ECONOMICS FOR BUSINESS

Aim of the course is to provide Law students with the fundamentals of Economics. Since students are trained to become Lawyers rather than Economists, the course will have a broad approach to deal with the relations between Law and Economics, dealing with issues of regulation and market reactions to legislative intervention, rather than delving in the quantitative techniques needed to continue studying Economics.

EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES 1. KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING Acquiring knowledge and tools, both theoretical and practical, to understand the theories that describe the operation of the economic system, as well as the objectives, tools and limits of the policy-makers. This knowledge will be acquired through lectures. 2. APPLYING KNOWLEDGE AND UNDERSTANDING The student will be able to apply the acquired methodological and theoretical knowledge to practical examples, in order to assess the main criticalities and opportunities of the modern economic systems. These competencies will be developed mainly through class debates, and assessed through passing examination, besides through class debates themselves. 3. MAKING JUDGEMENTS The student will be able to identify the main relationships within the economic system, grasp their logic and explain them with critical ability. Students will be able to interpret data related to the main economic indicators, to provide responses, to inspire judgements and reflections about micro and macro general issues. Team working, relationship and communication skills will enhance the interdisciplinary skills. This outcome will be pursued through lectures that encourage reasoned discussions that stimulate the debate. 4. COMMUNICATIVE SKILLS The student will acquire the capability to deliver and present the topics studied throughout the course with mastery of specific language and analytical abilities (formulae, diagrams). These communicative skills will be attained and assessed through written exams that require advanced presentation and argumentation skills and the discussion in the classroom on concrete cases. 5. LEARNING SKILLS The student will develop the ability to autonomously and critically reconstruct the basic notions of political economy, so as to be able to undertake, independently, any further studies.

An adequate knowledge of the English language, both oral and written.

The course follows the traditional partition between microeconomics and macroeconomics. In Micro, we start with the concepts of rational agent, opportunity cost, choice under constraint, maximizing behavior. We derive the demand and supply schedule, and explain how a competitive market reaches an equilibrium between prices and quantities exchanged. We study the elasticity of demand and supply, the production function, cost curves, and we explain the difference between the main market structures, competition, oligopoly, monopoly. We explain why in many cases markets lack the conditions to obtain Paretian optimum, and introduce the issues of externalities and public goods, fundamental to lawyers and regulators and to environmental protection. In Macro, we start with the Keynesian critique and interpretation of the economic crises to develop the concepts of aggregate demand and supply, we introduce the basic concepts of monetary economics, the basic issues of fiscal policy, the short and long term effects of fiscal and monetary management of aggregate demand with respect to inflation and employment.

Sloman, Garratt, Guest and Jones. Economics for Business 9th edition. Pearson. ISBN: 978-1-292-44011-8

Lectures in english with powerpoint slides.

The exam is held through a written test, through which students are required to show their knowledge of the theories that describe the functioning of the economic system, as well as tools and limits of the policy-makers. Students must demonstrate that they: use an appropriate technical language; have grasped the logic of the main relationships within the economic system; can critically analyse the effects of economic agents' choices on the whole economy and society. The written test is composed of 5 reasoned multiple-choice questions and 2 open questions. The grade is expressed in thirtieths. The final evaluation is the result of the addition of the scores obtained on the basis of the answers given to the questions of the test: the correct answer (no score is awarded if the answer is not given, is incorrect, or is correct but not properly reasoned) to each reasoned multiple-choice question gives a score equal to 2 (1 if the answer shows a level of preparation just sufficient); to each answer to an open question will be given a score from 0 to 10. In both types of answers, the score is modulated on the basis of the following criteria: knowledge and understanding of the notions and principles of micro and macroeconomics; appropriate use of technical economic language; ability to critically analyse micro and macro situations and the related policies; ability to communicate the knowledge through graphical tools.

Dissertation assigned upon grade 24 or above.