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

4.5
stars
370 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

AV

May 6, 2018

Wonderfully compiled course. I had no interest in economics prior to this, and now I am quite happy I did this.

AG

Jun 6, 2020

Easy to achieve a passing grade on assignments, however you will be required to do your own research.

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51 - 75 of 92 Reviews for Introduction to Economic Theories

By rajiv s

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Jan 24, 2021

Awesome course awesome learning

By Maya K E (

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Oct 25, 2024

Informative, applicable one

By Jillian P

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May 6, 2022

Loved it and learned a lot!

By Sumit k

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Sep 27, 2020

This is very helpful for me

By Ahmad M A P

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Nov 28, 2021

Very cool and inspirative

By MBAUKWU P C M

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Jun 8, 2021

its impactful and awesome

By Abhay S

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Oct 11, 2018

Amazing. My wife loves it

By Dhruv J

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Jul 8, 2020

good, in depth course

By prakhar s

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May 18, 2020

Amazing teachers!

By Arup G ( - D

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Nov 28, 2021

very Nice course

By Bawa J D

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Jul 8, 2020

amazing course

By Aadarsh R S

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Aug 18, 2020

Good Course

By Ram K

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Nov 29, 2019

Outstanding

By Pedro M

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Jan 3, 2021

Excellent!

By AISHWARYA S

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Nov 23, 2020

excellent

By Shweta S

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Mar 5, 2022

awesome

By BHAVY P

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Mar 25, 2020

Awesome

By Искендеров А

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Jun 17, 2025

Ұнайды

By José J F M

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May 1, 2024

Lovely

By Suraj P

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Oct 9, 2025

great

By L P

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Sep 24, 2024

good

By David M

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Sep 2, 2022

It was very interesting and the content was delivered well. The word length for assessments was a little short and tough to meet (it should be 100-200 words more), and there needs to be more clarity with the equations. Something like a downloadable fact sheet with the equations on it so that notes can be added to them. The equations need more practice to understand them properly

By Mitra Y

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Jul 7, 2022

It is fruitful and interesting to be introduced to economic theories from plural perspectives. The Mooc was well structured and presented nicely. However, I found the tutorials too repetitive and the popup professor insights could also be integrated into the theoretical analysis as real world example. All in all I would recommend this course to beginners in this field.

By Geeth A V

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Jul 15, 2023

It was really interactive, there was absolutely 0 problem in the presentation of the concepts. Would definetly recommend for people wanting to know about economics.

By Mohammad H A

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Feb 26, 2025

A really informative and professional course, which gives a sufficient introduction on all major topics of several key theories.