Economics & Finance

We make decisions every day and every hour: which summer school to choose, which pullover to buy, where to go on vacation. The course presents the core concepts of rational and efficient individual and social decisions, including political decisions.

Topics to be covered include:

1. Decision making: why, when and under which circumstances?
2. Aggregation models
3. Applied models
4. Political decision making
5. Voting manipulation
6. Power distribution in organizations

NEW Students who pass the course can proceed with their work with the lecturer and his colleagues on different projects. Such projects will use some models presented in the lectures with application to the data related to the students' countries. For example, one of the models discussed in the lectures is power distribution in the parliaments of countries. The project might then be an evaluation of power distribution in a specific parliament of student's country in a specific period. Another example can be an evaluation of central elements in the network of trade operations in a country. Such projects can be published afterward in some scientific journals.

The course presents the analysis of the major challenges to the EU – Russia links. There is a clear contradiction between the huge potential for cooperation and the current state in relations, which are at a mess. This course, while disclosing the fundamentals and a historical retrospective of relations between Russia and the EU, is focused on the most recent developments in Europe, including unrest in Ukraine, and their impact on relationships in Europe. Large part of the course is dedicated to problems of economic cooperation, discovering the burden of economic sanctions. The aim is to understand the reasons for the current problems and to dress up the likely scenarios of the eventual development of links with largely unused potential for partnership. Topics included in the course ignite discussion and debate. Different points of view on different aspects of the cooperation dilemmas are provided to create an objective vision of the controversial issue. 

This course puts a test on conventional theoretical approaches on global energy issues. It is based upon empirical evidence of the current trends on the global energy markets, unveiling policy issues in the study of energy that span across political science and international economics.The course takes a very broad view and introduces students to energy as understood by scholars of international security and cooperation as well as economic and political development.We investigate the major policy issues of the day: the development and current status of the global energy markets, with particular emphasis on Russia, EU, China and the USA.The role of the international organizations is given the focal place, especially the historical importance, the current development and future relevance of OPEC.The course attributes a special role to the influence on the industry of the technological progress in alternative energies and the “threat” of fracking to traditional gas producers

A frequently heard complaint from students of economic theory goes something like this: 'But it doesn't work like this in real life!' Unfortunately, it takes a long time of studying general cases to arrive at the realization that life itself is a special case of a general rule. During this course we will attempt to reconcile theory and practice: we will see how mental and emotional filters shape the choices people make individually and in groups. We will also try to understand what rational choice is, and you will conclude for yourself which rational patterns to follow (or not follow) in real life whenever you have to make a decision as a consumer or as a producer or even as a policymaker. 

NEW! Corporate Finance (3 ECTS credits, 24 academic hours)
Dates: 21.06 – 09.07