Course Descriptions

Purpose:

The purpose of first year economics courses is to introduce students to the basic analytical principles and tools of modern economics, and to illustrate how these can be used to help understand observed economic phenomena, contemporary economic problems, and government economic policies. The Economics Department offers 3 first year courses, the full credit Econ 110 and the two half credits Econ 111* and Econ 112*, which together are equivalent to Econ 110.

The organization of the courses reflects the division of the discipline into two main branches: microeconomics and macroeconomics. Microeconomics (covered in Econ 111* and the first half of Econ 110) deals with the behavior of individual economic agents (households, firms and governments), with the determination of prices and quantities in individual markets for commodities and resources, and with the role of governments in the functioning of the market system. The fundamental objective of microeconomics is to explain the allocation of resources and the distribution of income.

Macroeconomics (covered in Econ 112* and the second half of Econ 110) deals with the determination of aggregate economic quantities, such as the level of national output, the levels of aggregate consumption and investment, the level and structure of interest rates, the levels of total employment and unemployment, and the average level and rate of change of all prices. Macroeconomics also examines how government policies influence the aggregate behavior and performance of the economy.