This unit is an introduction to economic concepts and contemporary economic issues. It introduces students to basic concepts such as markets and their operation, the behaviour of firms, the efficiency and potential failings of free markets, the role of government, key macroeconomic variables and problems such as unemployment. It illuminates these concepts via application to contemporary economic issues and debates over different theoretical perspectives. This unit also exposes students to recent developments in economics via presentations by specialist guest lecturers.

This unit provides exposure to financial and management accounting information from a user of accounting information viewpoint. The unit aims to provide breadth of awareness and knowledge in relevant fields of accounting essential to decision making for managers.

This unit provides an overview of the development of the Australian economy since 1788 in the context of the evolution of the global economy during the last two centuries. A strong emphasis is placed on the interaction of the processes promoting globalisation in the international economy, with the endemic tendencies towards social conflict and nationalism that have accompanied the consolidation of the capitalist nation state. Within this framework the specific factors that have given Australian economic development its unique character are analysed. The unit concludes by examining the socio-economic outcomes that ongoing globalisation is likely to produce in the twenty-first century and looks at the principal alternative economic strategies that Australian governments might follow over the next few decades.

The investment, financing and risk management decisions that all firms make are implemented by creating and trading financial instruments in financial markets, often with the involvement of a variety of institutions. Using the Australian financial system as an illustration, this unit introduces students to the theory and functions of financial intermediaries and the operation of financial systems. Students also develop an understanding of the role and functions of markets in equities, debt, foreign exchange, options and futures, and theories of interest rate determination and the term structure of interest rates.

This unit introduces the fundamental concepts of finance theory and the tools of financial decision making in the context of the Australian institutional environment. These concepts relate primarily to the time value of money, risk and return, capital budgeting and capital structure. The unit's purpose is to develop an understanding of the basic practices of financial management from the perspective of a firm (both large and small). Students examine the investment, financing and dividend decisions of corporations.

Introduction to Economic Methods will cover basic concepts in Mathematics and Statistics to help their understanding of subjects like accounting, management, marketing, finance, and economics. In addition, the analytical techniques, concepts and models that will be discussed in this unit will play a foundation role in a Business degree. Topics include: Differential calculus and its application in business and economics; collection, analysis and interpretation of data using simple descriptive and inferential statistical methods; probability distributions, point and interval estimation, hypothesis testing, and an introduction to regression analysis.

This unit is an introduction to macroeconomic concepts, analysis and issues in the Australian context. Basic concepts introduced and applied include: national income accounting, economic structure, price indexes and inflation, the balance of payments, and labour market aggregates. These concepts are applied in describing and explaining the recent evolution of the Australian economy in terms of growth, structural change, price stability, and employment. This leads to a discussion of major policy issues such as the role of governments in managing economic fluctuations, and the implications of Australia’s foreign liabilities. The course ends with a brief introduction to modelling income determination.

Macroeconomic Theory aims to provide alternative theoretical explanations of the working of the macroeconomy. The unit will be based on the analytical narratives of macroeconomic developments taught in Australian Macroeconomy. Starting from the basic IS-LM model, it derives the aggregate demand (AD) curve and examines the components of commodity and money markets. It also analyses the labour market and derives the aggregate supply (AS) curve of an economy. Using the AD-AS model, it examines the interdependent nature of macroeconomic problems (e.g. inflation, unemployment), and the effectiveness of fiscal and monetary policies within a closed economy context. The basic model is then extended to analyse open economy issues (e.g., exchange rates and balance of payments, external shocks and international interdependence). Whenever appropriate, alternative approaches to macroeconomics are evaluated.

This unit provides an introduction to the theory and analytical techniques relevant to the management of Australian financial institutions. The unit presents a thorough examination of the major financial risks faced by Australian banks, and methods of measuring and managing these risks.

The focus of this unit is primarily on loan policy questions, such as the appropriate loan portfolio mix or how risks can be adequately priced into loans, rather than on the operational issues which tend to be more the focus of the internal training programs of banks and other financial institutions.

This unit builds on concepts explored in Introduction to Economic Methods. The unit broadens the application of the stochastic linear model in econometrics, exploring its use in the estimation of economic models and in the testing of economic hypotheses associated with these models. The emphasis is on learning by doing in small group workshops.

The first part of this unit develops an understanding of the relationships between industry structure, the conduct of firms, and market performance. Alternative theories of the firm and strategic market behaviour are considered. The unit then examines the characteristics and operation of particular markets, including public goods and utilities, human resources, and natural and environmental resources. The analysis developed in the unit is used to provide insights into applied policy areas such as competition policy, regulation of public enterprises, microeconomic reform and industry policy.

This unit provides students with a unifying theoretical perspective on the most important concepts in the field of finance. The presentation is rigorous and students develop their ability to critically evaluate the principal theoretical results in the finance literature.

Traditional theories of finance are based the assumption that investors are both rational and utility maximizing. The Efficient Markets Hypothesis in particular has assumptions about investor behaviour which underpin its key predictions. The tenants of beharioural finance disputes the validity of these assumptions. This unit challenges traditional theory by examining how decision making and investor behaviour may be driven by personal and market psychology.

This unit provides an introduction to trading and the theory of pricing of options, futures and other derivative products currently used in the domestic and international financial markets.

This unit builds on the econometric methods of Economic Modelling. The focus is on the linear model in econometrics in its application to economic and financial time series. The emphasis is on learning by doing in small group workshops.

This unit provides students with an understanding of the economics of retirement and retirement income provision, with particular emphasis on the Australian superannuation industry. On completion of this unit, students should have a comprehensive understanding of superannuation in Australia, as well as an appreciation of the economic issues associated with alternative models of retirement income provision.

This unit focuses on the nature of state activity in the economy. The unit introduces students to different analytical approaches to the economic role of the state and considers their practical implications for economic policy analysis.

Macroeconomic Issues builds on concepts examined in earlier units in macroeconomics and applies them to selected areas of debate concerning macroeconomic policy formulation. The unit examines key areas of debate within macroeconomic theory and develops an understanding of approaches used in the theoretical and empirical modelling of key macroeconomic aggregates. Macroeconomic policies are analysed for an open economy with special reference to the Australian economy. Major policy areas considered include inflation, unemployment and labour markets, exchange rate adjustments and the current account, the role and effectiveness of monetary and fiscal policy, and Australia’s recent economic growth performance.

This unit examines various political economy approaches to the analysis of economics, mainly associated with Austrian, Marxian, post-Keynesian and evolutionary schools of thought. These may be regarded as the main alternatives to neo-classical economic theory. As they do not represent a unified body of thought, the unit will survey the main contributions of each, focusing on both the positive aspects of theory and the negative aspects relating to the critique of neo-classical theory.