Duration: 3 hours per week - 13 weeks [ECTS: 6]

Course outline

The course offers an introductory grand-view of economic thought and its various schools. It adopts both a mainstream as well as a non-mainstream critical perspective in order to underlying the rich variety in economic analysis generated by the presence of different schools, perspectives and methodologies. Themes discussed include: economic thought in historical perspective, the basic economic problem, the organization and operation of the economic system, the operation of the market mechanism, competition and the market economy, market failures and government intervention, provision of public goods, the business cycle and the importance of economic policy, the current international economic system and the developmental gap.

Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of the lectures, the students will be able to:

•  Know and understand the variety of economic thought
• Comprehend the principles of economic analysis
• Have acquired a critical perspective on the role and importance of government intervention in the economy
• Know and understand the principal tools of economic policy
• Have acquired a basic knowledge of the international economic system within which national economies operate
• Be aware of the current developmental challenges