Learning outcomes

At the end of the course, the student will have acquired four types of skills applied to questions of choice under the scarcity constraint specific to economics:

C1: Knowledge: Definitions, concepts, working hypotheses,

C2: Know-how: Applications: mechanisms and effects, tools and measures,

C3: Skills and attitudes: Problems: shaping a complex situation (appropriate use of concepts and tools).

C4: Skills and attitudes: Interpretation: putting into context observations of mechanisms and problems.

Goals

The course has a threefold objective: - The student begins to approach economic facts as the result of individual and collective decision-making mechanisms and not only of external constraints; - The student begins to present coherent reasoning on the basis of the concepts and tools of economic analysis developed in the course; - The student takes an overall view of the economy, how it works and the material and social problems it deals with.

Content

The course provides an introduction to economic reasoning applied to the main issues addressed by the discipline.

Table of contents

(1) Introduction : Observing and questionning;

(2) Choosing and interacting : Individual decisions, gains from trade, strategic interactions;

(3) Coordinating : Demand, supply, interdependencies, price determination under competition and monopoly;

(4) Cooperating : Collective action in firms, associations and States;

(5) Anticipating : Opportunities with time and capital;

(6) Internalizing : Public goods and bads, environmental economics;

(7) Agregating : Agregate supply and and agregate demand, employment, international relations;

(8) Stabilizing : Macroeconomic policy, 4 key employment and inflation configurations.  

Exercices

6 group exercise sessions with assistants. The 7th session is optional (Q&A).   The exercise sessions train the student to define and, above all, to use the concepts and tools appropriately in simple applications (C1 and C2).  They also provide opportunities to tackle a more complex problem (C3) and discuss applications to current economic events (C4).  Exercise outlines are available a week in advance: preparation is highly recommended in order to benefit fully from the discussions with the assistants.

Assessment method

Written exam : open ended questions with subquestions.

Applying the C1 to C4 skills with an emphasis on problem solving skills. 

Sources, references and any support material

Livre de base :

·  de Crombrugghe, Alain (2024) "Introduction à l’économie : Choix et décisions économiques, 3d Edition", Louvain-la-Neuve: De Boeck, 480 pp. (Base of the table of contents and of the concepts and methods to be used in exercises and in the second semester "Learning Projet")


Autres références :



 

Language of instruction

Français