Name: Introduction to Economic Theories
Brand: Erasmus University Rotterdam
Availability: OnlineOnly
Rating: 4.5 (88 reviews)

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Learner Reviews & Feedback for Introduction to Economic Theories by Erasmus University Rotterdam

4.5

stars

359 ratings

About the Course

Wondering why economists have not predicted serious financial crises? Shocked by economic assumptions of human behavior as self-centered and focusing only on what can be measured? Asking yourself if there are no sensible economic alternatives to free markets? Then you are at the right place to learn economics! This is the first online course that teaches economics from a pluralist perspective. Economic pluralism means that a plurality of theoretical and methodological viewpoints is regarded as valuable in itself and is simply the best way in which economics can make progress in understanding the world. This MOOC will illustrate economic pluralism not only in substance but also in form. You will see not only me, a Professor of Economics, but also a pop-up Prof of our business school, who illustrates the actor perspective of firms, government and civil society. And you will meet an online student, based in Greece, who will help you through the tutorial videos in which I will explain key concepts, tools and techniques. I will not limit myself to the dominant theory, as almost every other course does. Instead, I will introduce you to four very different economic theories for the whole set of standard topics in microeconomics and macroeconomics. The theories are presented every time from broad and more interdisciplinary to narrow and more mathematical. The four theories that I like to introduce you to are Social Economics, Institutional Economics, Post Keynesian economics and, at the very end of each topic, Neoclassical Economics, for the special case of ideally functioning markets. But not everything is different in this course. Like every economics course, it includes numbers, diagrams, tables, equations, and some calculations. Why would you go through the effort of learning the basics of four theories instead of one? Because it will help you to see why many economists cannot predict crises, whereas others can see signals but are often not being listened to because they do not belong to the dominant school of thought. It will also enable you to see that it is just one theory claiming economic agents to be self-centered and focusing on the measurable only. Other economic theories go well beyond these limitations. And, finally, the pluralist approach will provide you with policy alternatives to neoliberalist policies promoting free markets. The objective of this course is twofold. First, to enable you to understand different economic viewpoints, linked to important traditions in economic thought, and basic economic concepts belonging to these theoretical perspectives. Second, to enable you to do some basic economic calculations that are important in economic life, such as calculating an inflation rate, and in economic policies, such as estimating the rough gains from trade for both trading partners, and in economic arguments, such as in calculating utility maximization with given prices and budgets. Please note that if you do all course elements, total course load is likely to be 4 ECT (approx. 134 hours). I hope you will enjoy the course!...

Top reviews

Oct 18, 2021

This was a fantastic course explaining the 4 major different economic theories. The professors and assistant were great in explaining the information in this course and providing excellent examples.

Jan 25, 2018

Excellent course on Theories on economics which has given un the insight of economics via various theory. Really useful to understand many financial aspects / issues on different prospective

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76 - 89 of 89 Reviews for Introduction to Economic Theories

By Gaurav K A

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Apr 17, 2020

Good Cour

By Samarth S

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May 5, 2020

Comments

By Geetha B S

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Jan 8, 2025

good

By Jennifer R

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Jun 10, 2025

The course overall is fine and achievable, but the peer-reviewed essays are biased and unfair. Having to rely on random students to verify my work meant I was getting docked points for things that I knew met rubric standards but other students would graze over to verify. It makes your grade skewed not having an actual academic professional look at it. This method is in poor taste.

By Fred S

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Sep 30, 2024

Many errors - needs better editing. Also, too much political viewpoint.

By Harriet K

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Nov 20, 2018

Essay reviews do not work the way it should

By Aleikhanov A

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Oct 10, 2024

Все выполнил а выполнен 93%

By Domenico B

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Feb 22, 2018

This is by far the worst course I have ever attended on Coursera. The quality of the content in the videos is very low; there are no slides available to download; the tutorials are very trivial.