This chapter focuses on the economic and financial environment, introducing the fundamentals of economics including an introduction to micro- and macro-economics, supply and demand, economic resources and fiscal and monetary policies, topical economic issues and the relationship between GDP, inflation and unemployment. It then looks at financial markets, with an introduction to stock markets, shares and bonds, and the major players within those markets, particularly the banks. It examines the fundamentals of money and finance: what money is, how to organise and account for it, and what happens when things go wrong. This includes an introduction to business accounts and an examination of corporate and personal insolvency.
