This course is ideally suited to students who are critical thinkers and who have active and enquiring minds; they enjoy interpreting data, solving problems and discussing issues. If you are interested in gaining a conceptual understanding of how an economy works in a theoretical sense and then discussing and applying this in the context of current economic and political events then economics is for you. This course will cover : The operation of markets and market failure: 1 Economic methodology and the economic problem 2 Price determination in a competitive market 3 Production, costs and revenue 4 Competitive and concentrated markets 5 The market mechanism, market failure and government intervention in markets 6 Wages theory 7 Poverty and the distribution of income The national economy in a global context: 8 The measurement of macroeconomic performance 9 How the macroeconomy works: the circular flow of income, AD/AS analysis, and related concepts 10 Economic performance including inflation, unemployment, economic growth and trade 9 Macroeconomic policy—fiscal, monetary and supply side policies