Course |
ECON 101A Introduction to Microeconomics |
|
Professor |
Andrew Pearlman |
|
CRN |
95260 |
|
Schedule |
Tu Th 9:00 -10:20 am OLIN 204 |
|
Distribution |
OLD: A/E/Q |
NEW: SOCIAL
SCIENCE
|
Cross-listed: Environmental Studies, GISP
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.
Course |
ECON 101E Experimental Microeconomics |
|
Professor |
Tsu-Yu Tsao |
|
CRN |
95261 |
|
Schedule |
Mon Wed 3:00 -4:20 pm OLIN 305 |
|
Distribution |
OLD: A/E/Q |
NEW: SOCIAL
SCIENCE
|
Cross-listed:
Environmental Studies, Global & Int’l StudiesTraditionally,
economics has been regarded as a non-experimental science, where researchers
have to rely on direct observations of the real world to verify their
theories. That view, however, has
changed in the last twenty years as many researchers begin to test economic
theories in laboratory settings. In
this course, we will follow this relatively new methodology in economics and
use in-class experiments to study economic concepts. Each week, we devote one class meeting to conducting an
experiment and the other to understand the underlying principles of the
experiment and how those principles can be applied to analyze real-world
issues. Topics to be addressed include minimum
wage law, legality of drug use, farm subsidies in the U.S., the protection of
intellectual property and pricing of AIDS drugs in developing countries,
tradeoffs between efficiency and equity associated with taxation, the use of
pollution permits in combating environmental degradation, international trade,
and labor market discrimination. This
course can be used to fulfill the requirement of Econ 101: Introduction to
Microeconomics for students who intend to moderate into economics.
Course |
ECON 102A Introduction to Macroeconomics |
|
Professor |
Tamar Khitarishvili |
|
CRN |
95262 |
|
Schedule |
Mon Wed 10:30 -11:50 am OLIN 307 |
|
Distribution |
OLD: A/E/Q |
NEW: SOCIAL
SCIENCE
|
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.
Course |
ECON 102B Introduction to Macroeconomics |
|
Professor |
Tamar Khitarishvili |
|
CRN |
95263 |
|
Schedule |
Mon Wed 1:30 -2:50 pm OLIN 101 |
|
Distribution |
OLD: A/E/Q |
NEW: SOCIAL
SCIENCE
|
See description above.
Course |
ECON 120 Social Security and Health Care |
|
Professor |
Andrew Pearlman |
|
CRN |
95264 |
|
Schedule |
Mon Wed 12:00 -1:20 pm OLIN 205 |
|
Distribution |
OLD: A |
NEW: SOCIAL
SCIENCE
|
Looming
as two significant long-term policy questions in the U.S. are Social Security and
health care financing. Today these
topics share the stage in a national debate about the role of government in a
market economy, and both policy areas have been cited as financial crises. This course is designed to apply
dispassionate economic analysis to an often-confusing public debate, to explode
the myths, and to highlight the undeniable realities. For Social Security, we investigate the purpose and history of
the program, its current functions, and its micro and macro effects on the
economy. We then consider Social
Security’s financial outlook and to what extent it presents a crisis, and
evaluate proposed solutions. Special consideration will be given to President
Bush’s reform proposals. For health care,
we examine health care markets, insurance, and the arguments for government
intervention. We will study how
Medicare and Medicaid work, their roles in the escalation of national health
care expenditures, and we will evaluate competing proposals to restructure
federal health policy. In both Social
Security and health care, we will use international comparisons throughout the
course to shed light on the U.S. situation.
Course |
ECON 200 Money and Banking |
|
Professor |
Dimitri Papadimitriou |
|
CRN |
95265 |
|
Schedule |
Tu Th 10:30 -11:50 am OLIN 307 |
|
Distribution |
OLD: C/E |
NEW: SOCIAL
SCIENCE
|
Cross-listed:
Global & Int’l Studies
An examination of the role of money and financial
intermediaries in determining aggregate economic activity. Interactions of savers,
investors, and regulatory authorities in domestic and international capital
markets are analyzed, and the linkage between the financial system and the real
economy traced. The functions of central banks, commercial banks, securities
dealers, investment banks, and other intermediaries are covered in detail. The
debate over the goals, tools, indicators, and effectiveness of monetary policy
is considered in the light of current national and international economic
problems.
Course |
ECON 201 Intermediate Microeconomics |
|
Professor |
Tsu-Yu Tsao |
|
CRN |
95266 |
|
Schedule |
Mon 9:00 – 11:20 am OLIN 204 Wed 9:00 - 10:20 am OLIN 203 |
|
Distribution |
OLD: A |
NEW: SOCIAL
SCIENCE
|
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.
Course |
ECON 219 Economic History of Central Asia |
|
Professor |
Tamar Khitarishvili |
|
CRN |
95267 |
|
Schedule |
Tu Th 9:00 -10:20 am OLIN 303 |
|
Distribution |
OLD: C/E |
NEW: SOCIAL
SCIENCE / RETHINKING DIFFERENCE
|
Cross-listed:
Asian Studies, Global & Int’l Studies, History, Russian and Eurasian
Studies
Central Asia has made headlines due to its vast
reserves of oil and natural gas and the geographic proximity to Russia, China
and Afghanistan. Yet, little is known about the region, which includes Mongolia
and five countries of the former Soviet Union (Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan,
Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan). This course will explore the
economic history of Central Asia from early times until today. Several major
themes will be explored. The economic development of Central Asia was closely
linked to the fortunes of the Silk Road, which passed through the region. We
will study the impact that being the main segment of the Silk Road had on the
lifestyle and economic wellbeing of the Central Asian population. We will also
analyze the lasting influence that the rise of Genghis Khan in 13th century had
on the region. As the heart of his empire, Central Asia experienced dramatic
changes as free trade and commerce prospered, a common paper currency system
was introduced, and physical infrastructure developed. We will then evaluate
the impact that the discovery of oil and natural gas in 19th century
has had on the region, as it became the battle zone between Russia and the
Great Britain in 19th century and Russia and the United States today. Finally,
we will look at the challenges that Central Asia faces today as it attempts to
leave behind the Soviet legacy and move forward.
Course |
ECON 242 Environmental Economics |
|
Professor |
Kris Feder |
|
CRN |
95268 |
|
Schedule |
Tu Th 2:30 -3:50 pm OLIN 307 |
|
Distribution |
OLD: A/E |
NEW: SOCIAL
SCIENCE
|
Cross-listed: Environmental Studies
The interrelationships between economic and
ecological systems: the materials balance; the economic role of ecosystem services;
the economic value of extractive and in
situ uses of the environment as a source of productive inputs and a
repository for wastes; market and non-market allocations of natural resources
among alternative uses. The standard
neoclassical analysis of pollution as a consequence of externality and market
failure is developed, general conditions for efficient resource use and waste
disposal are derived, and rationales for public management of environmental
resources are examined. Conventional
policy solutions are evaluated with particular focus on United States
environmental policy. Orthodox analyses
of environmental problems are contrasted with alternative interpretations,
including those of ecological economics, steady-state economics, and geoclassical
economics. Of special interest are the
questions of land tenure and entitlement—of individual and collective rights to
nature.
Prerequisite: ECON 102.
Course |
ECON 254 Feminist Economics |
|
Professor |
Rania Antonopoulos |
|
CRN |
95269 |
|
Schedule |
Tu Th 1:00 -2:20 pm OLIN 303 |
|
Distribution |
OLD: A |
NEW: SOCIAL
SCIENCE / RETHINKING DIFFERENCE
|
Cross-listed:
American Studies, Gender Studies
This course
reexamines economics by looking at traditional theories through a feminist lens. Emerging feminist approaches challenge the
currently used framework of economic analysis, at both the micro and macro
levels, for omitting a crucial analytical category, that of gender. In introducing this centrally
important category, feminist economics seeks to correct the mainstream vision
of how contemporary societies organize the activities of production and
distribution. From a scientific point of view, a gender-based schema
makes the complexity of economic interactions among institutions and people
more transparent, and is thus better suited to address issues of public policy
and ultimately societal transformation. Topics that will be covered,
include: feminist critiques of economic
theories :“en-gendering” the economic question per se; the importance of re-conceptualizing the
economy as a three sector model: household
sector, market sector and government sector; household production versus market oriented production: a
gendered system; social division of
labor by gender: structures of gender occupation and segregation; contemporary labor market issues and
policies: wage gap, comparable worth, discrimination and affirmative action;
economic growth, poverty trends and government policy: gendered impact;
“efficient” versus “equitable” growth: how do we evaluate economic prosperity?
Course |
ECON 265 Development from the Ground Up: Community-Based Development |
|
Professor |
Sanjaya DeSilva |
|
CRN |
95270 |
|
Schedule |
Wed Fr 10:30 -11:50 am OLIN 204 |
|
Distribution |
OLD: A |
NEW: SOCIAL
SCIENCE / RETHINKING DIFFERENCE
|
Cross-listed:
Asian Studies; Environmental Studies; Global & Int’l Studies; Human Rights; Society, Technology & Society
This course critically examines the concept and practice
of community-based (or community-led) development as an alternative to the
widely studied top-down theories and policies of development. We begin by asking whether the end goals of
“development” are universal outcomes such as income, or outcomes that vary with
the values of individuals or communities. Conceptualizations of well-being in
Buddhist and Gandhian thinking will be considered to highlight the
cross-cultural differences in what constitutes a “good life”. We will develop a
broader definition of development as economic, social and political empowerment
that allows an individual or a community to achieve whatever it is that they
value and desire. We will then examine several grassroots development movements
that have focused on empowerment. Two examples are the micro-credit movement
that began with the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh and the Sarvodaya Shramadana
Movement of Sri Lanka. We will also attempt to relate the concept of
community-based development to the neoclassical paradigm of economics. We will
critically examine the impact of market expansion and the consequent erosion of
informal exchange relations from the perspective of community empowerment.
Several innovative ideas such as fair trade, eco-tourism and micro-credit that
attempt to combine community empowerment with market expansion will be studied.
Throughout the course, the relationship of community-based development with
ecological sustainability and political decentralization will be highlighted.
Prerequisites: Econ 101 or
permission of instructor.
Course |
ECON 329 Econometrics |
|
Professor |
Sanjaya DeSilva |
|
CRN |
95271 |
|
Schedule |
Tu Th 4:00 -5:20 pm OLIN 309 |
|
Distribution |
OLD: E/Q |
NEW: SOCIAL
SCIENCE
|
Econometrics is the artful blending
of economic theory with statistics.
Economic theory helps us to develop behavioral hypotheses, while
statistics help us to test these hypotheses.
For example, consumer theory tells us that there is an inverse
relationship between price and quantity demanded; we use econometrics to see if
consumers actually behave in this way.
This course covers the proper use of statistical tools, such as linear
regression, multivariate regression and hypothesis testing. Students will have an opportunity to apply
these tools to analyze a variety of economic issues. Prerequisites: ECON
229 and either ECON 201 or ECON 202.
Course |
ECON 330 Seminar in Geoclassical Economics |
|
Professor |
Kris Feder |
|
CRN |
95272 |
|
Schedule |
Fr 12:00 -2:20 pm OLIN 307 |
|
Distribution |
OLD: A |
NEW: SOCIAL
SCIENCE
|
Cross-Listed: Environmental Studies
This seminar reviews the literature of geoclassical
economics from it roots in Locke, Quesnay, Smith, Ricardo and George to the recently
published work of Tideman, Gaffney, Vickrey, Stiglitz, and others. The
geoclassical tradition studies the role of land tenure and related property
institutions in shaping social, political, and economic life. Its
interdisciplinary research agenda includes economic applications to
environmental issues, urban problems, economic cycles, tax policy, public
choice, the economic theory of government, trade, debt and dependency, income
distribution, and territorial disputes. Exploring discrepancies between
geoclassical and neoclassical postulates, we ask whether geoclassical thought
constitutes a consistent body of theory. Each student will present articles or
excerpts from the primary literature, compose short critical essays, and write
a research paper. Together as a class,
we will attempt to characterize the nature and scope of the geoclassical
research agenda and to identify a priority list of questions for research.
(Econ 330 satisfies the History of Economic Thought field requirement in
Economics.)
Prerequisites: Economics 102
and either 101 or 115. Moderated ES students with related background may enroll
with permission of instructor.
Course |
ECON CONF Senior Conference |
|
Professor |
Faculty |
|
CRN |
95273 |
|
Schedule |
Tu 5:30 -6:50 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.