Economics

The new FET Economics curriculum is challenging and varied and includes the following learning outcomes:

LO 1 Macro-economics: where the focus is the circular flow of goods and services in an economy as well as the principles of business cycles. This is where learners deal with questions such as interrelatedness of elements in the economy, such as inflation, employment, exchange rates, consumption, production and the role of the state.

LO 2 Micro-economics: where learners grapple with the laws of supply and demand, production possibility curves, effects of government intervention and involvement in the market on prices and quantities

LO 3 Economic pursuits: where learners focus on development in South Africa, money and banking in an historical context and the composition of South Africa's population and labour force.

LO 4 Contemporary Economic issues: where the focus is on current economic issues such as unemployment, labour relations and redress.

Students of Economics are expected to have a keen interest in current affairs and are expected to be abreast of world events. They have to read the newspaper and listen to/watch current affairs programmes on the radio and TV as a matter of course. They must also be prepared to present and argue their point of view from an informed perspective. Economics students often debate issues such as merits of the budget, the increase in the oil price, the value of foreign trade, the importance of a new soccer stadium, etc. There are always questions to be asked and decisions to be challenged.

Activities in the course include a solid theoretical grounding in Economic principles, case studies and scenario analysis, and practical research. Economics is the basis of many commerce and arts courses at tertiary institutions.