Course description
Title of the Teaching Unit
Micro and Macro Economics : Theories and Applications
Code of the Teaching Unit
12UEC22
Academic year
2023 - 2024
Cycle
Number of credits
10
Number of hours
105
Quarter
1
Weighting
Site
Anjou
Teaching language
English
Teacher in charge
ROMAN Philippe
Objectives and contribution to the program
The main objective of the course is to extend and deepen knowledge and understanding of economic theories and facts, in a pluralistic and critical way, and to acquire tools in economic analysis.
The course contributes to developing critical thinking abilities and enhancing analytical/conceptual rigour when looking at contemporary socio-economic issues.
The seminar is intended to put knowledge into practice through case studies and collective thinking.
Microeconomics:
Exploring the motives, patterns and constraints of individual economic actions.
Understanding how standard (neoclassical) economics represents and models individual economic actions and their interactions (especially through markets), and the scope and limits of such an approach.
Getting a sense of alternative ways of representing and modelling individual economic actions and their interactions (based on state-of-the-art research).
Macroeconomics:
Understanding and mastering the main macroeconomic indicators (GDP, investment, consumption etc.).
Analysing short-term and long-term macroeconomic fluctuations (business cycles and economic growth).
Exploring some of the main macro issues in contemporary industrialised countries and the policies that can be implemented to address them.
Prerequisites and corequisites
The course is accessible to students with a good (passive) level in English. Having taken an introductory course in economics and mastering basic math skills is a plus.
Content
The microeconomics course addresses the motives, patterns and constraints of economic actions at the micro scale and the interaction of economic actors. Actors and actions are mostly described in their provisioning activities of consumption, production and exchange. We will then explore :
- Consumption
- Production
- Market institutions
- Decision under uncertainty
- Market failures (in particular information asymmetries, externalities and the provisions of public goods)
The macroeconomics course aims at understanding the evolution of macroeconomic aggregates and economic activity along the business cycles. The main concepts and indicators of macroeconomics are introduced, which helps depicting business cycles. Competing interpretations of the latter are presented. The question of inequalities is introduced in its multiple facets. Then the main questions of macroeconomics and macroeconomic policies are treated : unemployment, money and monetary policies, and fiscal policies. Ways of modelling of the macroeconomy are introduced with due reference to underlying assumptions.
the "MicMac" seminar aims to apply economic knowledge to the analysis of a company's economic environment.
Teaching methods
In-class lectures (and potentially online lectures depending on the possibilities and constraints regarding the sanitary situation) will be provided, with the aim of maximising classroom interactions (Q&A, quizzes, exercises, complementary explanations etc.).
The course is meant to be interactive and open to the active participation of students, notably through frequent quizzes (Wooclap) and moments dedicated to critical thinking and reflexivity.
Assessment method
MACRO: The exam is a written exam, it will take place at ICHEC. No access to external resources (books, copies of the course’s slides, pdf of the course’s slides etc.) is permitted. There is no need to bring a calculator, and the use of calculators is not allowed. No calculations requiring a calculator will be needed.
The exam will be composed of multiple-choice questions and open questions. No negative points will be attributed to incorrect answers in multiple-choice questions.
MICRO: The exam is a written exam. No access to external resources (books, copies of course slides, pdf of course slides, etc.) is not allowed. The use of a simple non-programmable calculator is allowed.
The exam will include a variety of question types, including multiple choice questions, short open-ended questions, and True or False questions
Seminar: written group work on a case study.
The UE (worth 10 ECTS) is composed of three AA:
Micro economics is worth 4 ECTS
Macro economics is worth 4 ECTS
Seminar is worth 2 ECTS
If all the marks obtained for the different AA are equal to or higher than 10/20, the overall mark will be the weighted arithmetic average (according to the relative importance of each AA in the UE) of these marks.
If at least one of the marks obtained for an AA is less than 10/20, the overall mark will be the weighted geometric mean of the AA marks.
Calculation method
For the ICHEC department, where a teaching unit (UE) comprises several learning activities (AA), the overall grade for the UE is calculated as follows:
- If all the scores obtained for the different learning activities are greater than or equal to 10/20, the overall score will be the weighted arithmetic mean (based on the relative importance of each of the AAs in the UE) of these scores.
- If at least one of the scores obtained for an AA is less than 10/20, the overall score will then be the weighted geometric mean of the AA scores.
These modes of calculation apply when a Teaching Unit consists of several learning activities.
References
Core-Econ (free online textbook)
Exploring Economics
For other references, see the course's Moodle webpage.