Department of Economics & International Development, Unit Catalogue 2008/09 |
EC50073 Introduction to economics |
| Credits: 0 |
| Level: Masters |
| Academic Year |
| Assessment: |
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Aims: The aim of this unit is to provide an introductory outline of the main features of economic analysis and show how this may be of help in analysing important contemporary issues, with a view to informing and underpinning students' work in the translation and interpreting units.
Learning Outcomes: Students who complete the unit successfully will be able to demonstrate an appropriate knowledge and understanding of economic analysis and terminology in their translation and interpreting activities. Skills: The emphasis in this unit is on developing: * the intellectual skill required to assimilate a potentially complex and unfamiliar body of information; * the transferable key skills of listening, analysing information and relating this to data and materials that are likely to be encountered in other contexts; * the practical ability to deploy a functional knowledge of economics as part of professional language work. Content: The course material is chosen to demonstrate how economic analysis can be applied not only to UK domestic issues but also to a broad selection of European and more widely international topics. The main areas dealt with are as follows: * Markets: demand and supply - Case study: the housing market * Assessing macro-economic variables * Macro-economic policy * Inflation and unemployment * Public debt, the balance of payments and exchange rates * EMU and possible UK membership. Students are expected to do appropriate background reading. |