Economics is - in its raw form - the study of decision-making that is based around the production, distribution and consumption of goods and services. Three key questions that will arise out of this are:
What to produce
How to produce
For whom to produce
The complexities of this arise due to the wants and needs of society and the limited resources available to fulfil those needs and wants.
This subject will look at the two branches of Economics:
Macroeconomics - focusing on the economy as a whole and its components such as the exchange rate, trade with other nations and the current budget.
Microeconomics - focusing on the actions of individuals and businesses and what influences their decisions.
World of Commerce is an introductory course that runs as an elective for a single semester. It comprises three units, one focusing on Business Studies, the second on Economics and the thirrd on Accounting. This course focuses on key concepts found in VCE Business Management ,Economics and Accounting and will serve as a useful guide for students if they are considering these subjects in VCE.
Unit 1: Economic Decision Making
Economics is interested in the way humans behave and the decisions made to meet the needs and wants of society. In this unit students explore their role in the economy, how they interact with businesses and the way economic models and theories have been developed to explain the causes and effects of human action.
Unit 2: Economic Issues and Living Standards
Students focus on the possible trade-off between the pursuit of growth in incomes and production and the goal of environmental sustainability and long-term economic prosperity.
They investigate the importance of economic growth in terms of raising living standards and evaluate how achievement of this goal might result in degradation of the environment and the loss of key resources.
Students examine whether the goals of economic growth and environmental sustainability can be compatible and discuss the effect of different policies on the achievement of these important goals.
The ultimate goal of this course is to give students an understanding of how markets operate and what fuels government decisions when maintaining an economy in a heavily globalised market.
In Units 3 & 4 Economics, students will study the market system and how resources are allocated and how the government may intervene in these markets. It also looks at how markets and governments can fail in regulating markets.
Students will look at the three key domestic macroeconomic goals of:
Strong and sustainable economic growth
Price stability (low inflation)
Full employment.
These three goals will be the focus for much of the year and studies of how Australia interacts with the world economy, studies of current and past budgets as well as aggregate supply policies will be focused around their effect on the three aforementioned goals.
For further information please refer to page 46 (Year 10) and page 76 (VCE) of the St. Joseph's College Senior School Subject Information Handbook.