Why are only some people gainfully employed, with others unable to secure the work that they need? Why are governments unable to agree on solutions to problems like climate change? Why does most economic activity take place in cities, rather than in rural and remote areas? This subject explores a variety of schools of thought and their competing explanations for how economies and societies function. To that end, this subject introduces the ideas central to classical, neoclassical, institutional and Marxian political economy, Keynesian and post-Keynesian analysis, behavioural and nudge economics, as well as Austrian, complexity, feminist and ecological approaches. It explores their different views about the roles and importance of labour, capital, commodities and ideas, along with their divergent accounts of the capacities and effectiveness of state intervention. This unit does not assume any prior understanding of economics. Taught in an intuitive and comparative manner, with class activities to promote learning and discussion, the subject will equip students with knowledge useful to analysing a variety of public policy challenges.

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