Principles of Economics

After this course, the student will have a basic understanding of economics and will be able to apply economic thinking to practical societal issues. The student understands how markets and other allocation mechanisms operate and how to evaluate their economic performance. The student will also understand how market power and externalities lead to market inefficiencies and the policy responses to these problems. In addition, the student will have a basic understanding of aggregate economic phenomena including economic growth, business cycles, unemployment, savings, investment, inflation, fiscal and monetary policy and national accounts.

Implementations by the academic year:

2026-2027 Autumn I - II, language of instruction: Finnish

2027-2028 Autumn I - II, language of instruction: Finnish

The languages of instruction and languages of study attainment may vary depending on the course implementation. Implementations are not necessarily organised in all the languages of study attainments marked for the study unit. When registering, check to see that the course implementation you are registering for may be completed in the language you want, as some languages apply only to certain implementations.

Courses organized by the Open University are subject to a fee. During the summer period, some courses offer free-of-charge places for Aalto University degree students. Check the free summer course offering here: https://www.aalto.fi/en/other-studies/summer-studies(Opens in a new tab) . Registration for the free-of-charge places is done normally in Sisu. Students are admitted to courses in the order of registration. Note that you must select the correct course code for your study plan before you can register. Registration for fee-based course places is done in Sisu under the "Open University offering" tab.