ECON 190S – Principles of Economics
4 semester hours
Ankrom, Jeff, Gwinn, Lawrence and Wishart, David
Prerequisites: Students must have attained the math placement level 22 to enroll.
An introduction to basic principles of economics. Topics covered include supply and demand, marginal analysis, competition, profit maximization, aggregate demand and supply, the level of employment, inflation, fiscal policy, monetary policy, and international trade. Lecture/discussion format.
Prerequisites: ECON 190.
Study of specific problems and institutions of the East Asian economies. Topics include international trade and development practices as well as fiscal and monetary policies in the region. Writing Intensive.
Prerequisites: ECON 190 and MGT 210
This course is designed primarily for management students. It will extend students’ understanding of microeconomic theory and its use in managerial decision-making. In addition to studying the theories of demand, production and cost, students will be introduced to the statistical method of regression analysis and its use in applying these theories to real-world problems. Theories of market structure and capital budgeting will also be considered.
The course will have a lecture/discussion format. Students will be evaluated on the basis of three midterm examinations, a final examination, and frequent homework assignments.
ECON 301 – Money and BankingPrerequisites: ECON 190 and MATH 120.
The course is meant to impart a basic understanding of money and financial institutions and their impact on the working of the economy. This will be accomplished by examining the following topics.
1. The role and functions of financial intermediaries.
2. The role of government in financial markets.
3. Central banks, monetary policy and the creation of money.
4. Pricing of financial assets, and risk/return models.
5. Models of interest rate determination and theories of the term structure of interest rates.
6. Mortgage and securitized asset markets.
7. Options and futures markets.
The course will have a lecture/discussion format and will involve regular reading of the Wall Street Journal. Exams, quizzes, and class discussion form the basis for the course grade.
ECON 311 – Intermediate Macroeconomic TheoryPrerequisites: ECON 190 and MATH 120 or its equivalent.
This course builds on the ideas presented in ECON 190 and develops in greater detail models that analyze the national economy, with an emphasis on the distinction between short-run and long-run equilibrium, and on the various schools of thought. We discuss problems inherent in fiscal and monetary stabilization policy and their relationship to unemployment, inflation, and economic growth. A good understanding of algebra is necessary.
Prerequisites: ECON 310 or permission of instructor
Law and Economics is a relatively new field that has emerged in the last 20 to 30 years. Prior to that, legal issues entered into economic analysis in only a few areas such as antitrust law, regulation of business, and tax policies. More recently, economists have begun to use their tools of analysis to explore areas such as property law, contract law, torts, as well as criminal law and procedure. The legal system is an institution. Institutions determine the incentives that people face. Economics has much to say about how people respond to incentives. A primary concern for those who work in the field of law and economics is to discover how legal rules should be established (or changed) in ways that structure incentives to promote economic efficiency. Clearly, law and economics is a field where microeconomic theory can be applied to good effect. We=ll explore the variety of ways that law and economic analysis can be used together to promote efficiency. Lecture/discussion format.
Prerequisites: ECON 310 and 311, MGT 210, MATH 131 or 201.
This course broadens and deepens understanding of intermediate economic theory through the coverage of a series of advanced topics in both microeconomic and macroeconomic theory. The microeconomic portion of the course focuses on game theory and its use in economics while the macroeconomic portion is devoted to developing a market-clearing macroeconomic model and contrasting it with traditional Keynesian models. The course assumes basic knowledge of both calculus and probability. Lecture/discussion format.
