Public and corporate decisions increasingly depend on economic evidence, yet many leaders receive that evidence as a finished conclusion with the assumptions hidden. A subsidy, tariff, tax change or large investment can shift prices, jobs and fiscal balances in ways that only become visible after the fact. Executives who can interrogate the analysis behind a proposal make better choices and defend them more convincingly.

Executive Applied Economics & Policy Analysis is organised around the policy cycle. Participants begin with the core tools of microeconomic and macroeconomic reasoning and apply them to real problems of pricing, competition, public finance and growth. They then study how options are appraised, using cost-benefit and cost-effectiveness analysis, distributional assessment and regulatory impact methods, before examining how impact evaluation and econometric evidence are produced and where they mislead.

The programme is deliberately applied. Delegates work on policy dilemmas drawn from their own sectors, build simple models in spreadsheets, read published studies critically and finish by drafting a decision memo for a minister, cabinet committee or board. The emphasis is judgement and communication rather than mathematical derivation, so senior participants without a recent economics background can contribute fully.

By the end of the course, participants will be able to:

• Apply microeconomic and macroeconomic concepts to practical policy and business decisions.
• Identify market failures and judge when intervention is justified.
• Appraise options using cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness and multi-criteria methods.
• Assess the distributional effects of a policy on households, firms and regions.
• Interpret regression and impact evaluation findings and spot their limits.
• Evaluate fiscal, monetary and trade measures and their likely transmission.
• Structure a concise policy memo with options, risks and a clear recommendation.

The programme is intended for senior decision makers and advisers, including:

• Permanent secretaries, directors and heads of planning in ministries
• Treasury, budget and revenue authority officers
• Central bank and financial sector regulator staff
• Policy advisers to governors, cabinets and parliamentary committees
• Heads of strategy and chief economists in corporations and banks
• Programme directors at development agencies and NGOs
• Regulators of utilities, telecoms, energy and transport
• Think-tank and research institute managers

Participants leave the course with:

• A repeatable framework for testing the economic logic behind any proposal.
• A spreadsheet cost-benefit model they can adapt to their own projects.
• A set of questions for challenging technical evidence presented by analysts.
• A drafted decision memo on a live policy issue from their organisation.
• Greater confidence discussing economic trade-offs with ministers, boards and donors.

The programme respects the limited time of senior participants and concentrates on judgement. Delivery includes:

• Concise briefings that translate theory into decision rules
• Policy dilemmas supplied by participants from their own institutions
• Spreadsheet workshops for appraisal and sensitivity testing
• Critical reading sessions using published studies and ministry papers
• Memo clinics with facilitator feedback

On completing the programme and its practical exercises, participants are awarded a CPD-accredited Certificate of Completion by Vision Reach Global Consultancy.