This course will be taught in the new Bachelor of economics at Solvay Brussels School of Université libre de Bruxelles, course-link.
What Is the Most Pressing Problem Economists Should be Addressing? This will be the starting question of the course “Topics in economics”, designed for first year students of the Bachelor in Economics. In this course, we will start with real world facts and questions and strive to use modern economic models from microeconomics and macroeconomics to understand them. From climate change via inequality to financial instability and unemployment, the course aims to first establish empirical findings and then explain how modern theory can be useful in explaining them. We will aim to motivate student by providing historical evidence about a complex, dynamic process and the promise of gaining insight using economic models and data. A special focus will be put on deriving implications for policy makers. The course complements the introductory courses in macroeconomics and microeconomics taught in parallel by faculty colleagues.
Objectives:
- Learn key principles of economics, starting from real life examples
- Strengthen methodological thinking and analytical skills
- Strengthen leadership skills via interactive learning
- Build capacities to analyse real world problems and contribute to problem solving
- Strengthen understanding of public policy
The course will consist of traditional teaching as well as flipped classroom and classroom games and data exercises. It is expected that students prepare each class. We will have 12 sessions of 90 minutes each (24 hours).
References, bibliography, and recommended reading
The course will draw on the following open-source text books as well as specific papers to be announced.
- The CORE Econ Team 2023 The Economy 2.0: Macroeconomics Open access e-text https://core-econ.org/the-economy/
- The CORE Econ Team 2023 The Economy 2.0: Microeconomics Open access e-text https://core-econ.org/the-economy/
- The CORE Econ Team 2023 Economy, Society, and Public Policy, Open access e-text https://www.core-econ.org/espp/book/text/0-3-contents.html
- The CORE Econ Team 2023 Experiencing economics, Open access e-text https://www.core-econ.org/project/experiencing-economics/
- The CORE Econ Team 2023 Doing economics, Open access e-text https://www.core-econ.org/project/doing-economics/