The economics department was started in Salesian College Sonada Campus in the year 1950. It is one of the oldest departments of the college. However, in the Siliguri Campus, this department started in the year 2011 as general subject. From the academic session 2019- 20 onwards Salesian college Siliguri Campus started offering both BSC and BA in Economics Honours.
The department envisions in achieving high academic excellence to provide our students with a better understanding of the global, national and local economic issues that will confront our society now and in the future. The department also endeavours to excelin maintaining a research oriented and socially committed environment striving for all round development of the students.
The department is committed to create a strong academic environment by promoting and supporting quality in teaching and research. We aim to prepare our students for successful careers as applied economists, to inculcate strong foundation and concept of economics in our students, with extensive teacher – student interactions and maintaining a friendly and supportive environment for all the students.
The objective of the department is to achieve excellence in Higher Education, to create and facilitate a healthy ecosystem for holistic development of the students, to embed a value system in the students and nurture them to become responsible citizen.
Introductory Microeconomics (DSC- 101)
Course Objectives:
This course seeks to introduce the students with the basic principles of microeconomic theory. The focus of the course is to expose the students with different variables of micro economics. The emphasis will also be on thinking like an economist and how to apply economic principles to real life situations. The course sets a platform for the students for an in depth study of microeconomic theory in the following semesters.
Learning Outcomes:
The course introduces the students with the concepts of demand and supply. It further reveals to the students a perspective of individual decision making as producers and consumers. The students are exposed to the idea of how consumers or households and producers or firms behave. The concept of cost is also introduced to the students.
Teaching Learning Process:
Lectures, tutorials, real life examples, PPT presentations
Mathematical Methods for Economics – I (DSC102)
Course Objectives:
This course is the first part of a two – course sequence. The course aims to deliver students with mathematical skills to enable the study of the economic theory at the undergraduate level. The mathematical skills thus acquired can be used in studying the microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory, statistics and econometrics which are an integral part of this syllabus. The course not only introduces economic models, but also illustrates how mathematical techniques can be used to understand the general economic theory in a more comprehensive manner.
Learning Outcomes:
This course upgrades the mathematical skills acquired by the students at school level and also prepares them for the second semester course of Mathematical Methods. Together, the two courses set foundation for the students to be able to study various disciplines that would require mathematical skills, including Economics and Statistics. The course exposes the students to matrix, determinants, calculus, maxima and minima, and their applications in economics. The course enables the students to use basic ideas of optimisation, wherever needed. The course also introduces the Input – Output theory to the students.
Teaching Learning Process:
Lectures and Tutorials
Introductory Macroeconomics (DSC203)
Course Objectives:
The Macroeconomic Theory is a part of the Programme as a three course sequence, of which this is the first course. The course is aimed to introduce the students with the basic concept and idea of macroeconomics and the macroeconomic variables, which deals with aggregate economy. The course inculcates the concept of macroeconomic ideas or variables like GDP, savings, investment, employment, money and wages among the students.
Learning Outcomes:
This course aims to provide students with a broad economic framework whereby they can think and comment on the actual economic scenarios like GDP, employment, investment. The course is designed to first instil the concept of macroeconomics in the students and thereby the important macroeconomic variables and the situations of equilibrium. The course also provides the students with an in depth knowledge of National Income Accounting, the Classical Theory, the Simple Keynesian Model and the Investment Function, thereby providing the students with a strong macroeconomic foundation.
Teaching Learning Process:
Lectures, Tutorials and ICT
Mathematical Methods for Economics – II (DSC204)
Course Objectives:
This course is a follow up of the Mathematical Methods from the previous semester. The course aims to deliver students with mathematical skills to enable the study of the economic theory at the undergraduate level. The mathematical skills thus acquired can be used in studying the microeconomic theory, macroeconomic theory, statistics and econometrics which are an integral part of this syllabus. The course not only introduces economic models, but also illustrates how mathematical techniques can be used to understand the general economic theory in a more comprehensive manner.
Learning Outcomes:
This course upgrades the mathematical skills acquired by the students at school level and also prepares them for the second semester course of Mathematical Methods. Together, the two courses set foundation for the students to be able to study various disciplines that would require mathematical skills, including Economics, Econometrics and Statistics. The course delivers them with basic tools that are necessary for anyone looking for job at the corporate world as a data analyst. The course provides the students with an in depth understanding of Differential Equation, Difference Equation, Linear Programming and the Theory of Games.
Teaching Learning Process:
Lectures and Tutorials
Intermediate Microeconomics I (DSC305):
Course Objectives:
This course is designed to provide a sound training in microeconomic theory to formally analyse the behaviour of individual agents and markets. Since the students are already familiar with quantitative techniques from their previous semester, mathematical tools are used to facilitate the basic understanding of the subject material. This course specifically aims to provide an extensive understanding of different types of market behaviours.
Learning Outcomes:
The course provides the students with an in depth understanding of different types of markets and market equilibrium. The course delivers an extensive knowledge about the functioning and equilibrium of perfectly competitive markets and also the non competitive markets like monopoly, monopolistic competition and oligopoly. The application of mathematical tools through the course facilitates an intermediate level of understanding of the subject matter.
Teaching Learning Process:
Lectures, Tutorials and ICT
Intermediate Macroeconomics-I
Course Objectives:
This is the second module of the three – course sequence and follows from the foundation of the macroeconomic theory laid in previous semester. The course is designed to give an in depth knowledge of macroeconomic theory to the students. The course aims to provide students with the knowledge of analytical frameworks like IS – LM model, The Complete Keynesian Model along with some important models of Open Economy, for the determination of respective equilibrium.
Learning Outcomes:
The course enables students to analyse economic performance of different economies using various analytical frameworks. The course enables the students to analyse the implication and effect of various important policies on closed and open economies through the economic models like the IS – LM model and the MundellFlemming Model. The course also delivers the students with the knowledge of the complete Keynesian model and the idea of Money, its demand and supply.
Teaching Learning Process:
Lectures, Tutorials and ICT
Statistical Methods for Economics-I
Course Objectives:
The course is aimed to teach the students the basic statistical methods. It is aimed to set the foundation of the students for the statistics and econometrics paper that follows in the coming semesters. The statistical instruments are important across disciplines and prove to be essential for anyone looking to pursue careers in the corporate space as data analysts.
Learning Outcomes:
The course enables the students to use various important statistical instruments like Measures of Central Tendency, Measures of Dispersion, Correlation, Regression, Moments, Skewness and Kurtosis, that prove to be essential for the students for their further development with Statistics and Econometrics. These instruments also prove very useful in an interdisciplinary manner.
Teaching Learning Process:
Lectures and Tutorials
Intermediate Microeconomics – II (DSC408)
Course Objectives:
This course is the final module of the three course sequence of microeconomics and aims to continue the flow of the microeconomic analysis and understanding from the previous semesters. The course is designed to emphasize on giving conceptual clarity to the students coupled with the use of mathematical tools.
Learning Outcomes:
The course provides the students an understanding of the conditions of uncertainty and the choices made under uncertainty. The course also gives the students knowledge about the environment in which a market fails. Choice under uncertainty, factor pricing, market failure and game theory are the important building blocks of this course. The Game Theory provides the students with a new outlook on the conditions of equilibrium and thereby optimum strategies chosen or adopted by individual agents.
Teaching Learning Process:
Lectures, Tutorials and ICT
Intermediate Macroeconomics II (DSC409)
Course Objectives:
This is the final sequel of the three course sequence in macroeconomics, first of which was of the introductory level and the second was of intermediate level. This course follows as the second part of the intermediate economics. The course is aimed to provide a detailed knowledge about some important macroeconomic theories. The course looks to deliver the students with some very important concepts like Inflation, Consumption and Economic Growth.
Learning Outcomes:
The course enables the students to grasp the concepts of inflation, its causes and the efficiency of different policies to control it, making them able to analyse and comment on real life inflationary situations various countries. The course also provides the students with the ideas of business cycles, consumption function and economic growth. It delivers the ideas about the role of technological progress in the economic growth through economic models.
Teaching Learning Process:
Lectures, Tutorials and ICT
Statistics and Econometrics (DSC410)
Course Objectives:
This course looks to set the foundation of the probability and econometric principles based on the existing knowledge of statistics and mathematics acquired in the previous semesters. The syllabus looks to introduce the students to the basic elements of econometrics, which should prove to be useful in pursuing post graduation courses in economics having advanced econometric courses and also prove essentially important for empirical or applied research. The knowledge of basic econometrics also proves vital for those aspiring to pursue their careers as data analysts.
Learning Outcomes:
The course introduces the students to the concepts of probability and probability distribution. The course also gives the student knowledge about statistical tools like sampling and estimation, and also provides knowledge of some important econometric models like Classical Linear Regression Model, Multiple Regression Model and Statistical Inference in the Classical Linear Model.
Teaching Learning Process:
Lectures, Tutorials and ICT
Indian Economy (DSC511)
Course Objectives:
This course looks to provide students with a sound idea of the major trends in economic indicators and policy debates in India the post – independence period. A special emphasis is laid on the paradigm shifts, turning points, major events and important policies adopted in the country post independence.
Learning Outcomes:
The course provides the students with an extensive understanding of the development paradigm adopted by the country post the independence and evaluate the impact of the same on economic and social indicators of progress and well being. At the end of the semester, the students will have the idea about the important changes and policies adopted by the government and the corresponding result, and also about the important milestones in the socio – economic journey of the country after independence.
Teaching Learning Process:
Lectures, Tutorials and ICT
Development Economics (DSC512)
Course Objectives:
The course aims to lay a foundation of the concept and idea of development economics among the students. In the time when, Development Economics has emerged to be one of the most important avenues and in fact a separate discipline in itself, persuading countless studies and research across the world, this course designed to provide a sound knowledge about the concept and meaning of Development Economics, and various theories and development models that underlie in it.
Learning Outcomes:
This course introduces the students to the basics of Development Economics, with in-depth discussion of the development, growth, poverty, inequality as well as environmental sustainability and development.
Teaching Learning Process:
Lectures, Tutorials and ICT
International Economics (DSC613)
Course Objectives:
The purpose of this course is to inform the students about the basics of international trade theory and to examine the effects of international economic policies of domestic and foreign or the world affairs. The course systematically exposes the students to models that try to explain major aspects and consequences of foreign and also enables them to examine the effects and prospects of the international trade policies. Along with the international economics models, the syllabus also enables the students to relate to real world scenarios, examples and case studies.
Learning Outcomes:
The course first introduces the concept of international economics to the students, and thereby the ideas of import, export, balance of payment and exchange rates. It also exposes the students to various important theories of foreign or international trade, like the Adam Smith’s theory, Richardian Theory, Hecksher – Ohlin Theory, Liontief Paradox and the Rybczynski Theorem. The course also equips the students with a detailed knowledge of the Trade Policy, Political Economy of the Trade Policy and the Controversies in Trade Policy. By the end of the semester, the students will also be familiar with the concept of International Macroeconomic Policy.
Teaching Learning Process:
Lectures, Tutorials and ICT
Public Economics (DSC614)
Course Objectives:
This course is designed to introduce the concept of Public Economics to the students, which basically involves the study of Government Policy from points of view of economic efficiency and equity. The main objective of this paper is to inculcate in the students the basic knowledge about the Government intervention and its implication in allocation, distribution and stabilisation. The course is designed to impart the mechanism of taxation and the corresponding expenditures to the students.
Learning Outcomes:
The course introduces the students to the concept of Public Economics and how it is different from the Private Economics. It also delivers the idea of Public Goods, externalities and Market Failure. The course also exposes the students to concept of Taxation and its different types. It further provides students with an in depth knowledge of Public Expenditure, Public Debt and Public Budget.
Teaching Learning Process:
Lectures, Tutorials and ICT