Economics

Introduction to Economics is a social sciences elective. The course begins with an overview of foundational economic concepts such as scarcity, opportunity cost, marginal thinking, incentivizing, comparative advantage, specialization, supply and demand, and market efficiency. Following the foundational portion of the course the focus shifts to macroeconomics - the study of the overall aspects and functions of the economy, such as economic theory, GDP, the Federal Reserve, inflation, employment, monetary policy, fiscal policy, aggregate supply and demand, government budget, deficit, and debt, and the diversity of an international economy. Following discussion of macroeconomics, the course focuses on microeconomics - the study of individual units that make up the economy. These units include, but are not limited to, resource allocation, production, profit, sole proprietorship, small business, monopoly, labor, salary and wages, and public and private goods and services. In this course, students will become familiar with a survey of economic concepts, learn to apply the lessons from class to contemporary scenarios, and develop fluency in economics in the media from current events as well as sources such as PBS, Economist, New York Times, and Wall Street Journal.