PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS

The course aims at introducing the fundamentals of economic theory.

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KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING SKILLS Students at the end of the Course will have proved their understanding of the main microeconomic and macroeconomic relations such as: utility and profit maximization, the effects of commodity taxes, international trade and the principle of comparative advantages, the process of GDP formation. The acquired information set is a fundamental support for the understanding and deepening of the studies of all higher-ranking economic and financial subjects. APPLYING KNOWLEDGE At the end of the Course, Students will be able to interpret and assess key microeconomic and macroeconomic dynamics of the real economy. ABILITY TO DRAW CONCLUSIONS Students will be able to identify the most appropriate models, among those presented in the course, to describe microeconomic and macroeconomic phenomena in their relationship with the real world. COMMUNICATION SKILLS Students will be able to describe economic problems analytically, with the opportunity to refer to the scientific literature proposed in the course. Students will also be able to interact in operational contexts related to economic phenomena, being able to develop analyses through the identification of causality links and the most appropriate methodologies to interpret them. ABILITY TO LEARN At the end of the Course students will master a good degree of understanding of the key tools and concepts of economics that will enable them to tackle studies in the economic and financial sectors at more advanced levels.

Demand and Supply; Comparative statics; Elasticity; Utility maximization; Price, income and substitution effect; Consumer and market demand curve; Profit maximization; Firm and market supply curve; Perfect competition: Short run and long run equilibrium; Surplus; Commodity taxes (incidence); Monopoly; Monopolistic Competition; International Trade; National Accounting; Inflation; Growth

Economics, by N. Gregory Mankiw, Mark P. Taylor, Cengage Learning, 2014 edition (or later editions)

Lectures and exercise classes

The student will be evaluated at the end of the course via a written test. Students have also the possibility of taking two midterm exams base. The midterms will be only based on multiple-choice questions. The final exam consists of a mix of open-ended questions, multiple choice questions and exercises, with which the student have to demonstrate knowledge of the theoretical notions of Principles of Economics, knowing how to apply them in practical cases demonstrating that he has achieved the method of study and the learning ability necessary to continue the study of the subject autonomously. The failure to achieve at least the score of 18/30 will result in failure to pass the exam. Correct answers to all multiple-choice questions, an excellent level of preparation in all open questions and the correct execution of all the exercises will result in a score of 30/30 cum laude.

Successfully completing the exam

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