"Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and he will repay him for his deed." Book of Proverbs 19:17
Students will learn the dynamics of human behaviour at both a micro and a macro level, thereby enabling them to understand how markets work, how markets fail, and the role of institutions within markets.
Students will be able to model complex economic processes using theoretical constructs, analyse and evaluate the validity of their outcomes, and articulate their findings in a clear way.
Students will become ethically aware as they learn the principles and moral or ethical problems which can afflict households, firms, and/or governments, and consider their place in tackling some of the challenges that face humanity.
The economics curriculum aims to provide our students with an understanding of their place in a dynamic global economy. By studying economics at St Ambrose College, students will have an appreciation of the lives and works of some of the most influential economists of modern times, thus enabling them to critically evaluate how governments, central banks, and other economic agent’s co-ordinate economic policy during the economic cycle. It is our intent that the curriculum will encourage our students to challenge the Classical hypotheses of rationality and perfect markets, and to consider the role of the institutions which seek to correct market failures.
By holding firm to the assumption of ceteris paribus, our students will have the freedom to design, model and analyse the effects of public policy, whilst, at the same time, by relaxing the notion of ceteris paribus, students will be challenged to evaluate the wider ramifications of public policy decisions. The curriculum enables our students to be flexible by being able to look at problems from many different perspectives.
Our economics curriculum promotes academic excellence, personal best, character development, and an appreciation of human behaviour in the world in which we live. Our aspiration is that this blend of skills will enable our students not only to further their study of economics, but also, and, perhaps more importantly, to do the right thing beyond their time at St Ambrose College.
Why Study Economics?
The department consistently produces high grades at A Level. The purpose of the course is to provide candidates with a firm grounding in the tools of economic analysis with a particular emphasis on using those tools and techniques for problem solving. The specification is intended to provide the basis for a broad understanding of Economics and, secondly to provide a basis for further study.
Students will be expected to acquire competence in quantitative skills that are relevant to the subject content and be familiar with the various types of statistical and other data which are commonly used by economists. Students should explore the disagreements that exist between economists and current economic controversies. Students will also be encouraged to develop a critical approach to economic models and methods of enquiry. The specification is split into two main sections introducing microeconomics and macroeconomics principles. Students will be assessed through three examination papers.
The student will be encouraged to develop:
- an ability to express his own ideas not only in written form but also with the aid of statistics and diagrams
- the habit of using reference material as sources of information • the habit of reading carefully and critically
- an appreciation of the method of study used by the economist
Career Opportunities
Economics is considered to be a social science and thus is regarded as a bridge between the pure sciences and the arts. It is therefore a useful supplementary subject to those studying Modern Foreign Languages, a single Science or another related subject such as History, Business Studies or Government and Politics. Students are encouraged to read widely and become daily subscribers to a reputable national newspaper, such as The Times, Guardian, Telegraph or Independent.
Recommended Reading List
- 23 Things They Don't Tell You About Capitalism (Ha-Joon Chang)
- Alibaba: The House That Jack Ma Built (Duncan Clark)
- Behavioural Economics - a very short introduction (Baddeley)
- Capitalism Without Capital: The Rise of the Intangible Economy (Haskel and Westlake)
- Capitalism: 50 Ideas You Really Need to Know (Jonathan Portes)
- Divided (Tim Marshall)
- Doughnut Economics (Kate Raworth)
- Drunkard's Walk (Leonard Mlodinow)
- Economics for the Common Good (Jean Tirole)
- Game Theory - a very short introduction (Ken Binmore)
- Great Economists: How Their Ideas Can Help Us Today (Linda Yueh)
- Growth Delusion: The Wealth and Well-Being of Nations (David Pilling)
- Inner Lives of Markets: How People Shape Them - And They Shape Us (Sharman and Fishman)
- Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioural Economics (Richard Thaler)
- Plundered Planet: How to Reconcile Prosperity with Nature (Professor Paul Collier)
- Poor Economics: Rethinking Ways to Fight Global Poverty (Banerjee & Duflo)
- Prisoners of Geography (Tim Marshall)
- Rebel Ideas (Matthew Syed)
- Risk Savvy - How to Make Good Decisions (Gerd Gigerenzer)
- The Everything Store: Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon (Brad Stone)
- The Great Divide (Professor Joseph Stiglitz)
- The Undoing Project (Michael Lewis)
- Thinking Fast and Thinking Slow (Professor Daniel Kahneman)
- What Money Can't Buy: The Moral Limits of Markets (Michael Sandel)
- Who Gets What - And Why (Al Roth)
- Why Information Grows: The Evolution of Order, from Atoms to Economies (Cesar Hidalgo)
- World of THree Zeroes (Muhammad Yunus)