Course Overview

Introduction to Economics (3 credits)

Course Overview

This Introduction to Economics course explores the foundational principles of economics. Students will examine how individuals, businesses, and governments make economic decisions in a world of limited resources. Through a biblical lens, the course equips ministry-minded leaders to engage economic challenges with wisdom, integrity, and stewardship. The content encourages students to understand markets, institutions, and policies in light of Christian values, preparing them for personal, vocational, and missional impact.

Course Outcomes

By the end of this course, students will be able to:

1. Apply biblical principles such as stewardship, justice, and generosity to real-world economic issues.

2. Explain fundamental economic concepts including scarcity, opportunity cost, supply and demand, markets, incentives, and trade-offs.

3. Differentiate between Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, and explain their relevance in personal, organizational, and policy contexts.

4. Identify the causes and effects of inflation, including Demand-Pull and Cost-Push Inflation, and relate these to economic well-being.

5. Describe the role and tools of Fiscal Policy, including government spending and taxation, and their influence on economic activity.

6. Describe the role and tools of Monetary Policy, including interest rates and money supply, and how they affect inflation, employment, and growth.

7. Evaluate economic systems and models based on how they support or restrict economic freedom, innovation, and human flourishing.

8. Reflect on entrepreneurship and vocational calling in the marketplace as a means of advancing God’s kingdom and serving community needs. 

Resources: This course features open-source content from Openstax.com, specifically Principles of Economics 3e, from the following link (https://openstax.org/details/books/principles-economics-3e). This course also features videos and materials from a variety of sources.

Assignments:

1. Read all online reading materials.
2. Watch online video lectures for each unit. 
3. Take the online quiz for each unit. 
4. You will have 75 minutes to answer 20 multiple-choice questions for each quiz. Once a quiz has started, you must finish it, and you can't retake it. So be ready ahead of time. While taking the quiz, you may use your notes and refer to articles and other materials. Tip: First answer all the questions you know. Then try to look up answers to questions you don't know. When you have entered an answer for every question, submit the quiz for grading before the 75-minute limit.

Grading Scale
A 95-100%   A- 90-94%   B+ 87-89%   B 83-86%   B- 80-82%   C+ 77-79%   C 73-76%   C- 70-72%    D+ 67-69%   D 63-66%   D- 60-62%   F 0-59%
Your average grade for all assignments in the class must be at least 60%. Otherwise, you will fail the class and will receive no course credit.

Deadline
You have 180 days to complete the coursework. If you do not complete the course by the final deadline, you will be automatically unenrolled, all coursework will be removed, and you will have to start over and take the entire class again to receive credit.