transforms conventional curricula into free, interactive learning platforms aligning to daily-life and real-world problems. According to the Ministry of Education and Science of Ukraine, 28.4% of all students receive specialties in the field of economics, trade and business. An attempt to create a Western-style Ukrainian journal called the Ukrainian Economic Review a few years ago ended in failure. The lack of publication of Ukrainian scientists in Western economic journals indicates the seriousness of the problem. Journals devoted to the topic of economics education include the Journal of Economic Education, International Review of Economics Education, Australasian Journal of Economics Education, and Computers in Higher Education Economics Review. Many organizations, such as The Economist, Financial Times, Royal Economic Society, and Institute of Economic Affairs, offer essay competitions for economics students. Reform University-level economics curricula, particularly introductory courses, have been criticized for putting undue emphasis on neoclassical economics - with its key assumptions of individual rationality and market equilibrium, described in the next section - and failing to explain real-world economic phenomena such as the financial crisis of 2007–2008; see Mainstream economics#Criticisms and Financial economics#Challenges and criticism. In response, the CORE Project, for example, has developed course materials, including a textbook called The Economy, that emphasize real-world applications in economics. Curriculum Economics is widely offered as a major subject, and often as a specialized degree. Economics is also studied as a stand-alone course in business- and finance degrees, with the purpose of informing management- or investment decision making. Economics programs The typical economics curriculum, and degree structure, summarizes as follows. The core theory comprises microeconomics and macroeconomics, as well as econometrics and mathematical economics; as the student progresses, so the coverage becomes more abstract and mathematical. The various branches of economics and areas of application are built on this base. Some degrees in fact specialize in applied economics, econometrics, political economy or economic history. For further discussion see Bachelor of Economics and Master of Economics; for a listing of universities specializing in economics, see :Category:Economics schools. Micro- and macroeconomics begin with the joint-concepts of supply and demand. Microeconomics develops these respectively for firms and individuals, assuming businesses seek to maximize their profit under the various regimes of competition, and that consumers, similarly, are attempting to ”maximize utility” given their resources; the price will correspond to the point where supply and demand are equal, i.e. a "partial equilibrium". Macroeconomics focuses on the sum total