Course Brief

Elementary Economics is designed to allow learners to understand the basics of economics and how individuals attempt to maximise utility; how businesses attempt to maximise profits and how economies attempt to maintain a high standard of living for its citizens by managing their macroeconomic objectives.

  • This course is offered in 60 contact hours.

Upon successful completion of this unit, learners will be able to:

  1. Understand the nature of economic resources and that their finite supply creates the need for business organisations to make choices;
  2. Explain, in words and with diagrams, the concept of market equilibrium in a demand and supply model (Price Mechanism or Consumer Sovereignty);
  3. Explain the impact of market structure on the behaviour of firms;
  4. Identify and explain the macroeconomic objectives/ problems faced by all economies, explain their impact on business behaviour and how they can be achieved/ managed using monetary and fiscal policies.

Understand the nature of economic resources and that their finite supply creates the need for business organisations to make choices:

  • Explain the difference between microeconomics and macroeconomics showing how each relates to the basic economic problem of scarcity. 
  • Use numerical examples and/or the production possibility frontier to explain the concepts of scarcity and opportunity cost. 
  • Explain how various economic systems attempt to overcome the problem of scarcity comparing their merits and demerits.

 

Explain, in words and with diagrams, the concept of market equilibrium in a demand and supply model (Price Mechanism or Consumer Sovereignty):

  • Distinguish between individual and market demand. 
  • Identify and explain various factors that may influence demand and supply explaining the effect on market equilibrium price and market equilibrium quantities traded using words and diagrams.

 

Explain the impact of market structure on the behaviour of firms:

  • Describe the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition and oligopolies.

 

Identify and explain the macroeconomic objectives/ problems faced by all economies, explain their impact on business behaviour and how they can be achieved/ managed using monetary and fiscal policies:

  • Explain the concepts of inflation/deflation, unemployment, economic growth, exchange rates and balance of payments and their impact on business behaviour. 
  • Discuss how governments operate/use monetary and fiscal policy to achieve/ maintain their macroeconomic objectives/ problems and the influence on business decisions.