First Year Economics Curriculum
Your guide to the foundational courses in the first-year economics honors syllabus, covering economic theory and mathematical methods.
Semester I
Core Course 1: Introductory Microeconomics
This course introduces the fundamental principles of microeconomics, a key component of the first-year economics syllabus. It covers basic concepts of supply and demand, consumer theory, production and costs, and market structures. The goal is to build a strong foundation for understanding how individual agents make decisions and interact in markets.
Key Topics:
- The Scope and Method of Economics
- Supply and Demand: How Markets Work
- Consumer Behavior and Utility Maximization
- The Firm: Production and Costs
- Perfect Competition and Monopoly
Core Course 2: Mathematical Methods for Economics-I
This course equips students with the essential mathematical tools required for formal economic analysis. It focuses on preliminary concepts, functions of one variable, and their applications in economics. The emphasis is on developing the skills to translate economic problems into mathematical models, a crucial skill for any economics student.
Key Topics:
- Logic, Sets, and Number Systems
- Functions of One Real Variable
- Single-Variable Differentiation
- Applications of Derivatives in Economics
- Sequences, Series, and Limits
Semester II
Core Course 3: Introductory Macroeconomics
This course provides an overview of the economy as a whole, a core part of the first-year economics curriculum. It introduces students to the measurement of macroeconomic variables like GDP, inflation, and unemployment. It also covers the classical and Keynesian models of income determination and the role of fiscal and monetary policy.
Key Topics:
- Introduction to Macroeconomics and National Income Accounting
- The Labour Market and Unemployment
- Money, Inflation, and the Financial System
- The Closed Economy in the Short Run (IS-LM Model)
- Fiscal and Monetary Policy
Core Course 4: Mathematical Methods for Economics-II
Building on the first semester, this course introduces multi-variable calculus and linear algebra. These tools are crucial for understanding advanced economic theories, including general equilibrium and optimization problems with multiple constraints, and are a vital part of the mathematical methods for economics.
Key Topics:
- Functions of Several Real Variables
- Multi-variable Optimization (Unconstrained and Constrained)
- Linear Algebra: Vectors and Matrices
- Systems of Linear Equations
- Integration and Differential Equations