All courses are three (3) credits unless otherwise specified.

EC10C: Introduction to Microeconomics

Objective:

This course seeks to give students a basic understanding of how prices are formed in markets. To this end, the basic tools of microeconomics analysis will be developed and, wherever possible, applied to economic issues facing Jamaica and other market-oriented market-oriented economies. This course will explore how individual consumers and firms behave and how they interact with each other. Another issue will be how governmental policies can have a deep impact on these issues faced by consumers and firms and will affect them in one way or another. Finally, students will get a basic introduction to the theory of international trade. Questions such as why do nations trade and who benefits/loses from trade will be explored.

Outline:

Basic concepts (Economic Problem, Scope and Method of Economics); The Market (demand, Supply, Comparative Statistics); The Theory of Consumer Choice (Utility Theory and Indifference Curves, Consumer Choice Problem, Comparative Statistics and Demand Elasticities); The Theory of the Firm (Production Choice and Profit Maximization, Costs and Output Decisions in the Short and Long Run); Market failure and Externalities (Perfect vs. imperfect Competition Externalities and Public Goods); Factor Pricing Marginal Productivity, Labour Market); International trade (Absolute and comparative Advantage, gains from Trade, Protectionism and its Tools, Winners and Losers from Opening for Trade).

| Department of Economics |

EC10E: Introduction to Macroeconomics

Objectives:

The basic tools of macro-economic analysis will be developed and applied to economic issues facing Jamaica and other market-oriented economies. Understanding the economic importance of the underlying issues and the implication of the associated policies such as unemployment, inflation, fiscal and monetary policies, national debt and budget deficits, and the effects of exchange rates on the balance of payments are the key objectives of this course. The other objective is to prepare students for other higher level economics courses both theoretical and applied. Using the basic theoretical tools learned in the course, the student will be able to independently judge the future efficacy of economic policies of the government and intelligently discuss the macro-economic aspects of current issues in the Jamaican and world economy.

Outline:

Basic concepts (goals of Macro-economics, Inflation, Unemployment, and Price Index, national income Accounting); income-expenditure model (consumption, Equilibrium in Income-expenditure model, Multiplier Effect, Aggregate supply, Fiscal Policy); Monetary Sector (money and banking, Money Creation and Money multiplier, Monetary Policy, Debate over Monetary Policy); Open economy, Economic Growth in Developing Countries).

| Department of Economics |

EC 16A: Introductory Statistics

Describing a Data Set (Graphical Methods, Measures of Central Tendency, Measures of Variability, Measure of Shape); Probability and Probability Distributions (Sample Space, Probability of Events, Events Composition, Conditionality and Independence, Random Variables, Expectation for Discrete Random Variables, Binomial Distribution, Normal Distribution); Sampling Distributions (Central Limit Theorem); Large-Sample Estimation (Confidence Intervals, Choosing a Sample Size); Large-Sample Test of Hypotheses (Testing Hypotheses); Analysis of Enumerative Data (Contingency Tables, Chi-Squared Test); Linear Regression and Correlation (Linear Models, Slope, Intercept, Prediction).

| Department of Economics |

EC25J: Caribbean Economic Problems

The course will examine themes in the following areas:

Tourism; Manufacturing; Mining; Agriculture; Financial Services; The Informal Economy; The Role of the State; Income Distribution and Poverty; Adjustment Problems; Economic Integration.

| Department of Economics |

SY 13B: Introduction to Social Research
(Wherever this course is listed, ED20G is accepted as a substitute)

Research as a way of knowing; Research Traditions; Formulating a Research Problem; Selecting and Measuring Variables; Research Design; Questionnaire Designs; Writing a Research Proposal; Research Methods; Data Analysis; Writing the Research Report.

The basic concepts of Sociology in the context of a developing country. Classical Sociological Theorists - Durkheim, Marx, Weber. Models of Caribbean Society; culture and race; stratification, family and education. Strong emphasis is placed on empirical knowledge of societies and developmental issues.

Foundation Courses

4.1

(ii) Science, Medicine and Technology in Society

(iii) Caribbean Civilization

(iv) Law, Governance, Economy and Society

(v) Any other course approved for the purpose by the Board of Undergraduate Studies

1. Students registered in the Faculty of Social Sciences will be required to include among such Foundation Courses English For Academic Purposes.
   
   
2. The elective Foundation course, Law, Governance, Economy and Society will not count for credit in the programme of the Faculty of Social Sciences except with the permission of the Dean.
   
   
3. Exemption in whole or in part from the requirements under [4.1(a- b)] may be granted from time to time by the Board for Undergraduate Studies.

| Additional details of Foundation Courses | FD13A |