Fin 511 Economics and Sustainability of the Firm I

Introduction to the basic ideas in contemporary economics. Concepts covered include how firms and individuals make economic decisions, how markets function to allocate resources, how market structure and corporate governance affects decision making, and how strategic interactions between firms influence pricing decisions. The course will introduce students to key concepts of macro-economics, including monetary and fiscal policies and the relationships between inflation, interest and unemployment rates. Building from the fundamentals of economic theory, the course also examines how economics is linked to ecosystems and the roles of the business and government sectors in fostering economic value creation and ecosystem stewardship.Fin 511:deals with defining what financial assets are and how they are priced in the marketplace. Understanding the role of government with respect to Fiscal policy and the role of regulation and subsidies in moving market behavior as well as the role of the Federal Reserve and what it tries to accomplish through monetary policy with regard to inflation, exchange rates and full employment goals. The course will also look at macro economic theories pertaining to market interest rates and how the Feds open market committee works. Fin 512: deals with a continued focus on creating a sustainable business structure as well as an in-depth look at applied microeconomics of the firm. Specifically looking at the underlying economic theories of supply and demand, elasticity and individual and market demand functions. The class also covers the nature of industry and explore competitive, monopolistically competitive, oligopolistic and monopolistic market structures. Pricing strategies and the economics of information are also covered. This is the first class in a sequence of two: Fin 511 and Fin 512 which must be taken in sequence. Fin 511 is a prerequsite.