Revised: 03/05/2019

METHODIST COLLEGE KUALA LUMPUR

COURSE STRUCTURE

COURSE: ECO 1000 ECONOMICS

PREREQUISITE:
None

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
The Economics ATAR course aims to develop students’ ability to analyze society’s issues and identify the possible
solutions which assist decision making. The study of economics divided into two levels, Microeconomics and
Macroeconomics. Microeconomics explores the role of the market in the allocation of scarce resources and
macroeconomics examines the performance and the behaviour of the economy as a whole where it explores
economic growth, inflation and unemployment with an emphasis on the Australian economy.

LEARNING OUTCOMES:
Upon successful completion this course, students should be able to:
1. Apply Economics theory (definition and graphs) to real life situations.
2. Interpret percentage change, elasticity and trend from a given set of data.
3. Differentiate cause and effect of a given situation and to recommend a solution.
4. Evaluate or discuss on other factors that may offset the change in a given scenario.

COURSE FORMAT:
Instructional/Lecture: 4 hours per week
Total Student Learning Time (SLT) (L = Lecture; T = Tutorial; P = Practical; O = Others):
Face to Face
Independent Learning (hours) Total Student Learning Time (hours)
L T P O
60 0 0 6 132 198
Total Credit Hours: 5.0

STUDENT EVALUATION FORMAT:

Data interpretation 1: 15%, Data interpretation 2: 15%; Extended response 1: 10%, Extended response 2: 10%;
Final Examination: 50%

FINAL EXAMINATION FORMAT:

Duration: 1.5 hours
Section One (12%) : Answer all the multiple-choice questions.
Section Two (18%) : Answer all the short-answer questions.
Section Three (20%) : Answer one out of two extended-answer questions.

GRADING SCALE:
Grade A B+ B C+ C C- D E
Mark % 75-100 70-74 65-69 60-64 55-59 50-54 35-49 < 35
Grade point 4.0 3.5 3.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 1.0 0

BASIC TEXT:
Parry, G. & Kemp, S. (2019). Discovering Economics 6th Edition. Western Australia: Tactic publication.

REFERENCES:
1. Tucker, I.B. (2017). Economics for Today 9th Edition. South Melbourne. Victoria: Cengage Learning.
2. Sloman, J., & Garratt, D. (2016). Essentials of Economics 7th Edition. Harlow: Pearson Education.

CLASS SYLLABUS:
Week(s) Topics
1–2 Introduction to Economics
• The meaning of economics
• Scarcity and the economic problem
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Week(s) Topics
• The distinction between microeconomic and macroeconomics
• The different types of resources
• The concept of scarcity and trade-offs
• The meaning of opportunity cost
• The use of economic models
• The distinction between positive and normative economics
• The production possibility frontier model
3–5 Demand and Supply
• Different types of markets
• The law of demand
• Factors affecting demand
• The effect of changes in price on quantity demanded
• The effect of changes in non-price factors on quantity demanded
• The law of supply
• Factors affecting supply
• The effect of changes in price on quantity demanded
• The effect of changes in non-price factors on quantity supplied
• The concept of market equilibrium
• The effect of changes in demand and supply on market equilibrium
• The concepts of market clearing, shortages and surpluses
• How the price mechanism clears market surpluses and shortages
6-7 Elasticity of Demand and Supply
• The concept and measurement of price elasticity of demand
• The determinants of price elasticity of demand
• The distinction between goods that are price elastic and price inelastic in demand
• The link between price elasticity of demand and total revenue
• The behaviour of normal goods and inferior goods in response to changes in income
• The concept of cross elasticity of demand
• The significance of substitute and complementary goods in relation to price, income and cross
elasticities of demand
• The concept of price elasticity of supply
• The determinants of price elasticity of supply
• The significance of price and income elasticity for consumers, business and government
8-9 Macroeconomic activity
• The concept of macroeconomics and its relevance
• The distinction between macroeconomics and microeconomics
• The circular flow of income model
• The concepts of total spending, total output and total income
• The concepts of equilibrium, leakages and injections
• The effect of changes in leakages and injections on the level of equilibrium in the circular flow
of income model
• The components of aggregate expenditure:
o Consumption
o Investment
o Government spending
o Net exports
• Factors affecting each of the components of aggregate expenditure
10 The business cycle
• The concept of business cycle
• The phases of the business cycle and the characteristics of each phase
• Indicators of economic activity
10-11 Economic growth
• The concept and measurement of economic growth
• The distinction between nominal Gross Domestic Product (GDP), real GDP and real GDP per
capita
• GDP as a measure of economic growth
• The determinants of economic growth
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Week(s) Topics
• The costs and benefits of economic growth
12 Inflation
• The concept and measurement of inflation
• The distinction between headline and underlying inflation
• Types of inflation
o Demand pull
o Cost push
• The costs of inflation
• The benefits of low inflation
13 Semester Examinations
14 Review of examination paper
15 – 16 Unemployment
• The concepts of unemployment, full employment, the natural rate of unemployment, the
participation rate and underemployment
• The measure of unemployment
• The types and causes of unemployment, including cyclical, structural and frictional
• The effects of unemployment
• The implications of full employment for the economy
• The possible short term trade-off between unemployment and inflation

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