Course Listings

Use the pull-down menus to find classes based on day of the week, department, campus, course number or term. View courses at a glance for a quick view of all courses by day, campus and term.

The course addresses two questions: Why do some countries grow rich and why does that growth fluctuate over time? Students learn basic facts surrounding these questions and models that attempt to explain those facts. Prerequisite: two years of high school mathematics or MATH 101.

Principles of decision making. Households and firms and their interaction in connected markets. Construction of supply and demand curves. Efficiency of outcomes and their dependence on market structure and government intervention. Prerequisite: ECON 201.

Estimation and analysis of a variety of empirical econometric models. Descriptive statistics, univariate regression, multiple regression, simultaneous equations, and forecasting. Prerequisite: STAT 202 or equivalent.

This course takes an in-depth look into the economic aspects of the American medical care system. The United States medical system is very complex and involves both a variety of players and very different economic issues that cannot be simply address through basic economics. We will carefully study and economically evaluate the overall health care system as well as the different players within the healthcare market including the consumers of health care, hospitals, health insurance firms, government provided insurance (Medicare and Medicaid), physicians, subsidiary medical staff, pharmaceutical firms, legal firms, nonprofit and for-profit organizations; and medical technology providers. We will also look at alternatives to the current system and the consequences of the same. Prerequisites: ECON 281, 310, 311

This course focuses on the study of financial markets and institutions. Recent developments in both theory and practice have made money and banking a highly dynamic field. The course objective is to develop a clear understanding of the determination of interest rates; interactions between different financial institutions; the role of money and the Federal Reserve in American financial system; and international finance. Economic tools and concepts are developed to help students organize their thinking about financial assets and markets and about the varied roles of key financial market participants. The course relies on real-world events, including the Enron bankruptcy scandal; implications for Europe and the world of the creation of the European Union and the introduction of a common currency (the euro); the controversial role of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in the global economy; the Grameen Banking (micro credit) movement, flow of funds, and outsourcing. Prerequisites: ECON 281, 310-A, -B, 311.

Supply, demand, price controls, taxes and subsidies; consumer choice and demand; production, costs, and supply; perfect competition, equity, and efficiency; economic models, optimization, and equilibrium. Prerequisites:ECON 202 and MATH 220; or consent of instructor.

Monopoly and oligopoly; static and dynamic games; information, uncertainty, and risk; general equilibrium and welfare; externalities and public goods. Prerequisite: ECON 310-A, or consent of instructor.

The behavior of the economy as a whole: why output declines in recession, why the unemployment rate and the overall evaluation of prices rise and fall. The effects of monetary and fiscal policy on interest rates, unemployment, and inflation. Views of Keynesian, monetarist, and supply-side theorists. Prerequisites: ECON 201, 202, and MATH 220, or equivalent.

This course covers global integration and growth in the 19th and 20th centuries, including historical perspectives and current controversies. Topicsinclude international capital movements; mass migration; commercial policy and the growth of trade; evolution of the payments system; instability and war; comparative economic growth; development and underdevelopment. Prerequisites: ECON 201 and 202.

Economic regulation of industries and the workings of the U.S. antitrust system. Economic analysis of anticompetitive conduct. Survey and analysis of government policy. Prerequisites: ECON 281, 310-A,-B, or consent of instructor.

International and interregional trade. Factors influencing trade in goods and services between areas. Reasons for and effects of impediments to trade, such as transport costs, tariffs, quotas, and voluntary export restrictions. Prerequisites: ECON 281, 310-A, -B, 311.

International Finance is basically macroeconomics applied to international economic issues. This course takes a step further to present in more depth specific areas of the general theory of macroeconomics, in particular models and policies in an open economy. Thus, the course looks at aggregate international economic variables and shows how they are related (or interact with) domestic aggregate variables. The variables of concern in a standard macro class include GNP, unemployment rates, inflation rates, interest rates, money supply, consumption, investment, government spending, taxes, saving and so on. The additional aggregate variables of interest in an international finance course include, exchange rates, aggregate exports and imports, trade balances, current account and capital account balances, and the balance of payments. Prerequisites: ECON 281, 310-A,-B, or equivalent.