Explore why some countries thrive while others lag behind, and why economic growth often goes hand in hand with rising inequality. Learn how labour markets, wages, and institutions shape the distribution of prosperity, and how macroeconomic forces reinforce or challenge these outcomes.
Economics for a Changing World: Crises, Inequality, and Prosperity
This is a Level 1 course from the Economics and the Management and Innovation majors, part of the Open Bachelor’s programme. It is worth 6 ECTS and takes place in Term 2 in Lisbon.
Course Summary
Why does prosperity remain so unequally shared? Why do economic crises repeatedly disrupt lives and societies? And what will it take to build economies that are both inclusive and resilient? In this course, you will explore these urgent questions through the lens of modern macroeconomics. In using the revolutionary CORE curriculum, you will investigate how economies grow, why they are vulnerable to crises, and how inequality both shapes and is shaped by macroeconomic dynamics. You will work with real-world data, case studies, and debates on prosperity, systemic risks, and economic justice. Alongside this, you will engage with insights from politics, environmental studies, and ethics — building your capacity for critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and interdisciplinary collaboration. Whether or not you have studied economics before, this course will equip you with a powerful foundation to understand and engage with the macroeconomic forces shaping today’s world — and to imagine pathways toward a more just and sustainable future.
Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs)
| Description | Mapped to Human Intelligence | |
|---|---|---|
| CLO 1 | Describe and identify key macroeconomic concepts (e.g., GDP, inflation, unemployment, fiscal and monetary policy) and explain how they help make sense of selected real-world macroeconomic phenomena. | CI3 – Mastery of Theoretical Foundations |
| CLO 2 | Apply core macroeconomic principles to real-world situations, including those involving economic crises, inequality, or drivers of prosperity, and interpret their societal implications. | CI4 – Mastery in Knowledge Application |
| CLO 3 | Accessibly communicate the insights from macroeconomic analysis in real-world situations, such as those involving economic fluctuations or policy responses to crises, clearly and accessibly to a wide, non-specialist audience. | SEI3 – Effective Communication |
Assessment
| Assessment Type | Weighting of Course Grade | Group Assessment? | Invigilated? | CLOs Mapped | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assessment 1 | Evaluative – Quiz | 20% | No | Yes | CLO 1 |
| Assessment 2 | Digital – Digital Artefact | 40% | Yes | No | CLOs 1, 2, 3 |
| Assessment 3 | Practical – Case Study | 40% | No | Yes | CLOs 1, 2, 3 |
- Assessment 1 Description: A multiple-choice quiz administered around the mid-point of the course, designed to assess students’ understanding of foundational economic concepts and terminology. The quiz provides early diagnostic feedback to help students consolidate core knowledge and identify areas for improvement.
- Assessment 2 Description: In groups of 3–4, students select an economic event (e.g. the COVID-19 lockdowns) and apply economic concepts and models introduced in class to analyse its causes and/or consequences. The project requires students to provide contextual information, explain their analytical approach, and reflect critically on the strengths and limitations of the models used. The assignment runs throughout the course, with milestones to support project planning and group coordination. The final deliverable is a conference poster accompanied by a 10–15 minute in-class presentation, followed by a 5-minute Q&A session with peers (simulating a conference presentation, which will be spread over a few classes). The presentation should aim to communicate economic reasoning clearly and accessibly to a general audience. Feedback is provided by the Fellow at the end.
- Assessment 3 Description: Conducted under exam conditions at the end of the course, this briefing memo challenges students to apply economic tools to an unseen hypothetical or real-world scenario (e.g. a policy proposal or a news graph). Students must identify relevant concepts, interpret the scenario using appropriate models, and communicate their reasoning clearly and concisely. This includes analysing potential trade-offs, outcomes, or stakeholder impacts. The task focuses on individual synthesis and clarity of thought, without the use of digital tools. Graphs and simple calculations may be used to support the analysis; these are excluded from the page limit.
Indicative List
of Topics
Analyse the causes and consequences of economic crises, from the global financial crash to the cost-of-living and inflation crises of today. Use macroeconomic models to understand demand shocks, unemployment, and recovery, and debate the role of governments and central banks in building economic resilience.
Study how inflation, unemployment, and growth are interlinked, and what policymakers can do when trade-offs emerge. Examine fiscal and monetary policy in theory and practice, including debates around austerity, inflation targeting, and public investment.
Investigate how banks, debt, and financial markets influence the broader economy, and how leverage, credit booms, and asset bubbles can threaten stability. Reflect on the power and limits of financial institutions in shaping economic outcomes and risk exposure.
Understand how macroeconomic decisions interact with global financial systems, exchange rate regimes, and ecological tipping points. Engage with models of environmental collapse, climate risk, and inequality to explore how economies can transition toward more just and sustainable futures.
