Economics

Course summary

Aims of the course • building knowledge of core microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts. • investigating economic theory through real-world businesses and the environments in which they operate. • Breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding with applications to more complex concepts and models are developed in the second year of study. • apply their knowledge and understanding to both familiar and unfamiliar contexts in the assessment and demonstrate an awareness of current economic events and policies. Course content Theme 1 – Markets, consumers and firms • Scarcity, choice and potential conflicts • Enterprise, business and the economy • Introducing the market • The role of credit in the economy • Market failure and government intervention • Revenue, costs, profits and cash Theme 2 – The wider economic environment • Business growth and competitive advantage • Firms, consumers and elasticity of demand • Productive efficiency • Life in a global economy • The economic cycle • Introduction to macroeconomic policy. Theme 3 – The global economy • This theme develops the concepts introduced in Theme 2. • Globalisation • Economic factors in business expansion • Impact of globalisation on global companies • Impact of globalisation on local and national economies • Global labour markets • Inequality and redistribution. Theme 4 – Making markets work • This theme develops the concepts introduced in Theme 1. • Competition and market power • Market power and market failure • Market failure across the economy • Macroeconomic policies and impact on firms and individuals • Risk and the financial sector.