Introduction to Economics

The aim of this introductory course is to acquaint students with the fundamentals of economic reasoning. The course highlights how economics can help interpret major contemporary issues and provide guidance for corrective public policies. It introduces the basic tools of both macroeconomic analysis (the circular flow of income, accounting identities, neoclassical macroeconomics, and Keynesian theory) and microeconomic analysis (market functioning, surplus, tax incidence, externalities, and firms’ behavior under different market structures such as perfect competition, monopoly, duopoly, and oligopoly).