Economics

Course summary

Economics is a Social Science which attempts to understand the behaviour of individuals, governments, firms and nations in attempting to reconcile unlimited wants with scarce resources. It seeks to find the right answers for many of the problems facing these agents. In this course, economic theory is applied to ‘real world’ current affairs questions such as: • Should we get rid of the British Pound and replace it with the single European currency (Euro)? • What is the ‘Credit Crunch’ or the ‘Budget Deficit’ and how does it affect us? • Should we provide more aid to poor countries? • Should we protect UK jobs from foreign competition? • Why does the UK import so much but export so little and does it matter? • Do supermarkets give value for money or do they exploit the consumer and their suppliers? • What is globalisation and why does it create such controversy? • What is the best way of reducing global warming? • Will raising the national minimum wage reduce poverty? • Are big firms better for society than many small competing ones? • To what extent should governments interfere in the activities of firms? • Why do poor countries find it so difficult to increase their prosperity? • Is a ‘strong’ pound good for the UK economy? • How can we avoid financial crises such as the Great Depression (1930s) and the 2008 Credit Crunch • What are the implications of Brexit?