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 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.

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.

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 introduces the ideas of the most influential economic writers since Aristotle. Their theoretic contributions are discussed in the context of the political and philosophical debates and the economic issues of their times. The unit focuses on the theories of value and distribution; business cycles; and money and economic growth. It examines the criteria for progress in economic thought and considers the role of ideology and values. Students read selections from the writings of Smith, Ricardo, Mill, Marx, Marshall, Keynes and institutional writers.

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.

This unit deals with: models of short-run fluctuations of regional aggregates and the economic relations between regions; models of long-run change in regional aggregates and the long-run economic relations between regions; equilibrium models of intra-urban location; optimal models of intra-urban allocation; and optimal allocation of capital to urban land.

This unit develops and applies economic theories and principles introduced in previous units. Practicality is emphasised, with economic methods, theories and practices being applied to managerial decision making. Topics include: the firm's environment, production, costs, profit maximisation, constrained optimisation, markets, firm behaviour, project management, and the impact of government policy.

The aim of this unit is to extend students’ knowledge of microeconomic theory developed in the unit Industry Economics and Markets. After a more formal presentation, the rather idealistic assumptions used in the context of the perfectly competitive markets will be relaxed in order to model typical situations encountered in the business world. The theory of choice will be extended to situations where individuals face uncertainty regarding the outcome of their own actions. In terms of market structure, we will investigate the consequences in terms of price, quantity and consumer’s surplus, of monopoly, oligopoly or duopoly markets. As some of these market structures imply that the individuals’ decisions might strongly affect or be affected by a limited number of other decision makers, an introduction to Game Theory will be presented. Finally, our concerns for investigating more realistic economic situations will lead us to make a brief incursion into markets characterised by asymmetric information, the presence of public goods or the existence of externalities.

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 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.

This unit aims to examine the role of the diverse economies of East Asia, Southeast Asia, and South Asia in the Global economy, and the complex economic, historical, political, social and cultural factors which have influenced and continue to shape the transformation of these economies. The unit will evaluate alternative development paradigms in light of the experience of these economies. The discussion will be cast within the wider debate about the role of foreign trade and investment flows. The unit will take the political economy approach to understanding both the transformation of these economies and their role in the Global Economy.

This unit will study the labour market in a global economy. It will study employment, unemployment, labour market participation, and wages in a global economy. It will study the role of international migration in employment, unemployment, and wage determination. The role of global labour markets in determining the salaries of CEOs and unskilled workers will be considered. We will also discuss the role of outsourcing of activities from the developed world to developing countries, e.g. call centres.

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.

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.