The course aims to introduce students to the main foundations of political economy, dividing the course into half microeconomic and half macroeconomic topics.

Microeconomic aspects of demand, supply, market structure, and public intervention will be analyzed, as well as how this methodological approach differs from the macroeconomic one. Macroeconomic aspects related to the measurement of production, definitions of inflation and unemployment, and an introduction to Keynesian macroeconomics will also be covered.

The course focuses on the learning of the main concepts and mechanisms useful for describing and analyzing the economy, including consumption and production, prices, market functioning, and the interactions between key macroeconomic variables.

The Introduction to Economics course aims to provide the necessary elements to understand the main concepts of microeconomics and macroeconomics. The first part of the course will be dedicated to the introduction of the subject and the fundamental notions related to microeconomic analysis, such as consumer theory, the study of how consumer demand is influenced by income and prices, and the theory of the firm with reference to production technology, costs, and the main forms of market. The second part of the cour...

Basic mathematical concepts: line and its representation, derivatives, functional forms

An introduction to economic growth

Introduction to economics: the basics of economics, demand, supply, equilibrium

Consumer theory: consumer constraints and choices, individual and market demand

Firm theory: technology, production, and costs

Market structure analysis: perfect and imperfect competition

Markets and public intervention

Introduction to macroeconomics and national accounting

Unemployment, inflation, consumption, and investments

Financial system and money

Knowledge and understanding: By the end of the course, students should demonstrate a good understanding of the basic topics covered: from the behavior of individual economic agents (consumers and firms) to the functioning of markets, and be aware of the relationships between various macroeconomic variables. Students should be able to link microeconomic concepts with macroeconomic ones, communicating them clearly and using appropriate terminology, while also developing the learning skills needed to acquir...

Applying knowledge and understanding: Students should demonstrate the ability to acquire the fundamental concepts of the discipline and use the main tools to understand economic dynamics and policies.

Judgment autonomy: Students will be able to develop a sufficient capacity for critical evaluation of issues related to political economy and propose solutions to these problems.

Communication skills: By the end of the course, students will have acquired the ability to clearly express the knowledge gained during the course, using appropriate terms. Students will have the ability to read, interpret, and argue about political economy issues, also using graphs and analytical tools.

Learning skills: By the end of the course, students should have acquired the autonomy to study and the ability to understand the functioning of economic models and use them to solve economic problems. Students will therefore be able to combine theoretical and practical aspects related to the topics covered.

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

The reference textbook will be supplemented with slides and additional material.

Teaching

Lectures

Attendance

Attendance is not mandatory but highly recommended

Course books

P.A. Samuelson, W.D. Nordhaus, C.A. Bollino, ECONOMIA, McGraw-Hill, 21st Edition, Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 11.2, 18, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24

The Economy Version 2.0 by The CORE Team. Chapters 1, 11, 13, 14, 15, 17.

The e-book version is freely available at core-econ.org. Ebook/App: Available for free as an Android and Windows 10 app, and on the iBooks store.

Handouts

Linear functions (will be explained in class and uploaded to the course’s Moodle platform blended.uniurb.it)

NOTES ON MATHEMATICS FOR ECONOMICS by Prof. Germana Giombini (uploaded to the course’s Moodle platform blended.uniurb.it)

Additional supplementary material available on the Moodle platform blended.uniurb.it

Assessment

Knowledge, understanding, and communication skills will be assessed through a written test with open-ended questions requiring the use of graphs to explain the requested topics, and multiple-choice questions.

The written test consists of 2 open-ended questions, where students are expected to provide detailed and thorough responses, and 10 multiple-choice questions. This exam structure will allow the instructor to assess whether students have fully understood the topics covered in the course. The open-ended questions will provide the instructor with information on the student's ability to analyze and rigorously present the essential elements covered during the course within a limited time.

A passing grade is achieved with a minimum score of 18/30. A score between 18 and 20 indicates sufficient competence, where the candidate demonstrates knowledge and understanding. Scores between 21 and 23 indicate full sufficiency, where knowledge and understanding are fully demonstrated. A score between 24 and 26 indicates a good level of competence, as the candidate has also developed some autonomy of judgment. A score between 27 and 29 shows the candidate's communication skills, while a score between while a grade between 30 and 30 with honors indicates an excellent level of competence, where in addition to the previous skills, the candidate demonstrates having also developed the ability to learn.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.

Teaching

Same methods as for attending students. You should contact the instructor during office hours for any clarifications on the topics of study.

Course books

Chapters 3 and 10 in The Economy Version 2.0 by The CORE Team are added.

Assessment

Same as for attending students, but with distinct tests.

Disability and Specific Learning Disorders (SLD)

Students who have registered their disability certification or SLD certification with the Inclusion and Right to Study Office can request to use conceptual maps (for keywords) during exams.

To this end, it is necessary to send the maps, two weeks before the exam date, to the course instructor, who will verify their compliance with the university guidelines and may request modifications.