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Rationale
The Economics General course encompasses the key features which characterise an economist’s approach to a contemporary economic event or issue: the ability to simplify the essence of a problem, to collect economic information and data to assist analysis and reasoning, to think critically about the limits of analysis in a social context, and to draw inferences which assist decision making, the development of public policy and improvement in economic wellbeing.

The Economics General course develops reasoning, logical thinking and interpretation skills demanded by the world of work, business and government. These skills relate to a variety of qualifications in vocational, technical and university education contexts. The learning experiences available through studying this course explore the knowledge, values and opinions which surround the complex range of economic events and issues facing our community, such as unemployment, income distribution, business strategy and international relations.

Course Overview
Economics investigates the choices that all people, groups and societies face as they confront the ongoing problem of satisfying their unlimited wants with limited resources. Economics aims to understand and analyse the allocation, utilisation and distribution of scarce resources that determine our wealth and wellbeing. Economic literacy developed through this course enables students to actively participate in economic and financial decision making that promotes individual and societal wealth and wellbeing.

Course Description
This syllabus is divided into two units.

Unit 1 - Personal economic and financial decisions
This unit explores personal economic and financial decisions in relation to earning and spending income and building wealth. It explores how individuals derive an income and make consumption and savings decisions for both the present and the future, and how the Commonwealth Government can influence these decisions.

Unit 2 - Small business economics
This unit explores small business economic decisions in relation to the problem of relative scarcity and choice. It explores the importance of business in the economy; the way in which businesses combine resources to produce goods and services; and the strategies that businesses use to promote their products and manage internal and external constraints, including government regulation and policy.

Retrieved from: School Curriculum and Standards Authority. 29 June 2023.