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INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS

Simply stated, economics is the study of how societies choose to allocate scarce resources among competing uses. Many of the decisions we make are economic decisions, and many of our interactions with others are influenced by economic institutions.

To understand society, one must have a basic knowledge of economics. One cannot hope to understand the rapid pace of world events without an understanding of how economic systems function and what causes them to break down.

As you begin your study of economics, keep in mind that economics will teach you a new way of looking at the world. In some cases, you will find that the topics we discuss are completely unfamiliar to you. But sometimes, you will be looking at things that you already know about from a different perspective.

THE SCOPE OF ECONOMICS

Most students taking economics for the first time are surprised by the breadth of what they study. Some think that economics will teach them about the stock market, or what to do with their money. Others think that economics deals exclusively with problems like unemployment and inflation. In fact, it deals with all these topics, but they are pieces of a much larger puzzle.

Economics has deep roots in, and close ties to, social philosophy. An issue of great importance to philosophers, for example, is distributional justice. Why are some people rich and others poor, and whatever the answer, is this fair? A number of nineteenth century philosophers wrestled with these questions, and out of their musings, economics as a separate discipline was born.

The easiest way to get a feel for the breadth and depth of what you will be studying is to know the way economics is organized. There are two major divisions in economics: microeconomics and macroeconomics.

MICROECONOMICS
Microeconomics concentrates on individual units – the household, the firm, the industry. It sees and examines the “trees”.

MACROECONOMICS
Macroeconomics examines the economic behavior of aggregates – income, output, employment, prices, etc. – on a national scale. It sees and examines the “forest”.

The primary goal of this macroeconomics module in your course is to teach you how to apply macroeconomic principles to issues and policies in Singapore and the world economy.

TEXTBOOK :

MACROECONOMICS FOR TODAY
BY IRVIN B. TUCKER
PUBLISHER: SOUTH-WESTERN CENGAGE LEARNING (8TH EDITION)

You are strongly advised to have a personal copy of the textbook.

ASSESSMENT SYSTEM

Tutorial Participation
10%
E-learning week
5 % Common Test
25 % Group Project
10 % Final Examination
50 %

Here are some pointers to help you prepare for what lies ahead.

LECTURES
You are given the lecture schedule. To get the most out of a lecture, you are advised to check before attending the lecture the topic for that lecture. Then browse through the chapter on that topic in the textbook to get an idea of what to expect.

During the lecture, aim to understand what the lecturer is saying, paying particular attention to the areas emphasized by the lecturer. Aim also to take comprehensive notes.

Look through your notes/slides the same day after the lecture, filling in at the same time the gaps you might have missed. Read the textbook again for more details. Within one week, study the lecture and textbook material again. Doing this before the next lecture is especially useful if the next lecture builds on areas taught in the previous lecture.

In studying the lecture notes/slides or textbook, aim to understand; go for the meaning. Do not just memorize without understanding. A good test as to whether you have understood is to try to explain what you have learnt in your own words.

TUTORIALS
The purpose of the tutorials is to follow-up on the previous week’s lecture and to establish that you have understood the material to be learnt. Your tutor will question you, and you at the same time should clarify any doubts you might have.

The tutorial will benefit you only if you come prepared. You should study your notes/slides and the textbook before the tutorial. You do this for two purposes – to refresh your memory so that you can follow the tutorial discussion and to take note of the parts you do not understand so that you can ask your tutor to clarify.

Coming to tutorials unprepared will also cause you to end up with very poor tutorial participation marks.

CONCLUSION

How much you get out of this module depends very much on you.

It is really a matter of your attitude.
If you have a positive attitude and you are diligent and keen to learn, you will find this module both interesting and challenging.