This course introduces basic economic concepts and theories. Beginning with microeconomics, the course starts with the topics of supply and demand, markets, and behavioral economics before moving on to the key macroeconomic concepts of national accounts, the labor market, trade, and monetary policy.

Students understand basic microeconomic and macroeconomic problems and theories. They are able to make arguments using economic principles and to judge policy measures.

Finding and retaining talent for companies is becoming increasingly important nowadays. While Switzerland has a comparatively efficient labor-market-oriented education system, other countries find it more challenging to develop the skills needed by the labor market. We will consider contributions of economics and other social sciences to understanding outcomes of education and training systems.