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Courses
198. Introduction to Microeconomics (for Nonmajors). By way of
economic theory, applications, and contemporary issues, the course treats
(a) the behavior and decision making on the part of individuals, business
firms, and governments; and (b) the function of costs, prices, incentives,
and markets in the American economy. A. Sanderson. Autumn.
199. Introduction to Macroeconomics (for Nonmajors). Via theory, public
policy applications, and basic economic reasoning, the course covers current
major domestic and international macroeconomic issues in the U.S. economy,
including the determination of income and output, inflation, unemployment,
and economic growth; money and banking; federal spending, taxation, and
deficits; and international trade, exchange rates, and the balance of payments.
A. Sanderson. Winter.
200. The Elements of Economic Analysis I. PQ: One year of calculus.
This course develops the economic theory of consumer choice. This theory
characterizes optimal choices for consumers given their incomes, their preferences,
and the relative prices of different goods. The course develops tools for
analyzing how these optimal choices change when relative prices and consumer
incomes change. Finally, the course presents several measures of consumer
welfare. Students learn how to evaluate the impact of taxes and subsidies
using these measures. If time permits, the course examines the determination
of market prices and quantities, given primitive assumptions concerning
the supply of goods. X. Chen, N. Stokey. Autumn, Spring.
201. The Elements of Economic Analysis II. PQ: Econ 198, 199, or
200. This course is a continuation of Econ 200. The first part discusses
markets with one or a few suppliers. The second part focuses on demand and
supply for factors of production and the distribution of income in the economy.
The course also includes some elementary general equilibrium theory and
welfare economics. Staff. Autumn, Winter.
202. The Elements of Economic Analysis III. PQ: Econ 200. As
an introduction to macroeconomic theory and policy, this course covers the
determination of aggregate demand (consumption, investment, and the demand
for money), aggregate supply, and the interaction between aggregate demand
and supply. The course also discusses activist and monetarist views of fiscal
and monetary policy. R. Lucas, Staff, Winter; Staff, Spring.
203. The Elements of Economic Analysis IV. PQ: Econ 202 or equivalent.
This is a course in money and banking, monetary theories, the determinants
of the supply and demand for money, the operation of the banking system,
monetary policies, financial markets, and portfolio choice. C. Mulligan,
Autumn; Staff, Spring.
210. Econometrics A. PQ: Econ 201, 203, Stat 220, and Math 196 or
250. Econometrics A covers the single and multiple linear regression
model, the associated distribution theory and testing procedures; corrections
for heteroskedasticity, autocorrelation, and simultaneous equations; and
other extensions as time permits. Students also apply the techniques to
a variety of data sets using PCs. Staff, Autumn; G. Tsiang, Winter; D.
Neal, Spring.
211. Econometrics B. PQ: Econ 210. This course covers topics
in econometrics, such as generalized least squares, hypothesis testing,
errors in variables, prediction, simultaneous equation models, time-series
models, and discrete choice models. Staff. Spring.
221/321. Colonization, Servitude, and Slavery: The Early American Experience.
PQ: Econ 200. This course considers economic analysis of the
early American labor market, drawing on new research on the economic and
social history of the colonies. Topics include the English background and
economic stimulus to colonization, economics of the Jamestown experiment,
mortality in the early colonies, the economics of white indentured servitude,
opportunities for immigrants, the economics of the transatlantic slave trade,
the growth of black slavery, and the wealth of the colonies. D. Galenson.
Winter.
222/320. Topics in American Economic History. PQ: Econ 200. Economic
analysis is applied to important issues in American economic history. Specific
topics vary, but typically include the economics of colonization, the transatlantic
slave trade, the role of indentured servitude and slavery in the colonial
labor market, the record and sources of nineteenth-century economic growth,
economic causes and effects of nineteenth-century immigration, the expansion
of education, the economics of westward migration, determinants of long-run
trends in the distribution of income and wealth, the quantitative analysis
of social mobility, and the economics of racial discrimination in the twentieth-century
South. D. Galenson. Autumn, Spring.
223/323. Business Ethics in Historical Perspective. This course examines
the way that religious and political movements affect the ethics of business,
focusing on such current issues as the conflict between technical efficiency
and morality, the ethical status of property rights, the politics of retirement
and intergenerational equity, comparable worth and other conflicts between
ethical and economic standards for compensation, the ethics of international
trade and finance, and ex post redefinitions of the legal status
of de facto business practices. These issues are put into historical
perspective by relating them to long cycles in religiosity in the United
States, to the long-term factors influencing political images of business,
and to the factors influencing domestic conceptions of the proper economic
relationships between the United States and the rest of the world. R.
Fogel. Winter.
225/322. Population and the Economy. PQ: Bus 300 or consent of instructor.
This course deals with the effects of swings in population on the stability
of the economy and opportunities for business. In both the short run and
the medium run, shifts in the demographic rates probably have been more
destabilizing than unwise macroeconomic policy or abrupt political realignments.
Population change is thus a major challenge to policy makers in business
and in government. Topics include the effects of demographic changes on
markets for labor and capital, on savings rates and the structure of investment,
on taxes and government expenditures, and on household behavior. Problems
of planning for the consequences of population changes, including methods
of forecasting, are also considered. R. Fogel. Autumn.
227/324. Economics and Demography of Marketing. PQ: Econ 200 and
201 or equivalent. This course examines the factors that influence long-term,
intermediate-term, and short-term variations in the demand for both consumer
and producer commodities and services: the evolution of markets and methods
of distribution in America since 1800, variations in the life cycles of
products, the role of demographic factors in analysis of product demand,
and the influence of business cycles on product demand. Much attention is
given to the use of existing on-line databases for the estimation of a variety
of forecasting models. R. Fogel. Spring.
228. European Economic History. PQ: Econ 200. This course is
an introduction to major themes in the economic history of Western Europe,
emphasizing the economic analysis of institutions and institutional change,
population, technology, and political economy. Specific topics include the
economics of feudalism; the Black Death; monetary policy and public finance
in the formation of national states; the development of markets; revolutions
(demographic, agricultural, industrial, and political); international trade;
the gold standard; convergence, divergence, and rivalry in economic growth;
and economic instability in the interwar period. D. Weir. Winter.
231. Topics in Macroeconomics and Finance. PQ: Econ 201, 203, 210,
and 211 helpful. The goal of the course is for students to use and analyze
data to verify or refute an economic hypothesis. Lecture topics include
the formulation of an economic hypothesis; the translation of an economic
hypothesis into a statistical hypothesis; the gathering of data from the
Internet and other sources; and the analysis of counterarguments using regression,
instrumental variable, and dummy variable techniques. Examples are drawn
mainly from macroeconomics. Writing the term paper can be an excellent start
on a senior honors paper. C. Mulligan. Autumn.
240. Introduction to Labor Economics. PQ: Econ 201. Course topics
include labor supply and the allocation of time, the demand for labor, labor
market equilibrium, human capital, discrimination, unemployment, and unions.
S. Rosen. Winter.
241. Public Policy and Wage Inequality (=PubPol 241). PQ: Econ 201.
Over roughly the last two decades, the United States has seen a dramatic
increase in wage inequality. This course explores potential explanations
for this phenomenon and specifically examines the role that public policy
may have played. The course deals extensively with analyses of minimum wage
laws, trade agreements, affirmative action enforcement, and laws governing
hiring and firing rules. The course not only focuses on changes in policy
over time within the United States but also explores comparisons between
U.S. policy and corresponding policies in other developed countries.
D. Neal. Autumn.
250. Introduction to Finance. PQ: Econ 200 and Stat 200. The
tools of finance used to quantify the risk and return of financial instruments
are developed and then applied to standard financial problems faced by firms
and investors. Topics include arbitrage pricing, the capital asset pricing
model, the theory of efficient markets, option pricing, and the term structure
of interest rates. Staff. Autumn.
260. Introduction to Public Finance. PQ: Econ 201. This
course examines the theory of taxation and the application of this theory
to the U.S. tax system, with an emphasis on recent research and on the entire
economy, not just on individual markets. Staff. Autumn.
261. Economic Analysis and Public Policy. PQ: Econ 201. This
course investigates the political economy of public policies designed to
solve a selected group of problems. Policy or program objectives are related
to the problems that generated the policy action. Both intended and unintended
effects of policy actions are considered. Among the effects that are analyzed
are the supply of a good or service, the distribution of benefits and gains,
and the distribution of costs. Problems are chosen from topics such as housing,
education, transportation, pollution, zoning, and health. D. G. Johnson.
Winter.
265. Environmental Economics (=EnvStd 265). PQ: Econ 201 or consent
of instructor. The course applies price theory to the following environmental
issues: externalities, distorted incentives, and the market's failure to
yield optimal outcomes. Topics include taxes, subsidies, and quotas as solutions
to these problems; welfare and efficiency implications; property rights
and fisheries; exhaustible and renewable resources; evaluating environmental
regulation; government as an autonomous maximizing agent; and divergence
between social and governmental interests. Staff. Winter.
266. Urban Economics (=Geog 266/366, PubPol 245). PQ: Econ 201.
This course deals with the economics of spatial processes and structures
within the city: residential location, employment location, and spatial-temporal
change. The following topics are also considered: spatial aspects of the
public economic activity within a city, and relationships between central
cities and their suburbs; externalities in cities; and the geographical
structure of Third World cities. G. Tolley. Autumn.
267. Urban Development and Public Policy (=PubPol 249). PQ: Econ
200 and a statistics course, or consent of instructor. The major objective
of this course is to build a broad understanding of the economic forces
that impact cities and affect urban development. The course examines the
location decisions of firms and households. In addition, the key factors
determining metropolitan growth and decline are explored. Policy topics
include incentives for economic development, discrimination in housing,
markets, housing assistance, urban transportation, land use regulation,
and service and tax policies. D. DiPasquale. Winter.
268. Korean Economy. PQ: Econ 201 and 203, or consent of instructor.
This course is concerned with understanding the nature of the Korean
economy by studying five of its aspects: (1) its current status, (2) its
patterns of transformation since the Korean War, (3) its current problems,
(4) its projected evolution, and (5) its relevance to the understanding
of other economies. Staff. Spring.
269. Public Choice (=PolSci 235, PubPol 258). PQ: Knowledge of micro-economics.
This course is an introduction to major ideas in the literature that
seeks to apply the economic notion of rational choice to the context of
politics and social choice. Some of the authors covered are Samuelson, Arrow,
Buchanan, Olson, and Downs. H. Margolis. Winter.
270. Introduction to International Economics (=PubPol 270). PQ: Econ
201 and 202, or consent of instructor. This course deals with the pure
theory of international trade--the real side of international economics.
Topics include the basis for and gains from trade; the theory of comparative
advantage; effects of international trade on the distribution of income,
tariffs, and other barriers to trade; and the role of exchange rates. L.
Sjaastad. Autumn.
271. International Finance. PQ: Econ 201 and 203. This course
introduces the monetary aspects of international trade. Topics include the
balance of payments, the foreign exchange market, the international adjustment
mechanism, macroeconomic policies in the open market, the international
mobility of capital, and the choice of an exchange rate regime. Staff.
Winter.
280. Introduction to Industrial Organization. PQ: Econ 201. This
course deals with the organization of economic activity. Topics include
the economics of property rights, the theory of regulation, economics and
the law, and antitrust policy. Applied problems are stressed. Staff.
Winter.
281. The Economics of Sports. PQ: Econ 201. This is a course
in microeconomics that applies traditional product and factor market theory
and analysis to contemporary economic issues in professional and college
athletics, including: the sports business; market structures and outcomes;
the market for franchises; barriers to entry, rival leagues, and expansion;
cooperative, competitive, and collusive behavior among participants; player
productivity and compensation; racial discrimination; antitrust legislation;
and financing of and subsidies for stadiums. A. Sanderson. Spring.
293. Topics in Economic Growth and Development. PQ: Econ 200, 201,
202, 203, and 210. This class examines international disparities
in economic growth and explores a variety of underlying factors: trade,
agriculture, and resource endowments. Models of aggregate growth and of
microeconomic behavior in developing nations are examined. G. Tsiang.
Spring.
294. Topics in Chinese Economy. PQ: Knowledge of basic microeconomics,
macroeconomics, and econometrics. In this course, students learn to
modify standard economic theory to study the Chinese economy. First, we
briefly review the economic situation from 1949 to 1976. Next, we study
the evolutionary process of Chinese economic reform since 1978. Last, we
point out the difficulties preventing further reforms. Students apply simple
econometric techniques to analyze certain aspects of the reform. X. Chen.
Spring.
296. Problems of Economic Policy in Developing Countries (=PubPol 286/375).
PQ: Econ 201 and 202, or consent of instructor. This course focuses
on the application of economic analysis to economic policy issues frequently
encountered in developing countries. Topics include sources of economic
growth, commercial policy, regional economic integration, inflation and
stabilization, fiscal deficits, the choice of an exchange rate regime, and
the international debt problem. L. Sjaastad. Winter.
297. Undergraduate Honors Workshop. PQ: Consent of instructor. Must
be taken for a letter grade. D. G. Johnson, R. Lucas. Autumn, Winter, Spring.
298. Undergraduate Reading and Research. PQ: Consent of directors
of the undergraduate program. Students are required to submit the College
Reading and
Research Course Form. Available
for either Pass or letter grading. D. G. Johnson, R. Lucas. Autumn,
Winter, Spring.
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