Introduction to Economics, basic course

Aim

On completion of the course, the student should: - be familiar with the basic issues and the basic assumptions of economics, - have an understanding of the determinants of demand, supply and price in a market, and what can change them, - have knowledge about a company's different production and cost relationships and how a company in perfect competition determines the production quantity that will maximise the profit, - have knowledge about different economic growth theories and have some familiarity with the Swedish economic development in a long-term perspective, - have knowledge of the function of the labour market, reasons for unemployment and some knowledge of employment policy, - have a basic ability to apply economic models to analyse economic problems, - have developed basic skills to interpret and apply graphical and simple mathematical analysis - consciously be able to take an economic approach ("thinking like an economist") to various types of economic problems.

Content

The course covers

• funamental concep in math - the problem of scarcity and the concept of opportunity cost, - the conditions of economic theory; the actors in the market and the rationality assumption, - demand, supply and equilibrium price. Effects of different disturbances on the equilibrium, - production theory, - the company's short-term and long-term cost causations, - profit maximisation and supply at perfect competition, - the labour market, structural and conjunctural unemployment, employment policy, - mathematical fundamental concepts, such as fractions and powers, percent, functions, equation systems, derivative, optimisation and graphical illustrations.