UNIVERSITY COLLEGE LONDON

ECON0011: Basic Microeconomic Concepts

Instructor

Beatriz Armendáriz

Teaching Assistant

TBA

Tutorials

Eight compulsory Tutorials

Objective:The principal objective of this course is to equip students who have no prior background in economics with the most basic knowledge of microeconomic principles. Students will acquire a solid understanding of the behaviour of consumers and firms, a clear comprehension of the underpinnings of demand and supply, market structure, industrial policy, and ongoing economic debates. The use of graphs (and very basic mathematical formulae) will be used to better understand the material to be covered in the ten asynchronous, ten synchronous lectures, and eight asynchronous and synchronous tutorials. Illustrations using real-world examples will be delivered throughout the entire course.

Eligibility:This course is suitable for students from all UCL departments other than the Economics Department and the combined-studies degrees in Economics and for all non-economist affiliates. The course isNOToffered to students enrolled in:

Economics BSc (L100), Economics and Geography BSc (LL17), Economics and Statistics BSc (LG13), Philosophy and Economics BA (VL51), Mathematics with Economics BSc (G1L1), Mathematics with Economics MSci (G1LC), Economics and Finance BSc (GLN0), Statistics, Economics and a Language BSc (GLR0).

Pre-requisites: The only prerequisite for this course is A-Level Math or equivalent.

Tutorials: There are eight compulsory problem sets and tutorials

Reading Material: The set text for this course is Economics, 11th Edition, by David Begg, Gianluigi Vernasca, Stanley Fischer and Rudiger Dornbusch (henceforth: BVFD), UK: McGraw-Hill. 2014. Students are strongly advised to consult regularly the online learning “connect”, which comes with the book.

Moodle: Recorded asynchronous and synchronous lectures and slides and problem sets will be posted on Moodle before each lecture and two weeks prior to each of the eight tutorials. Students are strongly advised to join the online lectures prepared, i.e., having read the relevant chapter as per the lecture program below.

Assessment:% Final Mark

Coursework 30% 

Final examination 70%

Lecture Program

Students should expect a 15 minutes real case study followed by a quiz at the end of each lecture.

- Introduction

BVFD Chapters 1 and 2:

Economics and the Economy Tools of Economic analysis

- Demand, Supply and the market

BVFD Chapter 3

Demand, supply and the market

-Positive Microeconomics