This course is designed to equip students with the economic principles which are necessary to analyse a whole range of economic problems. It builds on the foundations of economic analysis provided in course Introduction to economics.

The aims of this course are: a) to deepen the understanding of the basic theory of optimization by economic agents and the efficiency of the resulting outcome for the market as a whole, b) to introduce students to the analysis of strategic interaction as well as interaction under asymmetric information, c) to clarify the role of economic policies as tools to improve efficiency in the presence of market failures, d) to promote the ability to think in a structured framework, and clarify the importance of formal arguments, e) to demonstrate the art of modelling which requires simplifying a problem by identifying the key elements without oversimplifying the issue.