The course aims to illustrate the basic principles of political economy and thus provide the essential analytical tools for understanding the functioning of today's market economies, both on the microeconomic and macroeconomic levels. The main topics analyzed are those of price formation, consumption and production decisions, the characteristics of market forms, the main interactions between macroeconomic variables and economic policy interventions.

Political Economy is divided into two major branches: microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics encompasses the analysis of individual agents' behavior and market equilibrium, while macroeconomics considers the analysis of national income determination and fluctuation, inflation and unemployment, international interdependencies and stabilization policies.

The first part of the program covers the institutional foundations of microeconomics (basic concepts, supply, demand and markets, applied microeconomic analysis, market failures). The second part, on macroeconomics is organized along three broad axes: the study of aggregate supply and demand, inflation and unemployment; the determinants of national income; growth and economic policies in the open economy.

Specifically, the program is organized as follows:

• The Basics of Economics
• Markets and the state in a modern economy
• Fundamentals of supply and demand
• Consumer choices
• Production and technology
• Cost analysis
• Equilibrium in competitive markets
• Monopoly
• Oligopoly and game theory. 
• Monopolistic competition.
• Income, inequality and poverty.
• Introduction to macroeconomics and national accounting
• Aggregate demand and supply
• Unemployment.
• Inflation
• Consumption and investment
• The multiplier model
• The financial system and money
• Central bank and stabilization
• The macroeconomic equilibrium in the IS-LM system.
• Theory of growth and economic development
• Schools and debates in macroeconomics

None

Knowledge and understanding: by the end of the course, the student will have acquired basic knowledge related to consumer and business choice problems, the functioning of markets as well as the economic system, articulated in supply and demand, as a whole.

Applied knowledge and understanding (applying knowledge and understanding): the student will be able to understand the fundamental concepts of the discipline and use its main tools to interpret economic phenomena, for example by reading data in a table or the evolution of a graph.

Autonomy of judgment (making judgements): the student will have developed the ability to understand and interpret economic phenomena and thus the critical ability to evaluate possible solutions in terms of economic policy.

Communication skills (communication skills): the student will have acquired the specialized language typical of economics and will learn to communicate his or her economic knowledge, also making use of appropriate tools, such as graphs, tables and simple formalizations. Learning skills (learning abilities): the student will learn how economic models work and will be able to use them for problem solving, both from a microeconomic and macroeconomic perspective.

The teaching material prepared by the lecturer in addition to recommended textbooks (such as for instance slides, lecture notes, exercises, bibliography) and communications from the lecturer specific to the course can be found inside the Moodle platform › blended.uniurb.it

In addition to the study of the textbook and materials provided by the lecturer, generally available on blended learning platform, training activities and supplementary seminars on topics of interest and current events, with the participation of operators in the field, external experts and direct involvement of students, are also planned.

Teaching

- Lectures

- Guided exercises of both theoretical and applied content

- Seminars taught by subject matter experts

Innovative teaching methods

- Debate: this is brainstorming on the chosen topic, whereby students are divided into teams - one pro and one con - called to debate on the key issue defined in the preparation phase.

- Problem-based learning: this is small-group learning based on the analysis of specific problems, whereby the space in which the lesson is held is organized to encourage work in small groups (6-8 students if possible).

Attendance

There is no attendance requirement. However, class attendance is recommended for a better understanding of the study topics and to acquire a solid preparation that will enable the student to adequately tackle the exam.

Course books

P.A. Samuelson, W.D. Nordhaus, C.A. Bollino, P. Polinori, ECONOMICS, McGraw-Hill, 22nd Edition, 2023. Study all chapters indicated unless reading is indicated in parentheses.

Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 (read), 26, 27(read), 34.

Additional supplementary material will be available on the blended learning platform.

Assessment

Knowledge and comprehension and communication skills will be assessed through a written test involving multiple questions in a reasoned form. The time available to answer the proposed questions is 70 minutes.  After passing the written test, at the discretion of the committee, the student may enter a supplementary oral.

The evaluation criteria used are as follows: the level of mastery of theoretical knowledge, graphical and mathematical tools used; the degree of articulation of the answer; the degree of adequacy of the explanation; the degree of accuracy of the graphical and formal analysis. Based on these criteria, attending students may opt for an assessment mode consisting of two tests:

(a) an intermediate written test taken, during the semester of course delivery, on the days stipulated in the academic calendar. The midterm test consists of five reasoned questions.  Each individual question can receive a maximum grade of 6 points, which is then added to the others to get the overall grade. The grade for the written test is given in thirtieths.

(b) A final written test conducted, at the end of the course, according to the examination schedule. The final test always includes questions in reasoned form and the use of graphs to explain the required topics. The written test consists of 5 questions.  Each individual question can receive a maximum grade of 6 points, which is then added to the others to get the overall grade. The grade for the written test is given in thirtieths. The student must answer the questions thoroughly and clearly in such a way as to demonstrate:

- that he/she has well assimilated the economic concepts and theoretical models presented in the course;

- that he/she is able to answer the questions rigorously and concisely taking into account the time constraint, supporting the arguments with the use of any graphs and/or other analytical tools and using appropriate language; adherence of the answer to what is being asked is important.

The final score is given by the average of the marks obtained in the two written tests.

Disabilità e DSA

Le studentesse e gli studenti che hanno registrato la certificazione di disabilità o la certificazione di DSA presso l'Ufficio Inclusione e diritto allo studio, possono chiedere di utilizzare le mappe concettuali (per parole chiave) durante la prova di esame.

A tal fine, è necessario inviare le mappe, due settimane prima dell’appello di esame, alla o al docente del corso, che ne verificherà la coerenza con le indicazioni delle linee guida di ateneo e potrà chiederne la modifica.

Teaching

- Lectures

- Guided exercises of both theoretical and applied content

- Seminars taught by subject matter experts

Attendance

There is no attendance requirement. However, class attendance is recommended for a better understanding of the study topics and to acquire a solid preparation that will enable the student to adequately tackle the exam.

Course books

P.A. Samuelson, W.D. Nordhaus, C.A. Bollino, P. Polinori, ECONOMICS, McGraw-Hill, 22nd Edition, 2023. Study all chapters indicated unless reading is indicated in parentheses.

Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25 (read), 26, 27(read), 34.

Additional supplementary material will be available on the blended learning platform.

Assessment

Knowledge and comprehension and communication skills will be assessed through a written test involving multiple questions in a reasoned form. The time available to answer the proposed questions is 70 minutes.  After passing the written test, at the discretion of the committee, the student may enter a supplementary oral.

The evaluation criteria used are as follows: the level of mastery of theoretical knowledge, graphical and mathematical tools used; the degree of articulation of the answer; the degree of adequacy of the explanation; the degree of accuracy of the graphical and formal analysis. Based on these criteria, attending students may opt for an assessment mode consisting of two tests:

(a) an intermediate written test taken, during the semester of course delivery, on the days stipulated in the academic calendar. The midterm test consists of five reasoned questions.  Each individual question can receive a maximum grade of 6 points, which is then added to the others to get the overall grade. The grade for the written test is given in thirtieths.

(b) A final written test conducted, at the end of the course, according to the examination schedule. The final test always includes questions in reasoned form and the use of graphs to explain the required topics. The written test consists of 5 questions.  Each individual question can receive a maximum grade of 6 points, which is then added to the others to get the overall grade. The grade for the written test is given in thirtieths. The student must answer the questions thoroughly and clearly in such a way as to demonstrate:

- that he/she has well assimilated the economic concepts and theoretical models presented in the course;

- that he/she is able to answer the questions rigorously and concisely taking into account the time constraint, supporting the arguments with the use of any graphs and/or other analytical tools and using appropriate language; adherence of the answer to what is being asked is important.

The final score is given by the average of the marks obtained in the two written tests.

Disabilità e DSA

Le studentesse e gli studenti che hanno registrato la certificazione di disabilità o la certificazione di DSA presso l'Ufficio Inclusione e diritto allo studio, possono chiedere di utilizzare le mappe concettuali (per parole chiave) durante la prova di esame.

A tal fine, è necessario inviare le mappe, due settimane prima dell’appello di esame, alla o al docente del corso, che ne verificherà la coerenza con le indicazioni delle linee guida di ateneo e potrà chiederne la modifica.

Non-attending students are encouraged to make contact with the lecturer via e-mail and/or come to the reception at least once during the academic year for timely clarification of the syllabus and assessment methods.   

The student can request to sit the final exam in English with an alternative bibliography. Please contact the lecturer.

Students who have registered disability certification or DSA certification with the Office of Inclusion and Right to Study may request to use concept maps (for keywords) during the exam.

For this purpose, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam call, to the or course instructor, who will check their consistency with the university guidelines and may request their modification.