Economics Course Descriptions
150. PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS, 3 hours
credit. A general
introduction to economic ideas and analysis with emphasis on economic
institutions and processes in the context of a market economy. Includes
basic discussion of microeconomic and macroeconomic topics including
economic decision making in the context of scarce resources, price
theory, monetary and fiscal policy, etc. This course is intended for
non-business majors. This course cannot be taken concurrently with or
after having completed ECON 211 or 212. Three hours per week. Meets
General Education IIIB
or IIIC.
211. MICRO-ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES, 3 hours
credit. Introduction to the
ideas and tools economists use to understand human
behavior constrained by scarce resources. Analytical tools
introduced include supply and demand analysis, elasticities, and models
of perfect and imperfect competition. These tools will be used to
study topics such as consumer and producer decision-making, taxation,
environmental quality and health care. Three hours per week. Meets General
Education
IIIB
or IIIC.
212. MACRO-ECONOMIC PRINCIPLES, 3 hours
credit. Explores forces behind
consumer purchases, businesses, capital spending and the balance of
payments and their relationship to unemployment, inflation and the value
of the dollar abroad. Also examines the effect of government spending,
taxation and money supply policies on the economy’s performance.
Prerequisite: ECON 211 Three hours per week.
Meets General Education IIIB
or IIIC.
220. INTRODUCTION TO
ECONOMETRICS, 3 hours credit. Introduction to measurement and
empirical testing of economic theories. Principles and methods of
statistical inference are reviewed and applied to such ideas as law of
demand and the consumption function. Training on widely used statistical
software. Prerequisites: MATH 155 "C" or better grade, ECON 212
pre or corequisite. Three hours per week.
300. ECONOMIC HISTORY OF THE
UNITED STATES, 3 hours credit. Study of major developments in
the American economy from the founding of colonies to the present, with
emphasis on the economic factors contributing to U.S. industrial growth.
Prerequisites:
C or better in
ECON 211, 212. Three hours per
week.
305. INTERMEDIATE MACRO-THEORY, 3 hours
credit. Study of the theory
of economic aggregates through the use of national income accounts to
determine the effect of certain key variables on employment and
production. Key variables studied include savings and investment, the
quantity of money, the velocity of money, the rate of interest and
consumption. Prerequisites: ECON 211, 212, MATH 155,
160 (or
201), all with a grade of "C" or better.
Three hours per week.
306. INTERMEDIATE MICRO-THEORY, 3 hours
credit. Study of supply and
demand relationships under the various market classifications. Major
topics include the market forms, the principles of production, costs of
production, resource allocation and income distribution with some
discussion of welfare economics. Prerequisites: ECON 211, 212;
and MATH 155, 160 (or 201), all with a grade of "C" or better.
Three hours per week.
331. MONEY AND BANKING, 3 hours credit.
Study of financial institutions, economic aspects of commercial banking,
monetary economics, and banking and fiscal policy. Prerequisites:
C or better in
ECON 211, 212. Three hours per
week.
336. PUBLIC SECTOR ECONOMICS, 3 hours
credit. Study of the
principles, techniques and effects of obtaining and spending funds by
governments and the management of governmental debt. Taxes and
expenditures of all levels of government in the United States
considered. Prerequisites:
C or better in ECON 211, 212; MATH 155,
160 (or 201). Three hours
per week.
338. SPECIAL TOPICS IN ECONOMICS, 3 hours
credit. In-depth study of
varying economic issues not covered in other economics courses. Students
may repeat this course under a different topic. Prerequisites:
C or better in
ECON 211, 212. Three hours
per week.
370. INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION, 3 hours
credit. Examines
differences in how firms behave and perform under alternative market
structures including monopolistic competition, oligopoly, monopoly and
pure competition. Analyzes problems created by industrial concentration
and public policies for dealing with these problems. Prerequisites:
C or better in ECON 211, 212; MATH 155,
160 (or 201). Three hours
per week.
381. LABOR ECONOMICS, 3 hours credit.
Examination of factors which
influence the number of job seekers and the number of jobs in the
aggregate, and the efficiency with which the economic system utilizes
its labor resources. Topics include individual decision-making with
regard to education, job search strategy and hours of work as well as
government policies affecting labor compensation, welfare and the right
to bargain collectively. Prerequisites:
C or better in ECON 211, 212; MATH 155,
160 (or 201). Three hours per week.
402. COMPARATIVE ECONOMIC
SYSTEMS, 3 hours credit. Comparison of contemporary
economic systems in various parts of the world.
Includes a review of the core economic principles used used to analyze
economic systems and adopts a country- or region-specific approach to
examine the tri-pillars of the world economy: the U.S., Japan and EU;
developing and emerging economies in East Asia and Latin America; and
the transitional economies of China and Russia. Focus is on the
international comparison of economic systems in terms of its influence
on economic outcomes such as resource allocation and macroeconomic
stability.
Prerequisites:
C or better in ECON 211, 212. Three hours per week.
403. MONETARY
POLICY AND THE U.S.ECONOMY, 3 hours credit.
Introduction to how the Federal Reserve (the
Fed) formulates and carries out monetary policy to achieve the twin
goals of price stability and sustainable economic growth in order to
expand and advance students' understanding of monetary policy in the
economy. Coverage includes how policy is transmitted to the
nation's economy through the banking system and financial markets, the
domestic and international economic environment that influences monetary
policymaking, and the implications of policy decisions for the domestic
and international economies. Relevant macroeconomics and monetary
theories to guide policy decisions are examined. Prerequisites:
C or better in ECON 211, 212;
Prerequisite/Co-requisite: ECON 305. Three
hours per week.
410. THE ECONOMICS
OF HEALTH CARE, 3 hours credit. Examines economic aspects of
health care including special characteristics of the health care
industry, economic behavior of health care consumers and providers, and
the role of health insurance and government regulation. Compares health
care finance and insurance in the U.S. and other advanced countries.
Prerequisites: ECON 211, 212 or permission of instructor.
Three hours per week.
411. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT, 3 hours credit.
Study of the theory of economic
development and its application to the underdeveloped regions and
countries of the world. Emphasis on the technological, locational and
financial aspects of economic growth. Prerequisites:
C or better in ECON 211, 212; MATH 155,
160 (or 201).Three hours per week.
415. ENVIRONMENTAL AND
NATURAL RESOURCE ECONOMICS, 3 hours credit. Economics-based
analysis of causes and consequences of environmental problems and
environmental policy and a study of the critical issues in natural
resource allocation. Topics include common pool resources,
externalities, property rights, exhaustible and renewable resources,
privatization and the economics of environmental policy formation.
Students may not receive credit for both ECON 415 and 420.
Prerequisite: C or better in ECON 211. Three
hours per week.
430. ECONOMETRICS, 3 hours credit.
Stresses the derivation of the theory behind concepts learned in ECON
220 and introduces more rigorous application of those concepts.
Introduction to the theory and application of time series and limited
dependents variable models. Prerequisites:
C or better in ECON 211, 212; MATH 155,
160 (or 201), INFO 281. Three hours per week.
441. INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS, 3 hours
credit. Study of the basic
economic concepts and theories for international business, international
trade and finance, commercial policy, and foreign investment and
multinational firms. Prerequisites: C or
better in ECON 211, 212, MATH 155.
Three hours per week.
460. APPLIED ECONOMICS WORKSHOP, 3 hours
credit. Practical
experience with methods used by professional economists to measure
economic conditions. Students collect, process, evaluate, interpret and
report economic data. Satisfies ABLE requirement for business majors in
economics track only. Prerequisites: C or
better in ECON 211, 212; MATH 155, 160 (or
201). Three hours
per week.
492. SENIOR SEMINAR IN CONTEMPORARY
ECONOMIC PROBLEMS, 3 hours credit.
Economics majors research problems of their own choosing and present a
seminar paper. Focus on problems facing the American and world
economies. Prerequisite:
Economics major or consent of instructor.
Three hours per week.
494. DIRECTED STUDY IN ECONOMICS 1-3 hours
credit. Supervised study in
an area of interest to the advanced student. May be taken twice under
different course topics recorded with the registrar. Prerequisite:
Junior/senior status in economics/business administration or consent of
the instructor. |
