MEB435 Introduction to Economics

Faculty of Social Studies
Autumn 2018
Extent and Intensity
2/0/0. 3 credit(s). Recommended Type of Completion: zk (examination). Other types of completion: z (credit).
Teacher(s)
Mgr. Vladan Hodulák, Ph.D. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Filip Černoch, Ph.D. (assistant)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Filip Černoch, Ph.D.
Department of International Relations and European Studies – Faculty of Social Studies
Contact Person: Olga Cídlová, DiS.
Timetable
Thu 16:00–17:40 M117
Prerequisites
! ESS422 Introduction to Economics
None
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is only offered to the students of the study fields the course is directly associated with.
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
The course introduces students to the basic tools of analysis of the real world economic processes. The first part of the course focuses on the specifics of human conduct in the economy. By understanding basic human economic behavior we will have laid the solid foundation for introducing both the basic economic concepts for analyzing economic behavior on the individual level (microeconomics) and behavior of the economy as a whole (macroeconomics). Analyzing modern real world economic processes is not possible without understanding the role of money in our society and there is enough attention given to this phenomena in the course. The last lectures reveal that there is some plurality in economic thinking and the students are encouraged to consider perspectives from several schools of economic thought.
Learning outcomes
At the end of the course, students should acquire basic skills as well as tools for analysis of relevant real world economics processes. Students should understand the most important concepts of analysis used in economic science. This will be complemented by their understanding of the main differences between the most important economic schools. Altogether information in this course should also give students an ability to easily recognize the essence of the economic problems their encounter in their future study or work and quickly look up and more easily understand the more complicated concepts and tools required for their solution.
Syllabus
  • 1) Introduction: what is economics? 2) Humans in the economy 3) Humans in the economy (seminar) 4) Microeconomics 5) Microeconomics (seminar) 6) Macroeconomics 7) Macroeconomics (seminar) 8) Money and finance 9) Money and finance (seminar) 10) Economic schools 11) Economic schools (seminar) 12) Final discussion and revision
Literature
    required literature
  • CHANG, Ha-Joon. Economics : the user's guide : a Pelican introduction. First published. London: Pelican, 2014, xiii, 502. ISBN 9780718197032. info
  • MANKIW, Gregory N. Principles of Economics. 7th ed. Cengage Learning, 2014. ISBN 978-1-285-16587-5. info
Teaching methods
Lectures and seminars.
Assessment methods
Seminars (25 points): 2 points for participation per seminar, 3 more points for active contribution to the discussion in the class. Written exam (25 points): two open questions (5 points each), and a short essay on one of two topics (15 points). Grades: A 46-50 points B 42-45 points C 38-41 points D 34-37 points E 30-33 points F less than 30 points
Language of instruction
English
Further Comments
Study Materials
The course is taught annually.
Listed among pre-requisites of other courses
The course is also listed under the following terms Autumn 2016, Autumn 2017, Autumn 2019.
  • Enrolment Statistics (Autumn 2018, recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/fss/autumn2018/MEB435