PART 1: INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMICS

1. Observing and explaining the economy
Foundations of modern economics
The two branches of economics
Observations: what economists endeavour to explain
Economic models
Using economics for public economic policy

2. Scarcity, choice and economic interaction
Scarcity, choice and interaction for individuals
Scarcity and choice for the economy as a whole
Market economies

3. The supply and demand model
Demand
Supply
Market equilibrium: combining supply and demand
Interference with market prices

4. Elasticity and its uses
The price elasticity of demand
The price elasticity of supply
Applications of elasticity

PART 2: PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS

5. The demand curve and the behaviour of consumers
Utility and consumer preferences
The budget constraint and utility maximisation
Willingness to pay and the demand curve
The market demand curve
Consumer surplus

6. The supply curve and the behaviour of firms
The individual firm
The firm’s profits
Profit maximisation and the individual firm’s supply curve
The market supply curve
Producer surplus

7. The interaction of people in markets
Individual consumers and firms in a market
Setting up a market
Are competitive markets efficient?
Measuring waste from inefficiency
The deadweight loss from taxation
Informational efficiency

PART 3: THE ECONOMICS OF THE FIRM

8. Costs and changes at firms over time
Finding average cost at an individual firm
Average cost curves
Costs and production: the short run
Costs and production: the long run
Economies of scale
Mergers and economies of scope

9. The rise and fall of industries
A look at different industries
The long-run perfect competition model of an industry
Minimum costs per unit and the efficient allocation of capital
External economies and diseconomies of scale

10. Monopoly
A model of monopoly
The generic diagram of a monopoly and its profits
Competition, monopoly and deadweight loss
Why monopolies exist
Price discrimination

11. Product differentiation, monopolistic competition and oligopoly
Product differentiation
Monopolistic competition
Oligopoly
Conjectural variations and oligopoly

12. Competition Policy and Regulation
Competition policy
Regulating natural monopolies
To regulate or not to regulate

PART 4: MARKETS, INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND PUBLIC GOODS

13. Labour markets
Wages terminology
Labour demand
Labour supply
Explaining wage differences
Wage payments and incentives
Trade unions

14. Taxes, transfers and income distribution
The tax system
Transfer payments
The distribution of income in Australia

15. Public goods, common resources and externalities
A brief look at government production
Different types of product
Cost-benefit Analysis
Common Resources: The tragedy of the Commons
Externalities: From the environment to education
Remedies for Externalities

16. Physical capital and financial markets
Capital market terminology
Markets for physical capital
Share and bond markets
Risk versus return

PART 5: TRADE AND GLOBAL MARKETS

17. The gains from international trade
Recent trends in international trade
Adam Smith and free trade
Comparative advantage
Reasons for comparative advantage
The transition to free trade

18. International trade policy
The effects of trade restrictions
A brief history of trade restrictions
Arguments for trade barriers
How to reduce trade barriers