Latest courses: Semester 1 2023:
ECON2141: Strategic Thinking: An Introduction to Game Theory
In many – perhaps most – economic interactions, there is potential for strategic behaviour, a term, “intended to focus on the interdependence of the adversaries’ decisions and on their expectations about each other’s behaviour.” (Schelling, 1960, The Strategy of Conflict). Recognising and understanding such behaviour is an essential part of any economist's toolkit and this course is designed to enable just such recognition and understanding. Game theory has successfully been applied in a diverse range of fields, such as economics, political science, law, biology and computer science. The aim of this course is to provide an introduction to strategic thinking and analysis through the basic techniques of game theory and to illustrate the range of its applications in economics and business and other areas. While the level of the course will be introductory, and mathematical prerequisites are minimal, the presentation of the material will rely on precise logical arguments.
ECON3103/3013/4415/8015: International Economics
Why do countries trade with each other? How, why and by whom is international trade regulated? What are the welfare consequences of international trade? How does international trade affect individual firms, consumers, workers and industries? Why do some firms decide to export but not others? What is the impact of government policies on trade and welfare, and what are the best policies? Is a tariff war “easy to win”? What are the welfare effects of preferential trading arrangements between countries? What does the WTO do? What determines currency exchange rates and is a low or high dollar a good thing? Is monetary and fiscal policy more or less effective in an open economy than in a closed one? These are some of the questions we might consider in this class.
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