The course is divided into Microeconomics (Individuals, firms, markets and market failure) and Macroeconomics (the national and international economy). The Micro part of the course looks at price determination, (demand and supply), costs and revenues, the allocation of resources, theory of the firm (e.g. perfect competition, monopoly, oligopoly), the labour market, poverty/wealth/inequality, the causes of market failure and how Governments intervene in markets. In the Macro part of the course students will study how economic performance, (e.g. inflation, unemployment, GDP growth) can be measured, how the economy works, financial markets and monetary policy, Government spending and taxation, and the international economy. Economics involves developing an understanding of the way the world around us works. It is a formal written subject with a significant mathematical content.