Description of courses from the catalog

ECON 101 Introductory Microeconomics (3)

Staff. An introduction to theory of prices and the allocation of resources. Topics include the pricing of goods and services, the determination of wages and returns to capital, market structure, and international trade.

ECON 102 Introductory Macroeconomics (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 101 or ECON 103. An introduction to theory of aggregate income, employment, and the price level. Topics include unemployment, alternative monetary and fiscal policies, and economic growth.

ECON 103 Honors Introductory Microeconomics (4)

Staff. No prerequisites. Open to students with an honors standing only. A reading-intensive introduction to microeconomics. The course satisfies the ECON 101 requirement. Students cannot take both ECON 101 and ECON 103.

ECON 104 Honors Introductory Macroeconomics (4)

Staff. Prerequisites: ECON 101 or ECON 103. Open to students with an honors standing only. A reading-intensive introduction to macroeconomics. The course satisfies the ECON 102 requirement. Students cannot take both ECON 102 and ECON 104.

ECON 301 Intermediate Microeconomics (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 101 or ECON 103. An exposition of modern microeconomic theory. Theory of consumer choice, production cost, product markets, and input markets. Students may not receive credit for both ECON 301 and ECON 303.

ECON 302 Intermediate Macroeconomics (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 102 or ECON 104. An exposition of modern macroeconomic theory. Theory of national income, employment, and the price level. The role of monetary and fiscal policy in economic stabilization and growth.

ECON 303 Intermediate Microeconomics with Calculus (4)

Staff. Prerequisites: ECON 101 or ECON 103 and MATH 121. An exposition of modern microeconomic theory using calculus. Topics include theory of consumer choice, firm production cost, competitive and noncompetitive market structures, markets with public goods or externalities, and general equilibrium. Students may not receive credit for both ECON 301 and ECON 303.

ECON 310 Economics of Money and Banking (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 102 or ECON 104. Covers both theory of monetary systems and the current structure of United States financial institutions. General topics to be included are monetary systems, financial intermediation and resource allocation, informational value of economy-wide financial markets, the term structure of interest rates, United States financial institutions and their relation to the federal reserve system, regulatory issues, and current tactics in monetary control.

ECON 323 Economic Statistics (4)

Staff. Prerequisites: ECON 101 and ECON 102. An introduction to statistics as a tool for descripton and inference used in economic science. A survey of the techniques of statistical summary. Sampling theory and procedure, index numbers, correlation and regression models. An introduction to the principles of statistical inference: probability, estimation, and testing hypotheses.

ECON 332 Urban Economics (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 101 or ECON 103. A review of the determinants of the location, size, growth, and form of urban areas. Study of the major issues of contemporary urban life: physical deterioration, growth of ghettos, congestion, pollution, transportation, and land use.

ECON 333 Environment and Natural Resources (3)

Staff. Prerequisites: ECON 101 or ECON 103. An introduction to the economic theory of how and why people make decisions that have consequences for the natural environment and the availability of renewable and nonrenewable natural resources. Analysis will include valuation of pollution damages and controls, the use of environmental valuations to determine optimal rates of extraction and utilization of natural resources. The course will apply analytical results to current environmental and natural resources issues.

ECON 334 Government in the Economy (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 101 or ECON 103. An analysis and description of the role of government in the economy with specific applications to the United States. Sources of market failures such as public goods, externalities, and non-competitive practices are discussed. Other topics include theories of public choice, and anti-trust legislation, regulation, the pricing of public sector output, and cost-benefit analysis.

ECON 335 Law and Economics (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 101 or ECON 103. Economic analysis of legal rules and institutions. Topics include property law, tort law, liability rules, the Coase theorem, and accident and nuisance law. Selected applications of current interest.

ECON 336 Current Economic Issues (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 102 or ECON 104. An analysis of contemporary macroeconomic and microeconomic issues. Topics will reflect current economic issues.

ECON 337 The World Economy (3)

Staff. Prerequisites: ECON 101 and ECON 102. This course offers a non-technical introduction to the analysis of international economic issues. While we will be primarily interested in developing standard economic approaches to these issues, we will also offer a variety of other useful approaches from political science, sociology, and less mainstream parts of economics. Among specific issues to be treated: protectionism, multinational firms, debt crisis, international macroeconomic policy coordination, and European integration.

ECON 342 Economic History of the United States (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 102 or ECON 104. A description and analysis of the principal features of the American economic experience. The colonial relationship with England. The economics of slavery. The industrialization and urbanization of America. Attention also is given to the insight into contemporary problems that can be gained by an examination of our historical experience. Same as HIST 352.

ECON 345 Development of Economic Thought (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 101 or ECON 103. An historical survey of the primary philosophical and analytical issues in the development of economic theory. Primary emphasis is given to the following schools of thought: the mercantilists, the physiocrats, the classicists, the Marxists, and the marginalists.

ECON 354 Development Economics (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 101 or ECON 103. An analysis of the problems of generating economic growth in less developed countries. Alternative strategies for promoting economic growth. The impact of the industrialized Western World on the economic development of poor countries.

ECON 358 Labor and Population in Latin America (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 101 or ECON 103. An examination of labor markets and demographic problems in Latin America. The course explores in depth dual labor markets, labor union activity in Latin America, migration and fertility change. Basic demographic methods to analyze migration and fertility are taught and the demographic expericnces of selected Latin American countries reviewed.

ECON 359 Economic Development of Latin America (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 102 or ECON 104. An introduction to economic issues that are of particular concern to Latin America. Emphasis is placed on understanding the position of Latin America within the world economy by studying measures of development and poverty, discussing theoretical models of structural economic change, and examining changes in international trading relations. As ECON 359 is a survey course, it is best taken before ECON 358 and ECON 466.

ECON 372 Contemporary Japanese Economy (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 102 or ECON 104. The course provides an objective analysis of the causes and consequences of the post-war Japanese economic development. It examines the historical and institutional background of the contemporary Japanese economy and brings global economic perspective to bear on the U.S.-Japan economic relationship. The course concludes with an assessment of the lessons learned from the Japanese model and its relevance to the U.S. economy.

ECON 374 Asia-Pacific Economic Development (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 102 or ECON 104. The course analyzes economic development in the Asia-Pacific region. It examines the sources of economic growth, financial market conditions and the nature of growing interdependence in the region.

ECON 381 The Economics of Labor (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 102 or ECON 104. A survey and economic analysis of some contemporary labor market issues. Topics include labor force participation and the economics of retirement, the supply and demand for labor, the demand for education and investment in human capital, unions and collective bargaining, the structure of compensation, occupational choice, job turnover and labor mobility, an introduction to theory of job search as well as various other theories of unemployment. The course focuses on theoretical and empirical aspects of labor economics and is only peripherally concerned with institutional, legal or management aspects.

ECON 382 Economics of Education (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 101 or ECON 103. An examination of education from an economics viewpoint. Topics include school finance, school reform, factors that influence school outcome, efficient school size, and the relationships between public and private schools.

ECON 383 Economics of Gender (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 101 or ECON 103. The goal of this course is to explore and understand the similarities and differences between men and women from economic perspectives. Based on economic theory and empirical analysis, this course examines how gender differences lead to different economic outcomes for the sexes and evaluates the effectiveness of government and corporate policies aimed to improve the welfare of women.

ECON 388 Writing Practicum (1)

Staff. Writing practicum. Fulfills the college writing requirement.

ECON 391, 392 Independent Studies (1-3, 1-3)

Staff.

ECON 397, 398 Special Studies in Economics (1-3, 1-3)

Staff.

ECON 401 Advanced Topics in Microeconomics (3)

Staff. Prerequisites: ECON 301, MATH 121. Explores microeconomic issues, including multivariate optimization, fundamentals of general equilibrium theory and game theory, public goods and externalities. Students work with professional material, and learn to prove economic statements and to understand and report research results in economic theory. ECON 601 is the master's-level equivalent, open to graduate students only.

ECON 422 Industrial Organization (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 301 or ECON 303. An examination of the extent of competition and monopoly in different industries. The effects of different forms of governmental regulation and control upon industrial performance. Some empirical evidence pertaining to selected industries. ECON 622 is the master's-level equivalent.

ECON 423 Econometrics (3)

Staff. Prerequisites: ECON 323 or MATH 301, or MATH 111 and MATH 112. Building on the statistical techniques learned in Economics 323, the course concentrates on the principal methods used to correct violations of the basic assumptions of ordinary least squares. ECON 623 is the master's-level equivalent.

ECON 424 Financial Decision Making in Firms (3)

Staff. Prerequisites: ECON 101 or 103, ECON 301 or 303, ECON 323 or equivalent. Financial analysis, planning and control in modern business firms includes valuation, cost and allocation of capital, and capital markets. ECON 624 is the master's-level equivalent.

ECON 425 Decisions Under Uncertainty (3)

Staff. Prerequisites: ECON 101 or 103, ECON 301 or 303, ECON 323 or equivalent. The theory and practice of decision-making under uncertain conditions. Applications and examples are drawn from the realm of personal, business, medical, and environmental decision-making. ECON 625 is the master's-level equivalent.

ECON 433 International Trading Relations (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 301 or 303. An examination of the principles of international trade and the international arrangements that have been established to guide international trade. Specific topics include comparative advantage, the effects of tariffs and quotas, and the substitution of the movement of goods for the movement of capital and labor. ECON 633 is the master's-level equivalent.

ECON 441 Topics in Mathematical Economics (3)

Staff. Prerequisites: ECON 301 or 303, MATH 121 and 122, or approval of instructor. A mathematical approach to microeconomic theory with an emphasis on static and dynamic optimization. ECON 641 is the master's-level equivalent.

ECON 450 Health Economics and Policy (3)

Prof. Olson. Prerequisite: ECON 301 or ECON 303. Provides an overview of the field of health economics. Economic theories and tools will be used to study behavior and outcomes in health care markets. Institutional features of the U.S. health care system will be examined. General topics include the demand for health care, determinants and consequences of health, medical technology, the role of health insurance, the behavior of health providers, managed care, comparative health care systems, and health policy and reforms. ECON 650 is the master's-level equivalent.

ECON 451 Advanced Topics in Macroeconomics (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 302. Structure and operation of macroeconomic systems, covering both closed and open economies. ECON 651 is the master's-level equivalent.

ECON 452 Economics of Public Expenditures (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 301 or 303. An examination of the economic bases for and evaluation of government expenditure programs. Topics include the rationale for government intervention into the economy, difficulties involved in setting appropriate levels of government activity, and how particular programs should be evaluated and financed. ECON 652 is the master's-level equivalent.

ECON 453 Economics of Taxation (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 301 or 303. An analysis of major tax structures used in or proposed for the U.S. economy. Each tax and the system as a whole will be judged according to the criteria of economic efficiency and tax equity. While emphasis will be national taxes, the local property tax will also be considered. Major alternatives to the present structure will be evaluated. ECON 653 is the masters-level equivalent.

ECON 461 Game Theory (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 301 or 303. Introduces the student to the use of game theory in diverse areas such as modern economic research, political science and sociology, and, with a suitable reinterpretation of players' objectives, evolutionary processes. Successful students will also be able to understand the games used in these literatures as well as develop their own models of strategic situations. ECON 661 is the masters-level equivalent.

ECON 466 Seminar on Latin American Economies (3)

Staff. Prerequisite: ECON 301 or 303. A complement to other courses in the Latin American economics sequence focusing on a particular country or sub-region. ECON 666 is the master's-level equivalent.

ECON H491, H492 Independent Studies (3,3)

Staff. Open to outstanding juniors and seniors.

ECON 497, 498 Special Studies in Economics (1-3, 1-3)

Staff. ECON 697 and 698 are the master's-level equivalents.

ECON H499-H500 Honors Thesis (3,4)

Staff. Prerequisites: approval of department and Honors Committee. Credit is not given for H499 until satisfactory completion of H500.

ECON 607 Introduction to Mathematical Economics (3)

Staff. Prerequisites: senior standing and two courses in economics. A presentation of the primary mathematical techniques used in modern economics: calculus, linear algebra and set theory.

ECON 608 Statistical Methods for Economic Analysis (3)

Staff. Prerequisites: senior standing and two courses in economics. A presentation of the main statistical techniques used in modern economics: probability, probability distributions, estimation, hypothesis testing. An introduction to econometrics.