BB106 - Economic Principles

Credit Points: 15 credit points

Workload: 36 hours

Prerequisite: N/A

Co-requisite: N/A

Aims & Objectives

This is a first-year core unit offered in the Bachelor of Business program. The unit provides a pathway for students to continue on with a major in Accounting, Marketing or Management. For further information refer to:  http://www.mit.edu.au/study-with-us/programs/bachelor-business.

The aim of this unit is to introduce business students to the fundamental economic principles and demonstrate their practical applications to both microeconomics and macroeconomics problems. This unit is designed to develop students’ understanding of subject specific terms and economic principles as well as to assist students to use fundamental economic models to analyse everyday economic issues and problems.
 
Unit topics include:

  • Fundamental economics concepts, scarcity, choice and opportunity cost
  • Demand, supply and market system
  • The concept of elasticity and its application
  • The market system and resource allocation as well as government intervention and economic efficiency
  • Firms’ behaviour and cost
  • Market structures
  • Economic growth, Gross Domestic Product, standard of living and business cycle
  • Inflation and unemployment 
  • The aggregate demand and aggregate supply model
  • Government policies: monetary policy and fiscal policy

Learning Outcomes

The Course learning outcomes applicable to this unit are listed on the Melbourne Institute of Technology’s website: www.mit.edu.au
At the completion of this unit students should be able to:
a. Demonstrate their understanding of fundamental problem of scarcity facing in an economy.
b. Apply the microeconomic concepts of demand and supply, price elasticity, market failure, cost and revenue concepts as well as market structures.
c. Apply the macroeconomic concepts such as economic growth, Gross Domestic Product, business cycle, unemployment, inflation, aggregate demand – aggregate supply model and government policies.
d. Explain the importance of economic models and key assumptions in economics.
e. Apply economic models and assumptions to analyse a given situation and/or media articles on economic issues.

Assessment

Assessment Task Due Date A B Unit Learning Outcomes
1. Formative Assessment Week 3 - 5% a
2. Contribution and Participation Weeks 1-12 - 5% a-e
3. Assignment [Individual] Week 5 15% - a,b,d,e
4. Assignment [Group] Week 10 25% - a-e
5. Case Study Analysis [Individual] (3 hours) TBA - 50% a-e
TOTALS   40% 60%  

Task Type: Type A: unsupervised, Type B: supervised.

Contribution and Participation (5%)

This unit has class participation as an assessment. The assessment task and marking rubric will follow the Guidelines on Assessing Class Participation (https://www.mit.edu.au/about-us/governance/institute-rules-policies-and-plans/policies-procedures-and-guidelines/Guidelines_on_Assessing_Class_Participation). Further details will be provided in the assessment specification on the type of assessment tasks and the marking rubrics.

Teaching Methods

NOTE: All School of Business units 3-hour workshops Flipped Classroom Mode.

Textbook and Reference Materials

Note: Students are required to purchase the prescribed text book and have it available each week in class.

Prescribed Text Book

  • Layton, A., Robinson, T. & Tucker, I. (2018). Economics for Today, (6th Asia Pacific ed.). Australia: South Melbourne Cengage Learning Pty Limited.

Other recommended references

  • Gans, J.; Kings, S.; Stonecash, R.; Byford, M.; Libich, J. & Mankiw, N. G. (2014). Principles of Economics, (6th ed.). Australia, South Melbourne: Cengage Learning Pty Limited.
  • Hubbard, R.G., Garnett, A., Lewis, P.T., & O’Brien, A.P. (2016). Essentials of Economics (3rd ed.). Australia: Pearson Education.
  • Mankiw, N. G. (2014). Essentials of Economics, (7th ed.). USA: South Western Cengage Learning.

Contemporary , Light and Interesting Reads

The Referencing style for this using is APA: See the MIT Library Referencing webpage: https://library.mit.edu.au/referencing/APA and the Unit Moodle page for additional referencing support material and weblinks.

Graduate Attributes

MIT is committed to ensure the course is current, practical and relevant so that graduates are “work ready” and equipped for life-long learning. In order to accomplish this, the MIT Graduate Attributes identify the required knowledge, skills and attributes that prepare students for the industry.
The level to which Graduate Attributes covered in this unit are as follows:

Ability to communicate Independent and Lifelong Learning Ethics Analytical and Problem Solving Cultural and Global Awareness Team work Specialist knowledge of a field of study

Legend

Levels of attainment Extent covered
The attribute is covered by theory and practice, and addressed by assessed activities in which the students always play an active role, e.g. workshops, lab submissions, assignments, demonstrations, tests, examinations.
The attribute is covered by theory or practice, and addressed by assessed activities in which the students mostly play an active role, e.g. discussions, reading, intepreting documents, tests, examinations.
The attribute is discussed in theory or practice; it is addressed by assessed activities in which the students may play an active role, e.g. lectures and discussions, reading, interpretation, workshops, presentations.
The attribute is presented as a side issue in theory or practice; it is not specifically assessed, but it is addressed by activities such as lectures or tutorials.
The attribute is not considered, there is no theory or practice or activities associated with this attribute.