Standard

R State Standard £ Institutionally Developed College: N/A

ECO 1101 - Principles of Economics

Course Description

Provides a description and analysis of economic operations in contemporary society. Emphasis is placed on developing an understanding of economic concepts and policies as they apply to everyday life. Topics include: basic economic principles; economic forces and indicators; capital and labor; price, competition, and monopoly; money and banking; government expenditures, federal and local; fluctuations in production, employment, and income; and United States economy in perspective.

Competency Areas	Hours
Basic Economic Principles	Class	5
Economic Forces and Indicators	D. Lab	0
Capital and Labor	P. Lab/O.B.I.	0
Price, Competition, and Monopoly	Credit	5
Money and Banking
Government Expenditures, Federal and Local
Fluctuations in Production, Employment, and Income
United States Economy in Perspective

Prerequisite:	Program admission
Corequisite:

Course Guide

Competency	After completing this section, the student will be able to:	Hours
		Class	D.Lab	P.Lab/ O.B.I.

Basic Economic Principles		7	0	0
Modern specialization	List economic impacts of modern specialization, and its affect on economic growth and international trade.
Increasing production and consumption	Differentiate between and define gross national product, national income, and disposable personal income.
	Discuss supply and demand, equilibrium, price points, and the characteristics of a market system.
Economic Forces and Indicators		7	0	0
Economic forces and indicators	List economic forces.
	List and explain the major economic indicators.
Economic effects	Describe the Fiscal Policy of the Federal Government and the monetary policy of the federal reserve bank.
Functions of government	Discuss government budgets and the budget Process. Discuss taxation theory and policy.
Analysis of government spending	Discuss Federal budget deficits and surplus and the Federal revenue sources of government.
Financing government spending	Outline and discuss use of Federal and State revenue through taxation.
	Explain individual and corporate income tax.
	Explain government funding through the sale of Treasury Bonds to manage expenditures.
Capital and Labor		7	0	0
Capital tools	State the importance of saving and investment.
Large scale enterprise	Describe the necessity for markets.
Labor	List labor population characteristics.
	Define vocational choice.
Unemployment	Identify the four types of unemployment.
	List the causes of each of the four types of unemployment.
The function of money	List bank sources of deposits.
The nation's money supply	Define the reserve requirement, discount rate and open market operations.
Bank organization and operation	Discuss expansion of bank reserves.
The Federal Reserve System	Identify sources of bank reserves.
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation	Describe the service functions of the Federal Reserve System.
	Discuss the impact of Federal control of the money supply.
	Discuss the strengths and weaknesses of the F.D.I.C.
	Research and identify predicted and current effects of automation on production, employment, and income.
Price, Competition, and Monopoly		8	0	0
Function of prices	Describe price as an indicator of supply.
Price determination	Describe the role of competitive cost of product in determination of price.
Benefits and consequences of competition	Evaluate the interactions between supply and demand in determining product price.
The extent of competition in the United States and global economies	Define and differentiate between the terms monopoly and oligopoly.
	Identify the forces that modify and reduce competition.
	Outline the history of government regulation of competition.
Increasing real income	Differentiate between and define wages, interest, rents, and profits.
Income distribution today	Explain supply/demand, income/production, and distribution relationships.
Money and Banking		5	0	0
Functions of money	Explain the functions of money in economic terms.
Nation's money supply	Discuss the establishment and control of the nation's money supply.
Organization and operation of a bank	Describe sources of deposits and reserves, including reserve ratio and expansion of bank deposits.
The Federal Reserve System	Discuss the service functions and method of control of money supply by the Federal Reserve System.
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (F.D.I.C.)	Explain the function and purpose of the F.D.I.C.
Government Expenditures, Federal and Local		5	0	0
Economic effect	Discuss effects of federal and local government expenditures on the economy.
Functions of government	List the major functions of government.
Analysis of government spending	Analyze and discuss pros and cons of government spending.
Future outlook	Discuss possibilities for future changes in government spending.
Financing government spending	Explain criteria for sound taxation and describe the various taxes now used to finance government.
Fluctuations in Production, Employment, and Income		5	0	0
Changes in aggregate spending	Discuss how changes in aggregate spending affect production, employment, and income.
Output and employment	Explain the relationship between output and employment.
Other factors affecting economic fluctuations	Describe effect of factors such as: supply and demand; war; technology and automation; and cost-price relationship as they affect the economy.
Government debt	Describe how the national debt affects the economy.
United States Economy in Perspective		6	0	0
Recent economic changes	Explain effects of inflation and recession.
Present economic problems of U.S. economy	Discuss effects of trade imbalances.
Communism	Explain the nature of the communist demand economy in contrast to capitalism and why capitalism is a superior and efficient performer.
Common problems	List economic problems common to all forms of government.
Special economic problems of the U.S.	List and describe major problems which affect the American economy today.

Suggested Resources

Media Print Audio/Visual Web Other
Print	Amacher, R., & Ulbrich, H. (1992). Principles of economics. (4^thed.) Cincinnati: South-Western.
	Bowden, E. V. (1989). Economics: The science of common sense. (6^th ed.) Cincinnati: South-Western.
	Heilbroner, R. L., & Thurow, L. C. (1984). The economic problem. (7^th ed.) Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
	Hoag, A. J., & Hoag, J. H. (2006). Introductory economics. (4^th ed.) World Scientific.
	Olsen, H., & Kennedy, J. (Latest edition). Economics: Principles and applications. Cincinnati: South-Western.

Posted: 10/08/08