Course description

Title of the Teaching Unit

Economie politique

Code of the Teaching Unit

11UEC11

Academic year

2023 - 2024

Cycle

Number of credits

Number of hours

Quarter

Weighting

Site

Montgomery

Teaching language

French

Teacher in charge

DUTERME Tom

Objectives and contribution to the program

This course has a double objective. The course is designed to provide students with the basic concepts and tools, both in macroeconomics and microeconomics, which will be essential for understanding the mainstream economic reasoning and the economic environment of a company or a sector in general. The course also aims to develop the student's critical mind towards the economic discipline and towards the economic system, and intends to teach him/her to think "like a 21st century economist", i.e. by taking into consideration the social and ecological stakes that our societies are facing today. This is why the course aims to be pluralistic. On the one hand, the course will present the key concepts of economics, starting from concrete questions and problems such as the history of capitalism, environmental problems or financial instability. On the other hand, it will include a guided and reflective reading of a portfolio of texts written in clear and concise style by major economists (Khladoun, Smith, Sen, Krugman, Raworth).

Objectives in terms of knowledge

The student will:
- Be able to define and use the basic economic concepts (such as market mechanisms, inflation, unemployment, different economic policies, the role of interest rates and exchange rates...);
- Understand the main drivers of economic policies (fiscal, monetary).
- Recognize different conceptions and models of the economy in a pluralistic perspective.

Objectives in terms of know-how

The student should be able to:
- Use the concepts seen in the course to analyse essential and current economic issues in a reflective and critical manner;
- Integrate the different concepts by demonstrating the ability to make links between the different parts of the course in order to carry out a global analysis;
- Adapt theories to particular assumptions and draw full consequences in economic analysis;
- Construct rigorous economic reasoning in a given situation.

Critical thinking objectives

The aim of this course is for students to be able to synthesise, analyse, reflect and position themselves critically in relation to certain economic situations, using their (minimal) mathematical, historical and economic background.

Prerequisites and corequisites

Basic mathematical tools, knowledge of French.

Content

I. "L'économie", between economics and economy

II. At the origins of capitalisms

III. The economic functioning through a neoclassical prism

IV. The economic globalization

V. Finance and money

VI. Environmental and ecological economics

VII. The social embeddedness of the economy

Teaching methods

This course is given in French, in the first semester, 3 hours per week, on Wednesdays from 18:00 to 21:15. The course will be given mainly in person (on site), and possibly online, on TEAMS (see calendar).

The course consists of a set of Powerpoint slides posted on Moodle throughout the term. Written course materials are also available. In general, the course sessions will combine ex-cathedra lectures and in-class exercises (using Wooclap). These exercises are designed to help you learn the material (to help you understand if you have understood it correctly, to ask clarification questions).

Assessment method

The economics course counts for 4 credits. Students will be required to pass a certificate assessment. This consists of a written examination, including multiple choice questions, theoretical and analytical questions on the different parts of the course, and exercises similar to those covered during the year.

References

Teaching supports

Course website on Moodle (https://moodle.ichec.be) with :
o Course slides
o Text portfolio

Bibliographic references

Several passages in the course refer to two economics textbooks:

1) The free online textbook "The Economy", produced and developed in the framework of the CORE-ECON project, by the CORE team, which brings together researchers and professors of economics from around the world (see https://www.core-econ.org ).

The manual is available free of charge (as an e-book) at this address: https://core-econ.org/the-economy/?lang=fr. This manual is accompanied by various teaching resources (documents, databases, etc.). To access these resources, you are asked to register here as a student: https://www.core-econ.org/about/?lang=fr

2) The "Grand manuel d'économie politique", published by the Association française d'économie politique (AFEP).
The passages from this manual referred to in the course slides will be posted on Moodle.