Go to bottom of document
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;
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.
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.
Go to top of document
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.
Go to top of document
231. Topics in Macroeconomics and Finance. PQ: Econ 201, 203, 210, and
211 helpful. This course covers topics in the emerging intersection between
finance and macroeconomics. Topics include (1) basic models of asset pricing
such as the capital asset pricing model, arbitrage pricing theory, and models
of the term structure of interest rates, including both their theoretical
derivation and empirical implementation; (2) construction and computation of
equilibrium macroeconomic models; (3) asset pricing in equilibrium macro
models; and (4) empirical evidence of the relation between asset returns and
economic fluctuations. The course uses calculus, matrix algebra, some
probability, statistics, and econometrics. Staff. Spring.
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.
Staff. Spring.
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. 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 the following: housing,
education, transportation, pollution, zoning, and health, among others. D.
G. Johnson. Winter.
Go to top of document
262. Welfare Economics. PQ: Econ 201. Topics include a brief
historical overview of welfare economics, Pareto optimality, consumer and
producer surplus, the compensation principle as a policy guide, and second-best
solutions to policy problems. Staff. Spring.
264/492. Economics of Education (=Educ 223/323, PubPol 394). Theories of
human capital and alternative theories (e.g., signaling and dual labor market
theory) are applied to the determinants of educational choice and the
implications of these choices for life cycle earnings, the distribution of
income, and economic growth. R. Willis. Spring.
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. S. Wilson. 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.
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 and 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, 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.
Go to top of document
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.
276. Seminar: The Political Economy of Art (=SocSci 284). Neoclassical
economics is applied to the visual arts. The relation of aesthetic to economic
value is examined conceptually and empirically. The theories of utility and of
human capital are applied to the choices of collectors and curators; the theory
of cost and market organization is applied to the activity of artists. The case
for and against government intervention is analyzed. This economic approach to
the arts is contrasted with others including Ruskin's Political Economy for
Art. W. Grampp. 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.
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.
Go to top of document
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.
Go to middle of documentEconomics Courses
198. Introduction to Microeconomics (for Nonmajors). This course has
the same scope as Econ 200, but is for those who do not plan to concentrate in
economics. It places greater emphasis on applications than Econ 200 and
develops analytical techniques less rigorously. A. Sanderson.
Autumn.
Go to bottom of document
Go to bottom of document
Go to bottom of document
Go to bottom of document
Go to bottom of document