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Students seeking careers in the business world, as well as professional economists in both the private and public sectors require current skills and knowledge of the policy making process and be able to apply their knowledge of economics in the preparation and interpretation of economic policy advice. These practical requirements of the professional and business economist and policy analysts are met in this integrative course that combines economic theory, applied analysis and policy-advising reality.

This course focuses on the role and work of the economist and policy analysts in the development, presentation and interpretation of economic policy advice. Apart from emphasizing applied economic analysis, the course addresses issues associated with the evaluation of a variety of micro and macro-economic policies, the nature of decision-making in the Australian and other economies, the nature, extent and use of economic power and potential conflict among policy objectives. Recurrent themes of the course include economic efficiency of government interventions, social welfare and its distributional consequences and cost-benefit analysis - concepts and practice, and sensitivity. Students are required to complete a minor essay and a major essay where they will cumulatively write their evaluation of an economic policy as part of their assessment.

On successful completion of this course, students should be able to:

1. appraise relevant theoretical public policy frameworks through a critical analysis of those frameworks to make more informed, evidence-based policy decisions and recommendations;
2. employ in-depth knowledge gained from major economic policy debates and use systematic knowledge of the theoretical and empirical dimensions across a range of policy choices facing business and government;
3. use skills and knowledge which allow their practical and impactful participation in the process of economic policy formulation, implementation and evaluation;
4. apply knowledge about the current policy process in private firms and use the similarities, differences and contradictions between public policy and 'private' policy in their professional roles;
5. suggest future directions in policy under conditions of uncertainty, and offer alternative practices aimed at improving the effectiveness of the policy process and assess distributional effects of government policies;
6. use academic research, critical analysis and thinking skills to undertake economic policy analysis and communicate results professionally and effectively in written and other forms to relevant stakeholders.