ECON 101 - Foundations of Economics: Macroeconomics

Credits: (3)
This course introduces students to the field of economics via macroeconomics. Topics include basic concepts such as: efficiency; trade; supply, demand, and how markets function; taxes and price controls; national income accounting, inflation, and unemployment. It also explores how market/capitalist systems work and how countries can foster economic growth. It touches upon economic ideas in the development of the West with the rise of market systems from the Industrial Revolution, the battle between economic systems of capitalism and communism in the twentieth century, to questions of the economic system’s connection to society and culture today. It also covers the recent shift in macroeconomic emphasis from ad hoc attempts to steer the economy with fiscal (tax and spending) and/or monetary policies, to setting the right policy conditions for long run stability and growth. (Fall and Spring)