INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS Credits: 02 (24 hours) 1. INTRODUCTION (2 HRS) What is Economics (Explain economics vis--vis choice)?

? The importance of Economics in daily life Fallacies of Economics with practical examples Public vs. Private Goods 2. BASIC CONCEPTS OF MICROECONOMICS (2 HRS) Problems of an economy and their solution; alternative (price and non price based) economic systems to tackle these problems ; economics, microeconomics and macroeconomics - concept; basic building blocks of microeconomics -rationality , marginalism, opportunity cost, general and partial equilibrium. 3. DEMAND AND SUPPLY (4 HRS) Basic framework; demand theory and analysis; demand function; market demand Elasticity of demand: Concept, significance and measurement Consumer behaviour : Choice, preference and utility ;cardinal and ordinal approaches to consumer behaviour

4. COST AND REVENUE FUNCTIONS (4 HRS) Various cost concepts Traditional and modern theory of cost Revenue concepts Equilibrium of a firm 5. ECONOMIC SYSTEMS (5 HRS) Meaning of economic systems How economic systems evolve Understanding the following economic systems with examples: Barter Economy, Capitalism, Colonialism, Communism, Feudalism, Socialism, Market Socialism, Planned Economy 6. TYPES OF MARKETS (3 HRS) Various market forms: Perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic and oligopoly. Characteristics of these markets with real life examples. 7. BASIC MACROECONOMIC CONCEPTS (4 HRS) Income, consumption, saving, and their relationships Concepts of employment, income and output

Inflation- meaning, types and control (also cover slowdown, deflation, stagflation)

Note for faculty members: There should be no discussions in the classes covering mathematical concepts. Faculty members should regularly use latest news coverage, magazine articles, etc to highlight the various aspects of economics. By the end of the course, students are also expected to read, debate and question concepts raised in Freakonomics (authored by Steven D. Levitt & Stephen J. Dubner). Students should compulsorily also study columns by Thomas L Friedman or Paul Krugmann in The Sunday Indian / The Hindu, Musings- by Prof. Prasoon S Majumder in The Sunday Indian and Swaminomics- by Swaminath S Aiyar in The Sunday Times of India. The objective here is to orient the students with various aspects of economics and integrate the learning with daily utility of the same.