Economic Theory and Structure
Code: 103127 ECTS Credits: 6| Degree | Type | Year | Semester |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2501933 Journalism | FB | 2 | 2 |
Contact
- Name:
- Francesc Trillas Jane
- Email:
- francesc.trillas@uab.cat
Use of Languages
- Principal working language:
- catalan (cat)
- Some groups entirely in English:
- No
- Some groups entirely in Catalan:
- Yes
- Some groups entirely in Spanish:
- No
Teachers
- Carmen Estévez Martínez
Prerequisites
No prerequisite is required
Objectives and Contextualisation
This is a first cycle subject that provides basic training in the economic field. There is no presupposition of any previous economic training.
The contents of the subject include an introduction to the basic structures of the contemporary economy, including the mechanisms of functioning of the market and the role of the main social agents in the local and global economic phenomena. The process of internationalization of the Spanish economy is also analyzed.
The subject provides the basic instruments of the economic analysis that must allow us to analyze and understand the social reality of a country. Within this framework, students must be able to use the economic analysis to understand the main facts that characterize the national and international economy.
The training objectives of the subject can be summarized in the following points:
1. Having a basic theoretical knowledge of micro and macroeconomics
2. Know the fundamental economic institutions
3. To be able to make a critical analysis of the current economic reality
4. Demonstrate the acquisition of knowledge through written and oral expression, both individually and in groups.
The content of the subject will be sensitive to aspects related to the gender perspective.
Competences
- Act with ethical responsibility and respect for fundamental rights and duties, diversity and democratic values.
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- Demonstrate adequate knowledge of the modern world and its recent historic development in terms of social, economic, political and cultural aspects.
- Disseminate the area's knowledge and innovations.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Take account of social, economic and environmental impacts when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
- Take sex- or gender-based inequalities into consideration when operating within one's own area of knowledge.
Learning Outcomes
- Analyse the indicators of sustainability of academic and professional activities in the areas of knowledge, integrating social, economic and environmental dimensions.
- Analyse the sex- or gender-based inequalities and the gender biases present in one's own area of knowledge.
- Apply the fundamentals of economics to the analysis of culture and communication.
- Define the basic concepts of economics.
- Demonstrate a critical and self-critical capacity.
- Disseminate the area's knowledge and innovations.
- Explain how business works in the context of the overall economy.
- Identify the principal forms of sex- or gender-based inequality and discrimination present in society.
- Identify the social, economic and environmental implications of academic and professional activities within one's own area of knowledge.
- Recognise the economic dimension of cultural and communication industries.
- Students must be capable of collecting and interpreting relevant data (usually within their area of study) in order to make statements that reflect social, scientific or ethical relevant issues.
- Students must be capable of communicating information, ideas, problems and solutions to both specialised and non-specialised audiences.
- Students must develop the necessary learning skills in order to undertake further training with a high degree of autonomy.
- Weigh up the impact of any long- or short-term difficulty, harm or discrimination that could be caused to certain persons or groups by the actions or projects.
Content
Topic 1. Basic concepts of economics. Micro and macroeconomics
Topic 2. The economic aggregates. International institutions
Topic 3 The market. Offer and demand. Prices. Type of market
Topic 4. The market failures. Externalities
Topic 5. The labor market. Unemployment
Topic 6. Macroeconomic analysis. Macroeconomic models and policies.
Topic 7. The intervention of the public sector and economic policies
Topic 8. Tax policy, the deficit and public debt
Topic 9. Monetary policy and the financial system
Topic 10. International trade and international payments
Topic 11. Economic integration. The European Union and the euro
Topic 12. The big economic problems
Methodology
The course development is based on the following activities:
- Teaching will be offered on campus
- the calendar will be available on the first day of class and available on the Virtual Campus.
- Master classes: in these sessions the teacher transmits to the students the essential knowledge of each one of the topics of the subject. Students have a basic textbook that should work to take advantage of master classes. Assistance to these sessions is recommended to consolidate the knowledge and so that the student can bridge the theory and news of economic news.
- Practical classes: these sessions include a set of activities that the students and the teacher jointly carry out, including the carrying out of exercises, the preparation and presentation by students of the main international economic institutions, some Spanish economic sectors, and of debates on the economic news from press cuts or documents published by diverse organizations and the presentation in class by the student of works or practices realized.
- Recommended activities: the teacher can recommend attendance at lectures, debates, seminars as a complement to the subject.
- Autonomous activities: the student must complement the activities aimed at finding information about the selected subjects, teamwork and carrying out practical exercises.
- The proposed teaching methodology may undergo some modifcations according to the restrictions imposed by the health authorities on on-campus courses
Annotation: Within the schedule set by the centre or degree programme, 15 minutes of one class will be reserved for students to evaluate their lecturers and their courses or modules through questionnaires.
Activities
| Title | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Type: Directed | |||
| Seminars and face-to-face classes. Debates and exhibitions | 52.5 | 2.1 | 3, 4, 7, 10 |
| Type: Supervised | |||
| Documentation and bibliography, individual and colectives reports, tutorials | 7.5 | 0.3 | 3, 4, 7, 10 |
| Type: Autonomous | |||
| Personal study | 82.5 | 3.3 | 3, 4, 7, 10 |
Assessment
The assessment of the subject will be carried out continuously throughout the course taking into account the following criteria: To pass the subject it will be essential to obtain an average equal to or greater than 5. Throughout the course, a minimum of 3 Written tests, which will total 75% in the final mark. The first test is expected to be held in session 5, the second in the 10, and the last in session 15.
Additionally, other exercises and pressentation will be carried out in class and / or through the Virtual Campus, which will serve to complement the final mark of the subject (25% of the mark).
The students who have participated in the continuous and suspended evaluation can recover it whenever they have obtained a minimum grade of 3.5. All activities, both theory and practice (seminars and laboratories), are recoverable provided that the students have been evaluated in a minimum of 2/3 of the total of evaluable activities. The mark obtained in the proof of recovery will be the final grade of the final subject. According to the approved by the Board of Faculty, the last three weeks of the course (weeks 17, 18 and 19) will be allocated to these activities
The procedure for reviewing the ratings is automatic and is produced immediately after the publication of the grades: Students who want to review their work, must request the revision by mail, within the term that will be specified.
The teacher responsible for the subject, with the approval of the coordination of studies and the center, can exclude from the recovery process those activities that, by their nature, consider that they are not recoverable, as long as they do not exceed jointly 50% of the final grade of the subject.
Recovery tests comprise the subject corresponding to the unapproved part and those subjects treated in the work and exercises that detail the responsible professor.
Those not presented: The students who initiate the continuous evaluation process will deplete the call and will have a final approval or suspended note of the subject, in any case of not presented. The exception is that it has only been submitted to one of the written exercises, in this case, the note is 'not evaluable'.
Students will be entitled to the revaluation of the subject.
In the case of a second enrolment, students can do a single synthesis exam.
In cases where the student can not attend the final written exam and is duly justified, the teacher will establish the recovery mechanisms. There will be no recovery for partial written tests, which are recovered in the final written test.
The proposed teaching methodology and evaluation activities may undergo some changes according to the restrictions imposed by the health authorities on on-campus courses.
The student who performs any irregularity will be qualified with 0 in this assignment or exam. In case there are several irregularities, the final grade of the subject will be 0.
Assessment Activities
| Title | Weighting | Hours | ECTS | Learning Outcomes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Final exam | 25% | 2.5 | 0.1 | 3, 4, 7, 10 |
| Mid-term Exam | 25% | 2.5 | 0.1 | 3, 4, 7, 10 |
| Mid-term exam | 25% | 2.5 | 0.1 | 4, 7, 10 |
| Reports, exericices, practical cases and seminars | 25% | 0 | 0 | 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 8, 13, 12, 11, 10, 14 |
Bibliography
Recommended bibliography:
CORE Project, free e-book The Economy: The Economy (core-econ.org)
Juan Torres Introducción a la economía. Piramide 2017
Paul Krugman, Robert Wells y Kathryn Graddy, Fonaments d'economia, Editorial Reverté, 2015.
Mankiw, Gregory N., Principios de economia, Thomson-Paraninfo, 6ª ed., 2012.
Samuelson, Paul y Nordhaus, William, Economía. Ed. McGraw-Hill, 19ª ed., 2010
Mochón, Frnacisco, Economía. Teoría y Política. Ed. McGraw-Hill, 6ª ed., 2009.
web pages:
http://introduccioeconomia-dea.uab.cat/
Banco de España: www.bde.es
Instituto Nacional de Estadística - España: www.ine.es
Ministerio de Economía y Hacienda: www.mineco.es
IMF: www.imf.org
OECD: www.oecd.org
Software
World, power point and excel will be used.