics
12. Markets, efficiency, and public policy

Reference text:
"The Economy: Economics for a Changing World". CORE Economics Education 2022

The text is available for free online and in ebook version at https://www.core-econ.org/

Other texts, same author (the core team), also available for free online:
Doing Economics
Experiencing Economics

Final written exam
During the course some exercises to be carried out at home will be proposed. The exercises contribute to the final grade

Standard frontal class and exercises and experiments carried out in the classroom

written

This subject deals with topics related to the macro-area "Poverty and inequalities" and contributes to the achievement of one or more goals of U. N. Agenda for Sustainable Development