DIVISION OF SOCIAL STUDIES
ECONOMICS
ECON 101 Introductory Macroeconomics
Professor: G. McCarthy
CRN: 91650 Distribution: A/E/Q
Time: Tue Th 9:00 am 10:20 am LC 115
Cross-listed: CRES
A consideration of the macroeconomic problems of economic analysis-national income determination, the problem of cycles and growth in the contemporary economy-and a discussion of the desirability of continuing economic growth in the future. Current economic policy tools and their use will be studied, including readings in governmental finance, defense spending, and fiscal and monetary policies.
ECON 110 Capitalism, Society, and Utopia
Professor: R. Wiles
CRN: 91646 Distribution: A/C
Time: M W 10:30 am 11:50 am OLIN 201
Cross-listed: Victorian Studies
Reading and analysis of a neglected phase of economic thought and criticism, i.e., the reaction of nineteenthcentury writers and thinkers, primarily noneconomists, to the theoretical economic model of the working of a capitalist economy and its institutional counterpart, the industrial revolution. Readings will include such authors as Thomas Carlyle, John Ruskin, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, Oscar Wilde, and utopian literature of the period. The writings will be looked at with an eye to their economic origins and their implications for the social and economic reforms and renovations of economic theory occurring since the industrial revolution.
ECON 200 Money and Banking
Professor: D. Papadimitriou
CRN: 91652 Distribution: A
Time: M W 6:00 pm - 7:20 pm ASP 302
The course will focus on the role of money and financial intermediaries in the context of aggregate economic activity. It will explore various forms of interaction involving savers, investors, and regulatory authorities in domestic and international capital markets. The linkage between the financial system and the real economy will be analyzed. Specific functions of central banks, commercial banks, security dealers, investment banks, and other intermediaries will be covered in some detail, with particular emphasis on new markets. Finally, the course will consider the debate over goals, tools, indicators, and effectiveness of monetary policy in light of current national and international economic problems.
ECON 225 Poughkeepsie Inst. Studio: Transportation
Professor: K. Feder
CRN: 91922 Distribution: A/E
Time: tba
A collaborative study involving students from Bard, Dutchess, Marist, New Paltz, and Vassar of the effects of local, regional and national transportation on the local urban centers. Using Poughkeepsie as our primary focus, we will examine the impact of rail, motor, air, and river transportation on the complex interdependence of urban society, economy and landscape. The issues will be addressed in a multidisciplinary fashion incorporating economics, political science, sociology, history and other disciplines as appropriate. At the conclusion of the course, we will issue a report of the outcomes of the study, along with related public policy recommendations.
ECON 237 Public Sector Economics
Professor: K. Feder
CRN: 91654 Distribution: A/E
Time: Tue Th 3:40 pm 5:00 pm OLIN 202
Cross-listed: CRES
The economic theory of government, or, more broadly, the economics of collective decisionmaking. Topics include: economic models of political behavior; market failure and the rationale for government intervention in a market economy; taxes, revenues, borrowing, and expenditures of federal, state, and local governments; governmental redistribution programs; and efficient pricing of publicsector output. Prerequisite: Economics 102 or 105.
ECON 303 National Income,
Business Cycles and Economic Growth
Professor: R. Wiles
CRN: 91655 Distribution: A/E
Time: Tue 1:20 pm 3:20 pm OLIN 303
A treatment of the determinants
of national income, employment, and price levels in the short
run; a study of the problem of business fluctuations in the economy
and the theoretical attempts to explain them; integration of macroeconomic
theory with the longrun growth process.
ECON 305 Seminar in Economic Policy
Professor: N. Buchanan
CRN: 92211 Distribution: A/E
Time: W 3:00 pm - 5:30 pm OLIN 301
This course will emphasize current topics in macroeconomics theory and policy. The course will contrast the theoretical approaches of various schools of thought (New Classical, New Keynesian, Neo Keynesian, Sraffian, Post-Keynesian), with an emphasis on the policy implications of the different approaches. Topics to be studied include: Fiscal and monetary "neutrality" and "super-neutrality," budget deficits, optimal inflation, path dependence, policy transmission mechanisms, multiple equilibria, minimum wages. readings will range from a few classics (Keynes, Robinson, Kalecki, Friedman, Lucas) to more recent journal articles applying these theoretical constructs to policy questions about Fed policy, budget balance, entitlement reform, etc. Students will be expected to participate actively in discussions. A research paper (encompassing prospectus and three graded drafts) will be required.
ECON 329 Econometrics
Professor: G. McCarthy
CRN: 91656 Distribution: A/E
Time: W 10:30 am 12:30 pm OLIN 306
Contemporary social sciences
are increasingly adopting the use of quantitative methods in their
analyses of social problems. The course attempts to provide the
student with an ability to understand empirical studies in the
social sciences, to use quantitative tools in analyzing social
issues, and to critique such studies and tools. The course will
build on concepts of basic statistics, emphasizing simple and
multiple regression, correlation, hypothesis testing, covariance
analysis, and model building. The course will integrate theory
and practice and examine a wide variety of contemporary economic
issues and problems such as production, income distribution, racism,
sexism, etc. Prerequisite: Economics 229.