Saint-Louis University - Bruxelles
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DROI1220 - Economics


USL-B


Credits : 5

Lecturer :
Teaching assistants :
Mode of delivery :
Face-to-face , second term, 45 hours of theory and 15 hours of exercises.

Timetable :
Second term
Tuesday from 09:00 to 10:30 at 43 Botanique 3
Thursday from 09:00 to 10:30 at 43 Botanique 3

Language of instruction :
French.


Learning outcomes :
General aims:
- ability to develop an economic analysis of observed facts;
- ability to dialogue with economists, i.e. understand their “language” and be able to “speak it”;
- develop a discerning mind in regards to the recommendations of economic policy;
- Place a legal approach in the economic and social context and, reciprocally, identify the importance of the legal context on the determination of economic behaviours.

Specific aims:
- explain observed economic facts;
- establish the links that may exist between individual incentives and market behaviour;
- use theoretical analyses studied in class in simple applications, or to comment on articles or observed facts;
- define a set of economic concepts essential for analysis;
- represent economic situations with the help of graphs and, inversely, explain the signification of the graphs.

Prerequisites :
Co-requisites :
None

Course contents :
Approximately two thirds of the course are dedicated to the critical study of the mechanisms of resource allocation by the market system. In this part devoted to microeconomics, the course will deconstruct the functioning of these markets, study the characteristics of the resource allocation to which the markets lead, and finally it will situate the role played by the public authorities in the functioning of the markets. The remaining part of the course will be devoted to the study of macroeconomics through the analysis of the long-term and short-term determinants of economic growth in a country or region.

Planned learning activities and teaching methods :
The course is a lecture based on the book of Gregory Mankiw and Mark Taylor "Principes de l'économie", published by De Boeck Université. In addition, the students have at their disposal an exercise book selected from Mankiw's book, with (partial) resolution of exercises. A selection of articles to be reviewed and commented and a set of exercises are also available from the University Saint-Louis website. During the exercise sessions, the students are encouraged to work with the course assistants on the basis of these documents.

Assessment methods and criteria :
Formative assessment: exercise sessions, exercises in the reference handbook, reference to the news.
Summative assessment: closed book written examination in case of an exam organized in presential mode; opened books in case of distancial mode; organized during the exam sessions. The exam mixes theoretical questions (12/20) and exercices (8/20).




Recommended or required reading :
N. Gregory Mankiw and Mark Taylor, "Principes de l'Economie", De Boeck Université, 4° edition, 2015

Other information :
a copy of the slides used in class and the correction of the exercises are available at the reprography service as well as on the moodle page of the course.