Principles of Economics

Catalog description

ECON 14 Principles of Economics (3)(GS)(BA) This course meets the Bachelor of Arts degree requirements. Economics is the study of how people satisfy their wants in the face of limited resources. Economics is a consistent set of methods and tools that is valuable in analyzing certain types of problems related to decision-making, resource allocation, and the production and distribution of goods and services. There are two main branches of economics, microeconomics, and macroeconomics. Microeconomics deals with the behavior of individual households and firms and how that behavior is influenced by government. Macroeconomics is concerned with economy-wide factors such as inflation, unemployment, and overall economic growth. ECON 14 is a survey course that covers introductory topics from both microeconomic and macroeconomics. The course is designed as a general education course in basic economics for non-majors. An important goal of this course is to take each student as far down the road of "thinking like an economist" as possible. The course begins by studying microeconomic topics, including supply and demand, elasticity, and market efficiency. The course then switches course to macroeconomics topics, including GDP, income, growth, inflation, unemployment, fiscal policy, and monetary policy. A variety of mechanisms is used to assess student performance. These evaluation methods typically include exams, quizzes, and homework assignments. Students who have passed ECON 102 or ECON 104 or who are registered in the College of Business Administration may not schedule this course.