The School of Commerce & Enterprise · business, money & management
Business Economics
Supply, demand, and the price signals a firm reads before it makes a move.
Demand curves, cost curves, and market structure — the economics a firm actually uses.
Syllabus · 4 units · ~22 hours
Unit I — Demand
The demand curve and what shifts it · Elasticity: who blinks when prices rise · Estimating demand from sales data
Unit II — Cost and Supply
Production and diminishing returns · Cost curves, short run and long · Economies of scale and scope
Unit III — Market Structure
Perfect competition to monopoly · Oligopoly: pricing among the few · Entry, exit, and contestable markets
Unit IV — Applications
Price discrimination in the wild · Regulation and antitrust in brief · Auctions and procurement
Inflation, interest rates, and cycles — reading the conditions a business operates in.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~16 hours
Unit I — The Big Numbers
GDP: what it counts and what it misses · Unemployment and its several measures · Inflation and how it is measured
Unit II — Cycles and Policy
Booms, recessions, and leading indicators · Fiscal policy: spending and taxes · Monetary policy and interest rates
Unit III — The Firm in the Cycle
Demand sensitivity by industry · Hiring, inventory, and borrowing through cycles · Scenario planning for downturns
Pricing wars, entry threats, and credible commitments — strategic thinking made rigorous.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~14 hours
Unit I — Games and Equilibria
Payoff matrices and dominant strategies · Nash equilibrium, by example · The prisoner's dilemma in commerce
Unit II — Sequential Play
Game trees and backward induction · Credible threats and commitments · First-mover advantage, examined
Unit III — Repeated Games
Cooperation and punishment strategies · Price wars and tacit collusion · Reputation as an asset
Willingness to pay, price fences, and the profit hiding in a two-percent change.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~12 hours
Unit I — Value and Willingness to Pay
Cost-plus pricing and its blind spot · Measuring willingness to pay · Reference prices and framing
Unit II — Structures
Versioning: good, better, best · Bundles and add-ons · Subscriptions and metered pricing
Unit III — Discipline
Discount policy and who may grant one · Price changes: sequencing and telling customers · Measuring the change afterward
Tariffs, exchange rates, and comparative advantage — exporting without illusions.
Syllabus · 3 units · ~12 hours
Unit I — Why Nations Trade
Comparative advantage, worked out · Trade balances and what they mean · Tariffs, quotas, and who pays
Unit II — Money Across Borders
Exchange rates for the exporter · Hedging currency risk simply · Getting paid: letters of credit
Unit III — Going Abroad
Choosing a first foreign market · Incoterms and freight basics · Local rules: standards, labels, customs