To enable students to think as economists do, i.e. using the fundamental tools of the discipline, and to apply that approach to deal with relevant issues such as the allocation of society's scarce resources, interdependence vs autarky, the effect of international trade on welfare, the justification for government intervention in the economy and the appraisal of alternative policy options. Upon successful completion of the course a student will be able to: a) use the basic notions of economic thinking in a variety of situations (scarcity, rationality, opportunity cost, incentives etc.) b) describe how markets drive the allocation of resources c) explain the meaning of supply and demand, represent the the two concepts in graphical form and calculate both the slope and the elasticity of the corresponding curves d) carry-out elementary comparative statics exercises e) identify the effects of international trade on economic welfare f) recognize and identify situations leading to market failures and critically consider possible remedies g) show the role of IMF, World Bank and WTO in the international economic arena.