ID:
GIU0006
Duration (hours):
50
CFU:
8
SSD:
ECONOMIA POLITICA
Year:
2025
Overview
Date/time interval
Secondo Semestre (19/02/2025 - 17/05/2025)
Syllabus
Course Objectives
The course aims to provide the basic knowledge for the analysis and interpretation of economic phenomena. The course prioritizes methodological aspects over applied aspects, which are marked by issues related to the tourism sector and are instead covered in the economic area courses of the second and third year of study (Industrial Organization and Industrial Policy, Public Finance, Tourism Economics, Economic Policy). In particular, the course aims to provide the skills to interpret economic phenomena (such as, for example, price formation in markets) through the tool of economic models, which explicate in a systematic and coherent way objectives, constraints and spheres of choice of economic agents (consumers, firms, policy makers).
The expected learning outcomes are as follows:
- acquisition and ability to appropriately employ concepts, terminology and methods specific to economic analysis, both in the microeconomic and macroeconomic approaches;
- ability to interpret economic facts and news (such as those reported in the press or other media) through the lens of economic theory and models.
The expected learning outcomes are as follows:
- acquisition and ability to appropriately employ concepts, terminology and methods specific to economic analysis, both in the microeconomic and macroeconomic approaches;
- ability to interpret economic facts and news (such as those reported in the press or other media) through the lens of economic theory and models.
Course Prerequisites
Prerequisites consist of knowledge of the basics of analytic geometry, particularly the analytic and graphical representation of lines and parabolas; knowledge of the concept of derivative of a function is also necessary. It will be the responsibility of the course instructor to devote approximately 3 hours of class time to reviewing the above concepts.
Teaching Methods
The course includes 40 hours of lectures, 10 hours of classroom exercises and 10 hours of tutor-assisted teaching.
Assessment Methods
The exam is written and consists of 6 questions, of which 4 relate to microeconomics and 2 relate to macroeconomics. The questions may involve either exposition of concepts, definitions, economic theories, construction and illustration of graphs, or solution of numerical problems. Overall, the written test lasts about 90 minutes. Students who score a sufficient grade in the written test enter a short oral interview through which the final assessment is refined. Before announcing the results of the written test, the teacher explains the criteria for correction and evaluation to the students, reviewing the proposed questions.
The exam is aimed primarily at assessing reasoning ability and analytical rigor on the topics covered in the course, as well as language properties and communication skills. Since these are first-year students, some of whom are entering the study of economic theory for the first time, the evaluation criteria required to pass the exam do not include the ability to express independent judgment. The latter criterion can at most be used to reward the smartest students.
The exam is aimed primarily at assessing reasoning ability and analytical rigor on the topics covered in the course, as well as language properties and communication skills. Since these are first-year students, some of whom are entering the study of economic theory for the first time, the evaluation criteria required to pass the exam do not include the ability to express independent judgment. The latter criterion can at most be used to reward the smartest students.
Contents
The teaching includes a first part devoted to microeconomics and a second part devoted to macroeconomics.
Microeconomics
Introduction
Neoclassical economic theory. Economic agents and their goals: consumers and firms. Exogenous data: preferences and technology. Endogenous variables: prices and quantity traded. Partial and general equilibrium analysis. Market forms.
The demand side.
The individual demand curve. The law of demand. Substitution effect and Income effect. The determinants of demand. Normal goods, inferior goods and Giffen goods. Direct demand function and inverse demand function. Consumer surplus and total expenditure. Elasticity of demand with respect to price. The market demand curve.
Monopoly market.
Characteristics of a monopoly market. The monopolist's revenues. The relationship between revenue and elasticity of the demand curve. Output and costs (with constant returns to scale). Profit maximization by the monopolist. Equilibrium price and quantity in monopoly. How equilibrium changes when the demand curve shifts or when production costs increase or decrease.
Production and costs.
Fixed and variable factors of production. Distinction between short-run and long-run. The production function in the short run. The law of diminishing marginal productivity. The production costs in the short run. Total costs, average costs and marginal cost.
Perfectly competitive markets.
The factors that characterize a market of perfect competition. The short-run supply curve of a firm operating under perfect competition. The aggregate supply curve; the determinants of aggregate supply. Market equilibrium in the long run.
Market structure and social welfare.
Competitive equilibrium and consumer welfare. Social welfare: comparison of perfect competition and monopoly. Monopoly as a cause of market failure.
Macroeconomics
Introduction.
The circular flow of income; outline of national accounting. The Economic Account of Resources and Uses. Aggregate demand and Gross Domestic Product (GDP): at current and constant prices.
The Keynesian model of national income determination.
The principle of effective demand. The Keynesian consumption function. The relationship between consumption function and savings function. Analytical derivation and graphical representation of macroeconomic equilibrium. The Keynesian multiplier principle.
Money.
Meaning and functions of money. The three motives of money demand: transactional, precautionary, speculative. The relationship between money demand, financial markets and interest rate. The equilibrium in the money market.
The IS-LM model.
The role of the interest rate in asset, money and financial asset markets. The asset market and the IS curve. Analytical and graphical derivation of the IS curve. The money market and the LM curve. Analytical and graphical derivation of the LM curve. Equilibrium in the IS-LM model. Fiscal policies and the crowding-out effect of private spending. Monetary policies and the liquidity trap. The coordination of fiscal and monetary policies. The debate between Keynesians and Monetarists.
Microeconomics
Introduction
Neoclassical economic theory. Economic agents and their goals: consumers and firms. Exogenous data: preferences and technology. Endogenous variables: prices and quantity traded. Partial and general equilibrium analysis. Market forms.
The demand side.
The individual demand curve. The law of demand. Substitution effect and Income effect. The determinants of demand. Normal goods, inferior goods and Giffen goods. Direct demand function and inverse demand function. Consumer surplus and total expenditure. Elasticity of demand with respect to price. The market demand curve.
Monopoly market.
Characteristics of a monopoly market. The monopolist's revenues. The relationship between revenue and elasticity of the demand curve. Output and costs (with constant returns to scale). Profit maximization by the monopolist. Equilibrium price and quantity in monopoly. How equilibrium changes when the demand curve shifts or when production costs increase or decrease.
Production and costs.
Fixed and variable factors of production. Distinction between short-run and long-run. The production function in the short run. The law of diminishing marginal productivity. The production costs in the short run. Total costs, average costs and marginal cost.
Perfectly competitive markets.
The factors that characterize a market of perfect competition. The short-run supply curve of a firm operating under perfect competition. The aggregate supply curve; the determinants of aggregate supply. Market equilibrium in the long run.
Market structure and social welfare.
Competitive equilibrium and consumer welfare. Social welfare: comparison of perfect competition and monopoly. Monopoly as a cause of market failure.
Macroeconomics
Introduction.
The circular flow of income; outline of national accounting. The Economic Account of Resources and Uses. Aggregate demand and Gross Domestic Product (GDP): at current and constant prices.
The Keynesian model of national income determination.
The principle of effective demand. The Keynesian consumption function. The relationship between consumption function and savings function. Analytical derivation and graphical representation of macroeconomic equilibrium. The Keynesian multiplier principle.
Money.
Meaning and functions of money. The three motives of money demand: transactional, precautionary, speculative. The relationship between money demand, financial markets and interest rate. The equilibrium in the money market.
The IS-LM model.
The role of the interest rate in asset, money and financial asset markets. The asset market and the IS curve. Analytical and graphical derivation of the IS curve. The money market and the LM curve. Analytical and graphical derivation of the LM curve. Equilibrium in the IS-LM model. Fiscal policies and the crowding-out effect of private spending. Monetary policies and the liquidity trap. The coordination of fiscal and monetary policies. The debate between Keynesians and Monetarists.
Course Language
ITALIAN
More information
The lecturer receives students in the office in S.Abbondio or by call via Teams by making appointment via e-mail at umberto.galmarini@uninsubria.it
Degrees
Degrees
TOURISM SCIENCES
Bachelor’s Degree
3 years
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People
Docenti di ruolo di Ia fascia
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