Indicative Content |
SECTION A: MICROECONOMICS
Introduction
What is economics;
Scarcity, choice and opportunity cost;
Production possibility frontier;
Macroeconomics versus Microeconomics;
The importance of economics to a business person;
Economic systems;
The New Economy
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Demand, Supply and the Market
Demand and consumers;
Supply and producers;
Market equilibrium and the price mechanism;
Price controls
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Elasticity of Demand and Supply
Price elasticity of demand;
Cross - price elasticity of demand;
Income elasticity of demand;
Relationship between price elasticity of demand and revenue;
Elasticity of supply
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The Consumer and Demand
Utility;
Marginal utility analysis;
The Law of diminishing marginal utility
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The Firm and Production
The objectives of the firm;
Production;
Law of diminishing marginal returns;
Costs;
Increasing/Decreasing and Constant Returns to Scale;
Profit-maximising output level
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Market Structures
Perfect competition;
Monopoly;
Monopolistic competition;
Oligopoly;
Comparisons of the different types of market structures
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Factor Markets
Labour and wages;
Capital and Interest;
Land and rent;
Entrepreneurship and profit
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SECTION B: MACROECONOMICS
Measurement of macroeconomic activity:
National income statistics (G.D.P. and G.N.P.)
The circular flow model of economic activity
The three methods for measuring economic activity
The Irish National Accounts
Limitations of using G.D.P. and G.N.P. as measures of economic activity
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The Determination of National Income
The Keynesian approach;
Aggregate Demand: Consumption, savings, investment, government; ;expenditure, exports and imports;
The multiplier and accelerator;
Paradox of Thrift
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Government & the Economy
Role of government within an economy;
Economic Policy Objectives;
Attributes of a good tax system;
Direct and Indirect taxation;
Public sector borrowing;
The Budget;
National Debt;
Fiscal Policy
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Money and Banking
The nature and functions of money;
The demand for and supply of money;
Interest rate determination;
The role of a central bank;
The European Central Bank;
Ireland and the Euro;
Monetary Policy
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Inflation and Unemployment
Measuring inflation;
Demand pull and cost push theories of inflation;
The Philip's curve;
Effects of inflation;
Policies to reduce high inflation;
The Irish experience with inflation;
Deflation;
Theories of unemployment;
Costs of unemployment;
Policies to reduce unemployment;
The Irish experience with unemployment
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International Trade and Finance
What is Globalisation?;
Introduction to the theories of international trade;
Barriers to trade and Government intervention in international trade;
Free trade and the World Trade Organisation (W.T.O);
Single European Market;
Balance of payments;
Introduction to exchange rate regimes.
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Module Resources
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Recommended Book Resources |
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Turely G and Maloney M. (2011), Principles of Economics an Irish Textbook, 4th.. Gill and Macmillan.
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Begg D.,Fischer S. and Dornbusch R.. (2011), Economics, 10th.. McGraw-Hill.
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Nagle S. (2005), Economics, 3rd Ed.. Colour Books Limited.
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Recommended Article/Paper Resources |
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The Irish Times.
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The Economist.
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Other Resources |
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www.cso.ie.
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www.esri.ie.
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www.data.worldbank.org.
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