ECON 101-01, Introduction to Economics, Spring 2009

Abstract

Welcome to ECON 101, the microeconomics portion of the introductory economics series at Rhodes. While the basic principles of microeconomics are most famously used by economists in the academic world, finance, and public policy, the “economic way of thinking” can be successfully employed by anyone. Economics has applications far beyond the stock market and tax policy. Like other social scientists, economists aim to explain human behavior but within a unique framework using special tools. In this course you will start building an economist’s toolkit that will allow you to study homo economicus (economic man), rightly understood. Specific topics of this course include demand for goods and services, production and supply of the same, trade, market failures, and resource allocation. Course Objectives/ Learning Objectives As an introductory class, the objectives of this course are primarily: (1) To instruct students in a basic cognitive background of economic analysis including terminology and methods, particularly the economic way of thinking. (2) To nurture an understanding of economic principles and theories among students that illuminates economics’ interrelation with and applicability to other disciplines and, even, one’s daily life.