Life today is characterised by mounting concerns over inequality, oppression and environmental sustainability. Following Karl Marx's insistence that "The philosophers have only interpreted the world, in various ways. The point, however, is to change it", the unit engages with exploring other possible ways of organising the world in which we live. Social scientists are well placed to diagnose and propose responses to the biggest challenges we face. Students will apply a social science lens to persistent problems in our economy, society and environment. The unit evaluates prevailing and alternative policy models in the context of the forces shaping and contesting states and economies.

Our lives are increasingly shaped by data, not only from official government agencies but from diverse sources in our social world. As the sources, form and content of data diversify so must the social science techniques for analysing and using that data. This unit of study focuses on the world of big data. It equips students with an understanding of how the emergence of big data has expanded the power and scope of the social sciences and of how to make use of big data for social science purposes. It introduces some key techniques for analysing, presenting and communicating big data, including data scraping, record linkage, data storage and data visualization.

Technological disruption, demographic change, globalisation and economic transformation are having a profound impact on the quantity and quality of jobs, how and by whom work is undertaken as well as the distribution of income and well-being. Such changes make the future of work challenging for all societies in the 21st Century. This project unit offers students the opportunity to explore the historical, contemporary and potential future(s) of the role of 'work' in the national and international context. Students will engage in primary and secondary research, with research experts within and external to the University, and apply social science expertise to contemporary public debate.

This unit of study aims to provide students with advanced theoretical knowledge and skill sets for analysing macroeconomic policy issues and practice in Australia and internationally from both a historical and contemporary perspective. This unit introduces a set of modern macroeconomic models that provide insights into policy debates and can also be used for analysing contemporary government policies. Examples will be drawn from various policies not just within Australia, but also from countries and regions such as the US, Asia, South America and Europe.

This unit aims to equip the student with skills to evaluate economic aspects of corporate finance and corporate governance. It will emphasize the role of informational asymmetries in the underlying interactions. The unit will allow the students to explore cutting-edge topics in microeconomics and the theory of incentives. The themes covered will include the structure of the firm, the models of credit rationing and determinants of firm's borrowing capacity. We will further turn to corporate financing under asymmetric information and contract design, explore monitoring in corporate finance and design of securities, control rights and corporate governance.

This unit deals with the nature and practice of research and inquiry in applied economics. Topics covered will include: the scientific method; inductive thought and deductive logic; research as an orderly process of inquiry; preparation of research proposals; sources of data for economists; quantitative methods used to work with data, writing skills, ethics in research and other relevant topics. Examples of research in theoretical economics, empirical/applied research and wider debates in scientific disciplines will be used to illustrate topics.

In this unit students will be presented with a research question in economics based on a real-world problem or issue. Initially, the research problem will be presented by the instructor or a guest lecturer. Supporting lectures will be delivered on appropriate theoretical concepts and quantitative methods required to conduct the research. Students will interact with the instructor to define the detail of the research problem, the approach for analysis and feedback on their work. Following this, students will construct a detailed literature review, collect and analyse data, and present the research results in written form.