General Introduction

Topics in Economics, ESCP, 2023-2024

Author

Pablo Winant

Published

January 15, 2024

Topics in Economics

About myself

Pablo Winant
  • Professional experience
    • IMF
    • Bank of England
  • Teaching
    • ESCP Business School
    • Ecole Polytechnique
  • Research
    • inequalities
    • international finance
    • monetary policy
    • computational economics
    • artificial intelligence

This course

  • Start with hot topics
    • e.g. ChatGPT, job market, ecological transition, …
  • Connect with economic theories and concepts
    • they appear in bold
    • make sure you understand their meaning
  • Try to think outside of the box

Pressing Topics…

How do you define “Economics” ?

Wikipedia

Economics is a social science that studies the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services.

. . .

American Economic Association

It can be defined in different ways. It’s the study of scarcity, the study of how people use resources and respond to incentives, or the study of decision-making. It often involves topics like wealth and finance, but it’s not all about money.

. . .

Redux

Economics studies people’s decisions and interactions, usually through markets but not always

. . .

Check AEA website and research highlights for many examples of economic applications.

Logistics

  • Evaluation
    • group work (40%)
      • record a 5 min video developing one particular point of the course
    • final exam (in-class) (60%)
      • mcq on econ concepts
      • very short essay based on documents
    • ongoing (up to 20% bonus/malus)
      • participation & behaviour
      • mini-tasks if any

Let’s go