Overview

This unit is designed to provide students with skills and practice of understanding, interpreting and evaluating microeconomic and macroeconomic issues. In particular the unit focuses on developing students' ability to apply these skills to real world applications of relevance to accountants and other business professionals.

Requisites

Teaching periods
Location
Start and end dates
Last self-enrolment date
Census date
Last withdraw without fail date
Results released date
Teaching Period 3
Location
Online
Start and end dates
04-November-2024
09-February-2025
Last self-enrolment date
17-November-2024
Census date
29-November-2024
Last withdraw without fail date
27-December-2024
Results released date
04-March-2025
Semester 1
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
03-March-2025
01-June-2025
Last self-enrolment date
16-March-2025
Census date
31-March-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
24-April-2025
Results released date
08-July-2025
Teaching Period 2
Location
Online
Start and end dates
07-July-2025
05-October-2025
Last self-enrolment date
20-July-2025
Census date
01-August-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
22-August-2025
Results released date
Semester 2
Location
Hawthorn
Start and end dates
04-August-2025
02-November-2025
Last self-enrolment date
17-August-2025
Census date
31-August-2025
Last withdraw without fail date
19-September-2025
Results released date
09-December-2025

Learning outcomes

Students who successfully complete this unit will be able to:

  • Apply coherent and advanced knowledge of the workings of markets
  • Apply problem solving methodologies to provide innovative solutions to pricing and output decisions
  • Critically analyse and apply key economic principles relevant to managerial decision making
  • Critically analyse current economic issues and policies using a systematic framework
  • Demonstrate analytical and research skills and group problem solving as applied to economic scenarios

Teaching methods

Hawthorn

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Face to Face Contact (Phasing out)
Workshop		3.00 12 weeks 36
Unspecified Learning Activities (Phasing out)
Independent Learning		9.50 12 weeks 114
TOTAL150

Swinburne Online

Type Hours per week Number of weeks Total (number of hours)
Online
Directed Online Learning and Independent Learning		12.50 12 weeks 150
TOTAL150

Assessment

Type Task Weighting ULO's
AssessmentIndividual 20 - 30% 1,2,3,4 
AssessmentIndividual 20 - 30% 1,2,3,4 
AssignmentGroup 10 - 20% 5 
AssignmentIndividual 10 - 20% 5 
ExaminationIndividual 50 - 70% 1,2,3,4 
ExaminationIndividual 50 - 70% 1,2,3,4 

Content

  • General principles of Microeconomics
  • Supply and demand
  • Market behaviour
  • Costs of production
  • Four alternative market structures
  • Market failure and resource allocation
  • Measuring macroeconomic performance
  • Determinants of macroeconomic performance
  • Inflation and unemployment
  • External balance and foreign exchange markets
  • Government economic policies - fiscal and monetary policies

Study resources

Reading materials

A list of reading materials and/or required textbooks will be available in the Unit Outline on Canvas.