CRN	94036	Distribution	A/E / *(Social Science)
Course No.	ECON 101 A Q course
Title	Introduction to Microeconomics
Professor	Andrew Pearlman
Schedule	Mon Wed 10:00 am - 11:20 am OLIN 201

Cross-listed: Environmental Studies

This course covers the essential ideas of economic analysis. Students will learn how economists explain human behavior as we seek to satisfy our needs and wants. The first part of the course develops models of consumer and firm behavior, including demand and supply, in the context of an idealized competitive market. From there we analyze several ways in which the real world deviates from this model, including monopoly and other forms of imperfect competition, information problems, minimum wages and other price controls, taxes, and government regulation. Along the way we will explore public policy problems such as pricing the environment, winners and losers from international trade, health care costs and insurance, and the high price of textbooks. Econ 101 and 102 may be taken in either order.

CRN	94037	Distribution	A/E / *(Social Science)
Course No.	ECON 101 B Q course
Title	Introduction to Microeconomics
Professor	Tsu-Yu Tsao
Schedule	Tu Th 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm OLIN 204

In this course, we study the fundamental principles of economics through the examination of real-world issues and in-class experiments. The course is divided into three stages. In the first stage, the concepts of supply and demand, market equilibrium, elasticity, and efficiency are developed and topics such as minimum wage law, legality of drug-use, and the U.S. farm subsidies are discussed. In the second stage, different market structures from perfect competition to monopoly are analyzed and game theory is introduced. The final part of the course is devoted to addressing public policy issues such as the protection of intellectual property and pricing of AIDS drugs in developing countries, tradeoffs between efficiency and equity associated with taxes, the use of pollution permits in combating environmental degradation, and labor market discrimination. Econ 101 and 102 may be taken in either order.

CRN	94038	Distribution	A/E / *(Social Science)
Course No.	ECON 102 A Q course
Title	Introduction to Macroeconomics
Professor	Tamar Khitarishvili
Schedule	Mon Wed 3:00 pm - 4:20 pm ALBEE 106

Cross-listed: Global & Int’l Studies

This course begins with the examination of the aggregate behavior of modern economies: the factors leading to economic growth, explanations of booms and recessions, unemployment, interest rates, inflation, budget deficits or surpluses, and international trade. We will also analyze the government’s ability (or inability) to use monetary and fiscal policies to achieve economic goals such as full employment and price stability. Throughout the course, we will debate whether government should use monetary and fiscal policy tools to try to “fine tune” the economy and what the likely effects of such government involvement are. We will analyze these issues using current domestic and international examples. Econ 101 and 102 may be taken in either order.

CRN	94039	Distribution	A/E / *(Social Science)
Course No.	ECON 102 B Q course
Title	Introduction to Macroeconomics
Professor	Tamar Khitarishvili
Schedule	Tu Th 3:00 pm - 4:20 pm ALBEE 106

See description above.

CRN	94040	Distribution	E / *(Social Science)
Course No.	ECON 105 Q course
Title	Foundations of Finance and Investment
Professor	Tsu-Yu Tsao
Schedule	Tu Th 10:00 am - 11:20 am HEG 106

This course explores the foundations of the pricing of financial

instruments and the structure and organization of financial markets. Methods will be developed to analyze and measure financial performance, price stocks and bonds, evaluate portfolios and understand financial derivatives as these relate to financial data. Additional topics include the investment decision-making process; trading practices; risk assessment and diversification. This course involves a substantial amount of statistical analysis and calculation, but no prior knowledge of statistics is required.

CRN	94041	Distribution	A / *(Social Science)
Course No.	ECON 201
Title	Intermediate Microeconomics
Professor	Tsu-Yu Tsao
Schedule	Wed 10:00 am - 11:20 am OLIN 204 Fr 10:00 am - 12:20 pm OLIN 204

A further development of principles and analytical methods begun in Intro to Microeconomics: demand, supply, and the workings of the price system. The positive and normative characteristics of alternative market structures – perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, pure monopoly, and in resource markets, monopsony – are studies in depth. Market forces are examined in the context of social and political institutions that shape, and are shaped by, market outcomes. The alleged “trade-off” between equity and efficiency is debated in the context of a variety of applications.

Prerequisite: Introduction to Microeconomics

CRN	94042	Distribution	A/C / *(Social Science)
Course No.	ECON 214
Title	Economic Transition from Socialism to a Market-Based System: Past, Present and Future Challenges
Professor	Tamar Khitarishvili
Schedule	Tu Th 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm OLIN 304

Cross-listed: Global & Int’l Studies, Human Rights, Russian and Eurasian Studies, Political Studies

This course explores one of the major events in the economic history of the 20th century: the collapse of the socialist system in the countries of the former Soviet Union, and Central and Eastern Europe, and their transition to market – based economies. We will start the course by investigating the causes of the collapse of the socialist system. We will then identify similarities and differences in the economic environments of the countries in this seemingly homogenous group. Important objectives of this course are to analyze economic challenges associated with the transition process and to investigate policy tools that these countries have used in at attempt to address these challenges. To achieve these objectives, we will study a range of topics, which include privatization, price liberalization, inflation, unemployment, changes in the composition of output, foreign direct investment (FDI), national debt and budget deficits, informal economy, and the fight against corruption, among other topics. An important emphasis will be placed on the impact of the economic transformation on social indicators such as income distribution, poverty, education, and health. We will conclude the class by identifying the future challenges that the transition countries face.

Prerequisite: One Economics course, or permission of the instructor.

CRN	94043	Distribution	A/E *(Math/Computing)
Course No.	ECON 229 Q course
Title	Statistics
Professor	Andrew Pearlman
Schedule	Tu Th 11:30 am - 12:50 pm ALBEE 106

Cross-listed: Environmental Studies

The first of a two-course series designed to examine empirical economics, and a Prerequisite for Economics 329, Econometrics. Basic concepts of statistics, probability, probability distributions, random variables, correlation, and simple regression are introduced; the techniques of statistical inference hypothesis testing are developed. Numerous examples and computer-based exercises are included. Prerequisite: Economics 101 or 102.

CRN	94045	Distribution	A/E
Course No.	ECON 237
Title	Economics of the Public Sector
Professor	Kris Feder
Schedule	Mon Wed 1:30 pm - 2:50 pm OLIN 303

Cross-listed: American Studies, Environmental Studies

This course introduces the two branches of traditional public finance, corresponding to the two sides of the government budget—revenue and spending. On the spending side, we survey the economic rationales for the existence of government and for its intervention in the economy, as well as the economic consequences of government expenditures. On the revenue side, we examine the problem of efficient pricing of public sector output; the consequences of alternative tax structures for the distribution of wealth and the efficiency of resource allocation; and contemporary debates about tax reform. This course also introduces alternative approaches to the economics of collective action. The theory of public choice explains the actions of clubs, governments, interest groups, corporations, labor unions, and other associations with reference to the interacting choices of self-interested individuals. Topics in public choice theory include the economic theory of clubs; the theory of constitutions; property rights; efficiency, equity and consistency of alternative voting rules; and economic models of the behavior of legislators, politicians, bureaucrats, and citizens.

Prerequisite: Introduction to Microeconomics

CRN	94046	Distribution	A/E *(Math/Computing)
Course No.	ECON / MATH 270 Q course
Title	Game Theory: Understanding Strategic Interaction
Professor	Gautam Sethi
Schedule	Mon Wed 4:30 pm - 5:50 pm HEG 102

Cross-listed: Environmental Studies, Political Studies

Game theory is about situations of strategic interaction, where your best strategy is dependent on the strategies adopted by other players. By the same logic, the best strategy of another player depends on the strategy adopted by you. By transitivity, your best strategy depends on the strategy adopted by you (and others). This interdependence of action leads to circular chains of reasoning, which can be “cut” by using game-theoretic concepts such as dominance, Nash equilibria, backwards induction, subgame perfect equilibria, and perfect Bayesian equilibria. Throughout the course these concepts will be conveyed using examples from several fields including economics, politics, environmental studies, business, biology, philosophy and from real-life. For example, we will analyze strategic behavior using games such as tennis and poker, wars of attrition such as the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and the Presidential election campaign, bidding in auctions like eBay, fish schooling behavior and job market signaling. Calculus will be used about 5 or 6 times during the semester, but a good grasp of algebra and proficiency with (sometimes long) chains of logic will suffice rest of the time. Prerequisites: This is a Q-course. A good grasp of pre-calculus algebra, a basic familiarity with calculus, and the instructor’s consent.

CRN	94047	Distribution	A / * (Social Science)
Course No.	ECON 285
Title	Economics of Sports
Professor	Andrew Pearlman
Schedule	Mon Wed 11:30 am - 12:50 pm OLIN 302

Forget any notion that a sports economics course is justified by the importance of the industry itself. The $14 billion spent on spectator sports in the U.S. is only slightly more than spending on funeral and burial expenses, but not quite as much as is spent on flowers, seeds and potted plants. Why a whole course on this relatively tiny industry? The intense glare of public attention makes sports an ideal specimen for economic analysis. Economics is all about the choices made by individuals, firms and governments to cope with scarce resources. In sports, the behaviors of consumers, athletes, teams, leagues, cities and states are public knowledge, and in this context we can see whether those behaviors follow patterns predicted by economic theory. A section on industrial organization looks at competition within and between leagues, as well as the impact of monopolies, cartels, and other forms of cooperation. Public sector issues include the relationship between cities and their teams, team relocation, and the costs and benefits of sports franchises. Labor economics can help illuminate questions such as how player salaries are determined, the relationship between athlete compensation and performance, the impact of labor unions and collective bargaining, and the peculiar case of amateur and college sports. The idea that economics can help us understand sports is now a cliche. In this course, in the spirit of the liberal arts, we use sports to help us understand economics.

Prerequisite: Economics 101 (Introduction to Microeconomics)

CRN	94048	Distribution	C / * (Social Science)
Course No.	ECON 302
Title	Topics in Macroeconomics
Professor	Dimitri Papadimitriou
Schedule	Tu 3:00 pm - 5:20 pm OLIN 303

Cross-listed:Global & Int’l Studies

This course will examine advanced topics in macroeconomics and critically review contemporary macroeconomic theories and models with regard to their historical development. The foundations of macroeconomic theory will be studied and alternative approaches to economic growth, distribution, increasing returns, and endogenous change will be analyzed. The monetary and financial aspects in macro foundations will be discussed, focusing on the work of Minsky, Tobin, Sargent, Lucas, post-Keynesians, neo-Keynesians, new Keynesians, and Sraffians. Readings will be mainly from primary journal literature.

Prerequisite: Economics 102, Introduction to Macroeconomics and Economics 202, Intermediate Macroeconomics.

CRN	94004	Distribution	A / * (Humanities)
Course No.	ECON / PHIL 351
Title	Economic Justice
Professor	Kris Feder / William Griffith
Schedule	Fr 1:30 pm - 3:50 pm ASP 302

What is a just way of distributing the goods and resources of society? This is obviously an old question, an extremely difficult and divisive question, and yet an important and unavoidable question for thoughtful citizens. Furthermore, any adequate discussion of justice in distribution must also take into account the effects of such distribution. How do various ideals of justice interact with economic realities? Are there important distinctions to be made among the concepts of justice, fairness, equity, and equality? Some writers argue for an ideal of equal opportunity, while others prefer the notion of equality of outcomes. We will focus on these questions as applied to the United States. We will discuss not merely issues of values, for example, various ideas that have been proposed as to what is a just system of taxation, but also matters of historical/political fact: What is the current distribution of wealth in this country? What has it been in the past? How did we come to have the tax (and subsidy) system that we have? While some have held that all taxation is theft, others have taken the opposite view—that a person’s pre-tax income has no special ethical status because individual incomes depend on the actions of government and society. In short, we will be considering interrelated issues of fact and of value, of ideals and the possible, of philosophy and of economics and of history. Authors studied include John Stuart Mill, John Rawls, Richard Musgrave, Robert Nozick and Amartya Sen.

Prerequisite: At least one related course in philosophy, economics, or a related area. Permission of instructor required

CRN	94049
Course No.	ECON CONF
Title	Senior Conference
Professor	Faculty
Schedule	Alternate Tu 6:00 pm - 7:20 pm ALBEE 102

Students writing Senior Projects in Economics will be required to attend the Senior Conference, which will meet not more than one evening every two weeks throughout the fall and spring terms. Not for credit.