.- Economics
PROFESSOR ENRICO BELLINO
COURSE AIMS
Political economy aims to study the functioning of an “economic system”, that
is, the set of subjects involved in the production and consumption of commodities
and in the distribution of income.
After a brief review of the historical background (the classical school of
thought with a particular focus on David Ricardo) we will adopt the usual
separation between microeconomics and macroeconomics, typical of the
neoclassical approach. Microeconomics deals with the behaviour of single “units”
(consumers, firms, workers and capitalists) and their interactions on the markets.
Macroeconomics describes the functioning of the system at the aggregate level: the
Gross Domestic Product (GDP), the employment level and the rate of
unemployment, the price level and the inflation rate, the interest rate, the public
debt, the rates of change, etc..
COURSE CONTENT
INTRODUCTION – A BRIEF HISTORICAL EXCURSUS
- The object of political economy
- Classical political economy: Smith, Ricardo and Marx
- Neoclassical economics
MICROECONOMICS
- Consumer theory: preferences, choice, commodities demand functions,
factors supply functions
- Firms: technology, choice, commodities supply functions, factors
demand functions
- Perfect competition
- General economic equilibrium
- Non-competitive markets: monopoly, oligopoly, etc.
MACROECONOMICS
- Definition of the main aggregate variables
- Neoclassical macroeconomic model (full-employment equilibrium)
- Keynesian principle of effective demand
- Keynesian macroeconomic model (under-employment equilibrium)
-
Fiscal and monetary policies
READING LIST
T. COZZI – S. ZAMAGNI, Istituzioni di Economia politica. Un testo europeo, Il Mulino, Bologna,
2003.
Alternatively,
P. KRUGMAN – R. WELLS – K. GRADDY, L’essenziale dell’Economia, Zanichelli, Seconda edizione,
2012
More detailed information will be given in class and published in the lecturer’s webpage
TEACHING METHOD
The course will be taught through lectures.
ASSESSMENT METHOD
Written tests. A mid-term exam is also contemplated.
Students can meet with Professor Bellino on Thursdays between 11.00 a.m. and 12.00
in the offices of the Faculty of Economics. It is preferable to send an e-mail message to take
an appointment.