Wednesday, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Instructor: Darius Ornston
This course provides students across the Munk School with a forum to discuss and engage with major global issues across a variety of disciplinary perspectives and regional studies centres. Team-taught by Munk faculty from economics, geography, history, literary studies, and political science, the course will tackle several global controversies including the use of direct and slow violence, the legacies of violent conflict, demographic change, inequality, and authoritarianism. In addition to individual assignments, students will have the opportunity to address a global challenge from two different disciplinary perspectives, working small groups under the direct supervision of the head instructor.
This course is restricted to Munk School students who have either completed MUN105Y1 or enrolled in one of the following programs: American Studies Major; American Studies Minor; Contemporary Asian Studies Major; Contemporary Asian Studies Minor; European Affairs Major (formerly European Studies Major); European Affairs Minor (formerly European Union Studies Minor); Peace, Conflict and Justice Major; Peace, Conflict and Justice Specialist; Major in Public Policy; South Asian Studies Minor.
This course will provide students with an understanding of key microeconomic principles and examples of how to apply these to public policy issues. Microeconomic analytical frameworks explored will include consumer and firm decision making, markets and the rationale for and consequences of government intervention in markets. There will be a wide range of public policy applications of these frameworks explored including (but not limited to) income inequality, environment and climate change, housing and government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. A recurring theme will be the expected results of government intervention in the economy and potential unintended consequences. Ultimately the goal is for students to be able to provide public policy advice that is appropriately and correctly informed by microeconomic principles.