Introductory Economics

• Explain the behaviour of the consumers and firms
• Describe and solve consumer utility maximization and firm profit maximization problems
• Understand how demand and supply interact and how welfare changes
• Evaluate how different market structures and firm choices affect social welfare
• Understand externalities and economics of sustainable development
• Explain how regulatory authorities can change the rules to maximize social welfare
• Describe and explain economic output, unemployment, and inflation
• Describe a macroeconomic model for a small economy
• Evaluate outcomes of economic policies

The course introduces core microeconomic concepts and gives a general and simple introduction to the basic microeconomic theory. It presents a range of fundamental economic principles important for economic decision-making and provides an understanding of how markets work. Firm and household behavior and social welfare under different market structures are discussed. Important microeconomic topics are consumer theory, the theory of the firm, efficiency, imperfectly competitive markets, regulation, and welfare. Important macroeconomic topics such as real output, unemployment, inflation, and exchange rates are introduced. The effects of fiscal and monetary policies are discussed.

Math 1, Statistics

Lectures and exercises