Multidisciplinary PPE major, Major, Department of Economics

The multidisciplinary Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) major

Philosophy, Politics and Economics (PPE) are available as a single multidisciplinary major in the BA. There are natural affinities and common roots among several strands of Philosophy, Political Studies and Economics, and PPE programmes have an established pedigree, including the well known course at Oxford University. The aim of this programme is to give a broader exposure to the range of approaches in these three disciplines than would be gained within any one of the traditional single-discipline majors.

For BA or BCom students, PPE provides an attractive and intellectually stimulating combination of analytical approaches and develops a range of skills for which there is a clear demand. If you are seeking to avoid "placing all your eggs in a specialised basket" the PPE major fits in with a possible "insurance" trend towards more generalist studies.

In order to fulfil the requirements of the BA in PPE, you will need to complete the following papers:

100-level papers required

BSNS113 Economic Principles and Policy: (18 points)
Introduction to concepts central to understanding market economies, including allocation of scarce resources, consumer and business reactions to changing market conditions, and the application of economic principles to personal and business decision-making.
Have you ever stopped to wonder at how easy it is, given you have the cash or credit, to go out and buy almost anything you want? How is it that such a wide range of goods and services are produced in roughly the right amounts, often at surprisingly low cost, and then distributed to the people who want them? This paper builds an understanding of how, and how well, our market-oriented economy gets this done. We use a variety of simple yet revealing graphical models to study the mechanics of markets and the market system and to evaluate market outcomes. We identify factors that can inhibit markets functioning and evaluate public policies used to counteract these inhibitors, both in individual markets and in the macro economy. In particular, we study issues around international trade, business strategy, competition policy, the environment, taxation, and cycles in exchange, interest, unemployment and growth rates.

ECON112 Principles of Economics 2: (18 points)
Continues on from BSNS113, and extends the analysis of predominantly market economies and how they work as a whole, both in New Zealand and international contexts. Topics include: economic growth, business cycles, monetary policy and the role of the Reserve Bank, the global financial crisis (GFC), and fiscal policy and the appropriate role of government.
Specific questions analysed will include:
* Why are living standards higher in some countries than others?
* What causes economic booms and recessions?
* How and why does the Reserve Bank control interest rates?
* What can be done about inflation and unemployment?
* What caused the GFC?
* Did governments respond appropriately to the GFC?

One 100-level PHIL paper (PHIL103 recommended) (18 points)

One 100-level POLS paper (POLS102 recommended) (18 points)

Take a look at the complete list of Economics 100-level papers.

200-level papers required

ECON201 Microeconomics: (18 points)
Provides a working knowledge of microeconomic theories with an emphasis on their application to business and public sector decision making.

ECON271 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory: (18 points)

Presents an analytic approach to intermediate microeconomics. The emphasis is on the fundamental conceptual foundations of microeconomics, illustrating their application with concrete examples. *

* To take ECON 271, you must have first passed FINQ 102 or an equivalent 100-level MATH paper (e.g. MATH 160).

One other 200-level ECON paper (18 points)

Two 200-level PHIL papers (36 points)

Two 200-level POLS papers (36 points)

Take a look at the complete list of Economics 200-level papers.