17411 |
ECON 100
A Principles of Economics |
Michael
Martell |
T Th 1:30pm-2:50pm |
HEG 102 |
SA |
SSCI |
Cross-listed: Economics & Finance; Global & International
Studies; Related interest:
Environmental & Urban Studies This course is a one-semester
introduction to the essential ideas of economic analysis. The microeconomics
component of the course develops the basic model of consumer and firm behavior,
including demand and supply, in the context of an idealized competitive market
and examines 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. The macroeconomics component studies the aggregate behavior of
modern economies - the factors leading to economic growth, explanations of
booms and recessions, unemployment, interest rates, inflation, and budget
deficits or surpluses – and the government’s ability (or inability) to use
monetary and fiscal policies to achieve economic goals such as full employment
and price stability. This course replaces the two-semester introductory
microeconomics and macroeconomics sequence and is the foundational course in
the economics curriculum. Prerequisite: passing score on Part I of the
Mathematics Diagnostic. Class size: 22
17413 |
ECON 100
B Principles of Economics |
Michael
Martell |
T Th 10:10am-11:30am |
HEG 106 |
SA |
SSCI |
See above. Class size: 22
17412 |
ECON 100
C Principles of Economics |
Aniruddha
Mitra |
M W 1:30pm-2:50pm |
HEG 204 |
SA |
SSCI |
See above. Class size: 22
17415 |
ECON 202
Intermediate Macroeconomics |
Olivier
Giovannoni |
T Th 1:30pm-2:50pm |
OLIN 205 |
SA |
SSCI |
Cross-listed: Global & International Studies This course is the continuation of the introductory
macroeconomics course. In it, students will get acquainted with main models
that macroeconomists use to analyze the way economies behave. The course starts
by looking at the models that explain long run economic growth. We then focus
our attention on investigating economic theories that explain short run
business cycles, the periods of recessions and booms that occur on a regular
basis. An important part of the course is to investigate the role of
governments in affecting the long run and short run economic prospects of their
countries. We apply the acquired theoretical knowledge to a range of current
economic issues, including budget deficits and national debt, international
trade, and the role of institutions.
Prerequisite: either ECON 100, or the
combination ECON 101 / ECON 102, MATH 110.
Class size: 22
17416 |
ECON 203
Game Theory |
Aniruddha
Mitra |
M W 10:10am-11:30am |
OLIN 205 |
SA |
SSCI |
Cross-listed: Environmental & Urban Studies; Global &
International Studies; Political Studies Game Theory is the study of how rational actors behave when they know that
their actions hold consequences not just for themselves but for others as well
and they are, in turn, affected by the actions taken by others. While the
discipline has come to be regarded as a core area of economics, its
applicability extends far beyond the analysis of economic behavior. The object
of this course is to introduce you to the basics of game theory, emphasizing
its generality as an analytical paradigm for social science. We shall,
therefore, focus on a wide variety of applications taken from economics,
political science, and the study of the environment. Prerequisite: Econ 100 or Econ 101. Class
size: 22
17417 |
ECON 216
European Economic History |
Olivier
Giovannoni |
T Th 10:10am-11:30am |
OLIN 203 |
HA |
HIST |
Cross-listed: Global & International Studies; Historical Studies
This course presents the economic development of Europe
from its roots in the
17419 |
ECON 221
Economic Development |
Sanjaya
DeSilva |
M W 10:10am-11:30am |
ALBEE 106 |
SA |
SSCI |
Cross-listed: Africana Studies; Asian Studies; Environmental &
Urban Studies; Global & International Studies; Human Rights; Latin American
& Iberian Studies; Science, Technology & Society This course explores the economic conditions and
problems faced by what economists call the "developing world". We
begin by critically examining various definitions of economic development. The
rest of the course is divided into three parts: the first part explores several
key manifestations of development such as economic growth, industrialization,
urbanization, globalization, inequality and poverty; the second part examines
institutional determinants of development, including markets, political systems
and culture; the third part deals with policies designed to address specific
development goals, such as providing education, promoting gender equity or expanding
access to financial markets. Classroom discussions will be supplemented by
several book reports and discussions on popular contemporary books on
development, and a semester-long case study each student will carry out on
development experiences of a country of their choice. Prerequisites: ECON 100. Class size: 22
17420 |
ECON 225
Economic Perspectives |
Pavlina
Tcherneva |
T Th 11:50am-1:10pm |
LEVY |
SA |
SSCI |
Why do economists disagree? As economic systems evolve, so have the
theories used to explain them. Since Adam Smith, economists have used different
assumptions, models and methodologies to study the role of markets, states, and
institutions in the process of social provisioning. This course will survey the
diverse traditions in economics and introduce students to competing paradigms.
It covers several distinct approaches including Classical Political Economy,
Neoclassical, Institutionalist, Post Keynesian, Marxist, Feminist, Development
and Green Economics. The objective is to gain a broad appreciation of the
specific problems that each of these traditions emphasizes and the
contributions to theory and policy each has made. Students will examine not
only the evolution of ideas and theories, but also their practical application
today. Some of the specific issues that the course will consider include the
causes and cures for unemployment, the evolution and interaction of culture,
technology and the environment, and the role and nature of money in shaping the
modern world. As we contemplate modern economic problems, sometimes the good
old ideas produce the best new ideas. Prerequisite: Econ 100. Class size: 20
17421 |
ECON 229
Introduction to Econometrics |
Sanjaya
DeSilva |
M W 11:50am-1:10pm |
ALBEE 106 |
MC |
MATC |
Cross-listed: Economics & Finance; Environmental & Urban
Studies; Global & International Studies This
is the first of a two-course sequence designed to explore the tools economists
use to summarize and interpret data. The first half of the course introduces
the concepts of random variables, probability distributions, sampling,
descriptive statistics and statistical inference. The second half of the course
focuses on simple and multiple regression analysis. The emphasis is on
acquiring a practical knowledge of econometric methods (theoretical foundations
and advanced techniques are covered in Econ 329); students will learn how to
organize and analyze data using Excel and STATA, how to read and interpret
published empirical research, and how to carry out an empirical research
project. This course fulfills the statistical methods requirement for the economics
major. Prerequisite: Economics 100 and Pre-calculus. Class
size: 18
17414 |
ECON 233
Controversies:Monetary Econ. |
Larry
Randall Wray |
M W 3:10pm-4:30pm |
LEVY |
SA |
SSCI |
An investigation of current
controversies in monetary and theory and policy. We will examine both the
mainstream and heterodox approaches to each. Mainstream approaches include
Monetarism, New Classical, New Keynesian, and the New Monetary Consensus. Heterodox
approaches include Post Keynesian (endogenous money and circuit approaches),
Marxist, and Institutionalist. We will conclude with a detailed examination of
Modern Money Theory, which combines various strands of heterodoxy while also
including contributions from historical, legal, and anthropological research.
Class
size: 25
17422 |
ECON 254
Women and the Economy |
Pavlina
Tcherneva |
T Th 10:10am-11:30am |
LEVY |
SA D+J |
SSCI DIFF |
This is an economics course with a strong
interdisciplinary bent. While the focus is on women’s role and place in the
economy, the analysis of gender roles and imbalances cannot be conceptually
separated from the discrimination faced along other lines of marginalization
such as race, age, class, and other. The course has two main objectives. The
first is to introduce students to different theoretical approaches and
methodologies for analyzing labor markets, household production, pay practices
and other economic outcomes that affect various socio-economic groups. The
second is to use the different theoretical lenses for analyzing key policy
concerns such as pay differentials, discrimination, comparable worth policies,
unpaid care burden, labor force participation, poverty and other. The course
will introduce students to some advanced academic literature and
policy-relevant papers to help them improve their research and writing
skills. Prerequisite: Econ 100. Class
size: 20
17423 |
ECON 330
Seminar in Geoclassical Economics |
Kris
Feder |
M 1:30pm-3:50pm |
HEG 300 |
SA |
SSCI DIFF |
Cross-listed:
Environmental & Urban Studies Geoclassical economics focuses on the role of property
institutions in shaping political and economic life, and offers a systematic
way of organizing our understanding of our relationships to each other and to
the earth. Its research agenda reaches broadly into diverse aspects of economic
and social theory. As a practical philosophy, geoclassical
thought has roots in ancient Arabic and Hebrew traditions. As an analytical
system, it emerged during the 17th through the 19th
centuries in the political economy of John Locke, François Quesnay, Adam Smith,
David Ricardo, John Stuart Mill, and Henry George. We review the classic and
contemporary literature of geoclassical economics and
explore its relationship to other schools of economic thought—neoclassical,
ecological, and institutional. We also examine applications to both
contemporary and enduring social problems, including: the Great Recession of
2008; rising inequality; crushing private and public debt burdens;
distortionary taxes and subsidies; ecological destruction, urban blight, and
suburban sprawl; and territorial disputes.
This course satisfies the Economic Thought field requirement in
Economics. Students must be moderated in either ECON or EUS. Prerequisites:
MATH 141; either ECON 101 and ECON 102 or ECON/EUS 206. Class
size: 15
17424 |
ECON 338
Seminar in Discrimination |
Michael
Martell |
W 1:30pm-3:50pm |
HEG 300 |
SA D+J |
SSCI DIFF |
Many economists believe that markets are a
relatively effective mechanism for coordinating wants and desires among members
of society. Nevertheless we observe differences in economic outcomes for
different groups of society. In this course we will explore the process through
which differences in earnings manifest as well as the impact of these
differences on wealth and well-being. We
pay particular attention to the role of discrimination in generating unequal
outcomes in labor markets. We will study
discrimination with standard neo-classical approaches as well as through the
analytical approaches of various schools of political economy including
feminist, institutionalist, and Marxist.
We will discuss equality of economic opportunity and economic outcomes
across, as well as relevant public policies for race, class, gender, sex and
sexual orientation. Class size: 16
17604 |
ECON 390 contemporary developments in Finance |
Taun
Toay |
T 4:00pm-
6:20pm |
OLIN 303 |
SA |
SSCI |
Cross-listed: Economics & Finance The seminar
will contrast the academic analysis of financial economics with the coverage it
receives in the newspapers and on the nightly newscast. The stories on the news
are almost always connected with people, whether we observe them shouting bids
in a trading floor or talking on two phones simultaneously. Financial markets
are dominated by people behaving in many different ways. Yet traditional
finance theories concentrate on efficient markets, predictable prices that are
determined by the concepts of present value, rates of return and analysis and
pricing of computable risks. Human behavior has neither a place in the theory
nor a need to be studied. This prevailing view has recently been challenged by
the new paradigm of behavioral finance that considers the many anomalies of
"rational" behavior and "efficiency" of markets. The new
paradigm concerns itself with economic decision-making and investor psychology,
and specifically with questions relating to how and why people exhibit a mixture
of rational and irrational behavior. The seminar will examine the influence of
economic psychology in the decision-making process of various agents as well as
in the market's dynamics. Several guest lecturers will also offer their
informed views in the development of contemporary finance. Class
size: 15
Cross-listed:
17603 |
EUS 226 ENVIRONMENTAL MODELING |
Gautam
Sethi |
M W 10:10am-11:30am |
OLIN 101 |
MC |
MATC |
Cross-listed: Economics;
Mathematics