Topic outline
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In the first topic for this week, we're going to take a big picture view of the meaning of economics and explores how economists use models to predict human behaviour. Economics is not a precise science; however, economists do use scientific methods where possible to analyse economic problems that help in developing economic policies.
The main thrust of this topic is that economics is the study of how societies allocate their relatively scarce supply of resources to satisfy the unlimited wants of society. You must have heard the saying: “there is no such thing as a free lunch”. In other words, to get one thing we like, we usually have to give up another thing that we like.
So, let’s get started.
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NOTE: Throughout this course, you will find interactive learning modules like the one below. Some, like this one, have videos, so ensure you have the ability to watch and listen to videos on your chosen device.
To navigate through the learning modules, just click the navigation buttons at the bottom of the player. You can also use the right and left arrow keys on a laptop or desktop keyboard.
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Now that you've had a brief overview of the three key assumptions and an overview of economics, explore reading below. It will take you through some more detail and the importance of economic models. In doing so, you'll come to an introductory understanding of economics as the social science it is.
As we'll be referring to the textbook throughout the course and there are limited licenses to access the eBook, we recommend that you purchase access to it, ideally via the online option (Revel) so that you get the benefit of the interactive exercises to help you consolidate your learning. (If you haven't already, read the Textbook information page.)
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Reading
Read the introduction to Chapter 1 and Sections 1.1 to 1.3 covering the three key economic ideas, scarcity, trade-offs and the economic problem every society must solve and economic models.
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