Principles of Economics and Management I

Syllabus and Course Information · 2026/2027

Author
Affiliation

Paulo Fagandini

Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon (FCUL)

General Information

Course Instructor Paulo Fagandini
Email pfagandini@ciencias.ulisboa.pt
Institution Faculty of Sciences, University of Lisbon (FCUL)
Master Applied Mathematics for Economics and Management (MMAEG)
Academic year 2026/2027
Schedule Wednesdays, 18:00-21:00
Teaching period 16 September to 16 December 2026
Language English (see the Language section)
Format 13 lecture sessions + midterm test (the final test is held in the exam period)
ECTS 6
Workload 168 hours total: 42 in class, 126 of self study

Goals

This course is aimed at students with a strong background in mathematics and statistics (mathematics, physics, engineering, etc.) entering the Master in Applied Mathematics for Economics and Management (MMAEG), with no prior training in economics, who will go on to work in banking, insurance and investment firms.

The goal is to give students economic intuition and vocabulary so they can communicate effectively with colleagues, understand the logic behind organizational decisions, and apply their quantitative skills to economic problems with confidence.

Course Approach

The course takes a principles approach with quantitative treatment. The breadth of topics is that of an introductory economics course; the treatment takes advantage of the class’s mathematical training. Optimal choices are presented as constrained optimization problems, elasticities as derivatives, debt dynamics as a recurrence relation. The time that would otherwise go into introducing the mathematics is spent here on the economics: on what the results mean, on European data, and on exercises worked in class.

Each session covers a single theme. The load per session was deliberately reduced to leave room for exercises worked together, which is where the intuition sticks.

The OpenStax textbooks (open access) serve as the accessible narrative and first reading; Varian (the with-calculus version) and Blanchard provide the formal treatment for those who want to go deeper. Data and examples are European: the ECB and the Eurosystem, Eurostat and INE, the euro area and the Stability and Growth Pact.

The slides are the primary reference. No textbook is mandatory reading.

Programme

Each session covers one theme, with exercise blocks worked in class. The keywords under each session indicate its emphasis, not an exhaustive list: the depth of each topic is adjusted to the time available.

Block 1 · Microeconomics (Sessions 1 to 6)

Session 1 · Economic Thinking and Scarcity Scarcity, opportunity cost, the marginal principle, the production possibility frontier, comparative advantage.

Session 2 · Consumer Choice Preferences, utility, the budget set, constrained maximization, demand.

Session 3 · Demand and Elasticity Market demand, price, income and cross-price elasticity, elasticity and revenue, consumer surplus.

Session 4 · Production, Costs and Market Structures Production and costs, profit maximization, supply, competition, market power.

Session 5 · Market Equilibrium and Taxes Equilibrium, total surplus, comparative statics, taxes, incidence and deadweight loss.

Session 6 · Uncertainty, Risk and Asymmetric Information Expected utility, risk aversion, diversification, adverse selection, moral hazard.

Block 2 · Macroeconomics (Sessions 8 to 14)

Session 8 · GDP, Measurement and Growth National accounts, nominal against real values, the deflator, growth accounting, the Solow model as intuition.

Session 9 · Unemployment, Inflation and the Labor Market Labor supply and demand, unemployment rate and its types, wage rigidity, price indices, the Phillips curve.

Session 10 · Money, Banking and Inflation Money and monetary aggregates, credit creation, the quantity theory, inflation, the Eurosystem.

Session 11 · Monetary Policy ECB objectives and tools, interest rate setting, the Taylor rule, the transmission mechanism, quantitative easing.

Session 12 · Fiscal Policy The government budget, deficits and debt dynamics, multipliers, Ricardian equivalence, the Stability and Growth Pact.

Session 13 · Open Economy Comparative advantage in trade, exchange rate determination, purchasing power and interest rate parity, the balance of payments.

Session 14 · To be defined Content to be announced.

Sessions are numbered by their slot in the semester. There is no session 7 topic: slot 7 is the midterm test.

Assessment

Periodic assessment (tests), with two in-person written tests:

Test Session Date Time Content Weight
Midterm 7 28/10/2026 18:00 Block 1, Microeconomics 50%
Final · 11/01/2027 16:30 Block 2, Macroeconomics 50%

The final test does not take up a teaching session: it is held on 11 January 2027 at 16:30, inside the normal exam period (5 to 19 January 2027).

To pass: final grade \(\ge\) 10 out of 20. The final grade is the weighted average of the two tests, rounded to the nearest integer (FCUL Assessment Regulation, Deliberação 1279/2020, art. 7(3)), so an average \(\ge\) 9.50 means a pass.

Exam Regime

Students who do not take the periodic assessment are assessed by a single written exam (100%), held on the same date and time as the final test, 11 January 2027 at 16:30, and covering the whole semester.

The resit is on 29 January 2027 at 13:00, inside the resit period (22 January to 5 February 2027). It is open to all students, including those under periodic assessment who did not pass (FCUL Pedagogical Council norm of 5/7/2023).

Exam Rules

  • Calculator: only a basic scientific calculator is allowed; graphing calculators are not permitted.
  • Electronic devices: using earphones, headphones, a smartwatch, smartphone or any electronic device during the test is considered fraud.

Schedule

Classes on Wednesdays, 18:00-21:00. Dates in day/month format.

# Date Session
1 16/09 Economic Thinking and Scarcity
2 23/09 Consumer Choice
3 30/09 Demand and Elasticity
4 07/10 Production, Costs and Market Structures
5 14/10 Market Equilibrium and Taxes
6 21/10 Uncertainty, Risk and Asymmetric Information
7 28/10 Midterm (Block 1, Microeconomics)
8 04/11 GDP, Measurement and Growth
9 11/11 Unemployment, Inflation and the Labor Market
10 18/11 Money, Banking and Inflation
11 25/11 Monetary Policy
12 02/12 Fiscal Policy
13 09/12 Open Economy
14 16/12 To be defined
11/01 Final test (Block 2, Macroeconomics), 16:30
29/01 Resit exam, 13:00

Schedule notes:

  • Start of the FCUL academic year: 14/09/2026. This course’s classes begin on 16/09.
  • 28/10/2026 at 18:00: midterm test (Block 1, Microeconomics), moved one week earlier than first planned.
  • Exam period: 5 to 19 January 2027. Resit period: 22 January to 5 February 2027.
  • 11/01/2027 at 16:30: final test, and the single written exam for students not under periodic assessment.
  • 29/01/2027 at 13:00: resit, open to all students.

Bibliography

Supporting references. None is mandatory reading; the slides are the primary reference.

Introductory reading (open access, CC BY):

  1. OpenStax, Principles of Microeconomics, 3rd ed. (Shapiro, MacDonald, Greenlaw), Rice University.
  2. OpenStax, Principles of Macroeconomics, 3rd ed. (Greenlaw, Shapiro et al.), Rice University.

Formal treatment, for going deeper:

  1. Varian, H. R., Intermediate Microeconomics with Calculus: A Modern Approach, W. W. Norton (any edition).
  2. Blanchard, O., Amighini, A., Giavazzi, F., Macroeconomics: A European Perspective, 3rd ed., Pearson.

The Varian chosen is the with calculus version, where the mathematics sits in the text rather than in appendices: it is the one that fits a cohort arriving from mathematics. Any edition will do.

OpenStax and Blanchard chapter references are to the editions listed. The Varian ones are a guide: editions renumber, so find the chapter by title in whichever copy you have. Examples and data are reframed for the European context (ECB and Eurosystem, Eurostat, INE, euro area).

Reading Map by Session

For each session, the corresponding introductory reading and formal treatment.

Session Topic OpenStax (Micro / Macro) Varian / Blanchard
1 Economic Thinking and Scarcity Micro 1, 2 Varian 1; the MRT and the frontier’s shape are developed in the deck
2 Consumer Choice Micro 6 Varian 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8
3 Demand and Elasticity Micro 5, 6 Varian 6, 15
4 Production, Costs and Market Structures Micro 7, 8, 9 Varian 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
5 Market Equilibrium and Taxes Micro 3, 4 Varian 1, 16; Blanchard 3
6 Uncertainty, Risk and Asymmetric Information Micro 16 Varian 12, 13, 37
8 GDP, Measurement and Growth Macro 6, 7 Blanchard 1, 2, 10, 11
9 Unemployment, Inflation and Labor Market Macro 8, 9 Blanchard 6, 7, 8; Varian 9 (optional)
10 Money, Banking and Inflation Macro 14 Blanchard 4, 14, 17
11 Monetary Policy Macro 15 Blanchard 4, 5, 21, 22
12 Fiscal Policy Macro 17, 18 Blanchard 3, 5, 22, 23
13 Open Economy Macro 10, 16, 20 Blanchard 17, 18, 19, 20

Varian chapter numbers are indicative: editions renumber, so follow the chapter with the matching title in your edition.

Language of Instruction

The language of instruction is English. All written materials (slides, problem sets and assessments) are in English and stay in English for the whole semester.

Slides

Slides for each session, in projector, scrollable web and printable PDF versions.

A European Portuguese translation of the slides for sessions 1 to 3 is at Slides em português. The English slides above are the reference.