50:220:102. Microeconomic Principles (3)
Economic systems; supply, demand, and role of the market; consumer behavior and utility; firm behavior, cost, and profit; competitive and monopolistic markets for products and inputs; government regulation of markets.
Prerequisites: none
50:220:103. Macroeconomic Principles (3)
National income and how it is determined; consumption, investment, and government spending; the monetary system; control of inflation and unemployment; international exchange; alternative economic systems.
Prerequisites: none
50:220:110. American Economy (3)
This course will discuss several issues such as the minimum wage, rent control, crime, drugs, education, poverty, housing, health care, social security, environment, agriculture, international trade, market power, unemployment, inflation, taxes, government deficits and debt through the lens of an economist. While discussing these topics analytically, the stand points of conservatives and liberals are highlighted. This course enables students to learn enough basic economic theory to be able to discuss economic policy in an informed manner.
Prerequisites: none
50:220:122. Introduction to Data Science (3)
Introduction to Data Science is to enable our students to become sufficiently fluent in both inferential thinking and computational skill so they can communicate and collaborate with data scientists effectively. The class consists of five main components: data structures, data wrangling, data exploration and visualization, inferential thinking, and computational statistics.
Prerequisites: none
50:220:200. Economic Reasoning & Applications (3)
This course will introduce the essential elements of micro- and macroeconomic reasoning and its practical applications at a fundamental level. Topics include Resource Allocations, Basic Economic Relations, Consumer Behaviors and Optimal Decisions, Production and Cost Analysis, Economic and Management Decisions, Market Structures, Unemployment and Inflation, Business Cycles, Financial Markets, the US and Global Issues, and Government Policies. After the coverage of each topic, students will be asked to gather economic data/information and use simple analytical tools to examine the validity of each economic practical applications. Economic news and real-life examples will be used how each theorem can be applied to practical issues/situations.
Prerequisites: none
50:220:203. Intermediate Economic Theory: Microeconomics (3)
Roles of supply and demand under varying degrees of market competition in determining price and output of goods, factor inputs, and their prices; emphasis on the social implication of these market conditions.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:204. Intermediate Economic Theory: Macroeconomics (3)
Role of consumption, savings, investment, government monetary and fiscal policies, and international economic relations in affecting national income, employment, the price level, and economic growth.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:210. History of Economic Thought (3)
Examines the development of economic thought to its present state, with emphasis on present-day shapers of economic thought and analysis, linking historical economic ideas to current issues.
Prerequisites: none
50:220:212. Sports Economics (3)
This class shows students how to apply modern statistical methods to explore and quantify the relationships between essential variables used in economics. The foundations part of the class begins with a review on set theory, random variable, probability distributions (discrete and continuous), and statistical inference. Some important linear algebra tools, such as matrix operations, will also be covered. Both Linear and Generalized Linear models will be introduced to students. The applied work includes the topic of Capital Asset Pricing Model, yield curve and prediction of business cycles, regional crime rate study, housing price determinants, Okun’s Law, Phillips Curve, and Purchasing Power Parity theory etc. will be used to show how empirical work is done using different statistical models.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:222. Foundations of Econometrics (3)
This class shows students how to apply modern statistical methods to explore and quantify the relationships between essential variables used in economics. The foundations part of the class begins with a review on set theory, random variable, probability distributions (discrete and continuous), and statistical inference. Some important linear algebra tools, such as matrix operations, will also be covered. Both Linear and Generalized Linear models will be introduced to students. The applied work includes the topic of Capital Asset Pricing Model, yield curve and prediction of business cycles, regional crime rate study, housing price determinants, Okun’s Law, Phillips Curve, and Purchasing Power Parity theory etc. will be used to show how empirical work is done using different statistical models.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:301. Money and Banking (3)
Theories of money and their applications; structure and historical development of U.S. monetary and banking institutions; current problems of monetary management.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:303. Consumer Economics (3)
Analysis of problems facing individuals and households as savers, investors, and spenders. Analysis of the legal and economic framework of consumer protection legislation. “Consumerism” as an economic force.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:305. American Economic History (3)
Analysis of such selected factors as population, government, capital accumulation, and technology, contributing to development of economic life and institutions in the U.S.
Prerequisites: none
50:220:308. Managerial Economics (3)
Application of economic analysis to practical managerial decision making. Course demonstrates the use of contemporary economic tools and techniques in actual managerial problems relevant to market demand and supply, revenue, costs, profits, optimal pricing, capital budgeting, and product line analysis.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:313. Economics of Labor (3)
Study of wages and employment, the history of labor movements, and effects of unionism and minimum wage laws on prices, wages, and income. Marginal productivity theory is applied to wage-employment analysis.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:316. Health Economics (3)
Course is designed to apply economic analysis to the health care sector and health status, such as demand for health and for medical care, health insurance experiment, demand for health insurance, market for physicians’ and nurses’ services, market for hospital services, pharmaceutical industry, delivery of health care, methods of payment, and government regulation.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103 or Instructor’s permission
50:220:317. Social Marketing: Strategic Approach for Health Promotion (3)
Social marketing is an approach used to develop activities aimed at changing or maintaining people’s behavior for the benefit of individuals and society as a whole. It can be a powerful mechanism for behavior change and can promote or inhibit health behaviors. This course is designed to introduce the theoretical underpinnings in the field of communication and reviews how social marketing strategies are used to influence health behavior. The focus is on print and electronic media and touches on individual communication. Topics include: how communication theory informs health behavior change interventions; steps involved in planning communication campaigns about health; and skills useful in the execution of communications, such as pre-testing, designing health materials, and writing press releases.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103 or Instructor’s permission
50:220:318. Cost-Benefit/Effective Analysis (3)
The intention of this course is for students to understand cost-benefit analyses and the process of decision making through the use of economic tools and techniques through which society’s resources are efficiently allocated. The course reviews the issues and methods of assessing healthcare technologies, public health, public policy, public-sector management, public administration, urban planning and environmental issues. Cost-benefit analysis is useful to public policy and economic/business decision-makers. It emphasizes the methods used to perform economic evaluations, such as cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analyses; to assess efficacy, effectiveness, and the safety of healthcare technologies; to assess the effectiveness of research and the applications to public policy. The course covers valuing benefits and costs in primary and secondary markets, discounting benefits and costs in future time periods, expected values and sensitivity analysis under uncertainty, option price and option value, social discount rates, and cost-effective analysis.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:320. Inflation, Unemployment, and Public Policy (3)
Causes and consequences of inflation, unemployment, and the inflation-unemployment trade-off. Assessment of stabilization policies: wage-price controls, wage indexation, Keynesian measures, and other alternatives.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:321. Applied Game Theory (3)
This course focuses on the application and interpretation of game theory. The theory of sequential games, simultaneous games, repeated games, auctions and collective action games is provided. Throughout the course, the theory is scrutinized by experimental findings and attention is given to the practical issues which can arise in strategic settings.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:322. Econometrics (3)
An introduction to model building and testing, measurement problems, and the application of statistical methods in economics, business, and related social sciences.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103, 50:220:222 (or 960:283) and 50:640:118 (or 50:640:121)
50:220:325. Financial Market and Institutions (3)
Role of banks, insurance companies, investment companies, finance companies, pension funds, credit unions, and such institutions in financial markets, and their impact on how the economic and financial systems function. Lending and borrowing activities, investment portfolio policy, and regulatory environment of each type of financial intermediary examined.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:329. Economics of International Finance (3)
Examines the specific factors of demand and supply that determine exchange rates under the current flexible exchange rate system. Spot and forward markets, purchasing power parity, and interest rate parity considered. Discusses fixed versus flexible exchange rates. Analysis of recent changes in the dollar and other key currencies.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:330. Urban Economics (3)
Analysis of the economic forces leading to the existence, growth, and decline of cities and of the factors affecting land use within a city. The course also offers provision of local public services, local taxes, and the size of local governments. The economic analysis of urban problems includes housing, poverty, transportation, and land use.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:331. International Economics (3)
A study of the fundamentals of international economics. Analyzes comparative advantage of trade, free and restriction on trade, tariff and quota, international resource flow, foreign exchange markets, foreign exchange rates and risks, balance of payments, inter-national operation of the U.S. economy, and government policies affecting the development and structure of the world economy.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:332. Environmental Economics (3)
Effects of man on quality of air, water, and ground resources; application of microeconomic analysis to problems created by deterioration of these resources.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:333. Behavioral and Experimental Economics (3)
The course will introduce students to behavioral economics. Behavioral economics seeks to improve models of economic behavior by incorporating more realistic, psychologically plausible assumptions. Since many behavioral economics concepts are seen as an improvement over the standard, classical theory, the course also carefully discusses these original models of behavior. Additionally, since many of the behavioral economics concepts have been derived from experiments, the course will introduce students to the design of economics experiments.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:339. Economic Development (3)
Economic and social problems of developing countries: poverty, low savings, inadequate investments, unemployment, inflation, and the transfer of technology, and such social problems as education, health, and administration. Examines development theories models and notes interdependence between developing economies and developed countries, particularly with respect to trade, capital and labor movements, and the transfer of technology.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:361. Game Theory (3)
Study interactive decision making when players have conflicts of interest. Course includes no-cooperative games, cooperative games, bargaining theory, auctions, market games, and applications to business and economics.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:363. Economics of Investment and Capital Markets (3)
Analysis of economic investment by using economic tools: value of firms, economic efficient frontier, lending and borrowing, utility analysis and investment selection, market interest rates, correlation structure of security returns, short- and long-term international investments with foreign risks, capital asset pricing model, efficient markets, and investment decision management.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:366. Special Topics on Contemporary Economic Issues (3)
An analysis of some of the outstanding contemporary economic problems. Issues chosen are those of pressing importance which cannot be dealt with in sufficient depth in a traditional survey course. The topic will be announced each year in the Schedule of Classes.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:371. Economy of Japan (3)
Analysis of various aspects of economic relationship between Japan and the United States: economic policy of Japanese government, financial system, Japanese corporations and industries, public finance and welfare, Japanese corporate management, employment system, Japanese trade and foreign direct investment, economic conflicts with the United States, and solutions.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:391. Mathematical Economics (3)
Offers operational methods and analytical tools for understanding almost all branches of economic science: microeconomics, macro- economics, welfare economics, international trade, labor, urban and public economics. Optimization principles, decision-making processes, comparative evaluations of alternative policies, program algorithms, and inventory control analyses clearly spelled out in mathematical fashion. Basic algebra and calculus initially reviewed, and the practical uses of those branches of mathematics shown in the enunciation of economic methods and models.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103; and 50:640:118
50:220:392. Business Cycles and Forecasting (3)
Nature of economic fluctuations and major patterns of cyclical behaviors. Major theories of business cycles which explain factors determining cyclical fluctuations and economic growth in the economy. Methods of forecasting business and economic activity presented in relation to empirical studies of the U.S.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102, 103; and 50:220:222 (or 960:283)
50:220:397. Industrial Economics: Structure, Conduct, Performance and Policy (3)
Examines the principles of economics of industrial organization and their application to selected industries in the U.S. and abroad. Studies issues such as concentration, economies of scale, entry barriers, product differentiation, innovations, merger activity, firm turnover, and the patent system.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:398. Government Regulation of Business (3)
Examines various dimensions of social control of business. While emphasis is placed on antitrust regulation, careful attention is also given to public utility regulation, public enterprises, safety, health, environmental, and other regulatory issues of concern to the public.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:399. Economics of Multinational Corporations (3)
How multinational corporations make decisions as to where and how to invest for profit-risk factors in various circumstances, relevant government regulations, institutions the corporations have to deal with and how, cultural and environmental factors, political risks. Effects of currency and capital transfers and the influence of the corporation on the political and social environment of the countries involved.
Prerequisite: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:422. Applied Data Mining (3)
Data mining is a process used by many companies from various industries to turn raw data into decision-making information. Applied Data Mining course introduces students how to apply data mining algorithms, supervised and unsupervised, to discover patterns hidden in the data. This class builds on the statistical foundations and aims to equip students with data analytics skills. The major mining algorithms including Naïve Bayes, Support Vector Machine, Decision Trees, Probit/Logit Modeling, K-Means Clustering and Social Network Analysis, etc. will be fully explained. Students will be trained to apply various mining algorithms using the real data that are derived from various disciplines.
Prerequisite: 50:220:222 or 50:960:283 or 50:830:250 or permission by instructor
50:220:442. Public Finance (3)
Analysis of spending patterns and sources of revenue of different levels of the public economy; intergovernmental relations; emphasis on fiscal policy including debt management. Decision-making techniques on choosing government projects. Incidence and allocative effect of taxes.
Prerequisite: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:472. Economic Analysis of the Law (3)
The application of basic economic concepts and analyses to the law and legal processes. How economics can be used to study issues in tort, criminal, contract, property, and negligence matters. Examines economic implications of the law pertaining to racial discrimination, environmental protection, and other standard corporate regulatory provisions.
Prerequisites: 50:220:102 and 103
50:220:491. Independent Study Projects in Economics (1-3)
Prerequisites: Normally the courses in economic principles, statistics, computer sciences, and mathematics should have been completed. Credits for the work may vary from 1 to 3; a limit of 6 credits toward the degree is set for independent studies. This course is coded by faculty member; thus, when registering, the student should make certain that the forms will contain 220:491-X, where X means the relevant individual faculty member’s code for this purpose. Individual study under supervision of a member of the economics faculty. Requires research term paper of a level at least comparable to a regular course term paper. To enroll in 50:220:491, students must have completed nearly all of the course requirements for the major in economics and have achieved a grade-point average in economics of at least 3.0. A student is limited to enrollment in only one independent study project within the economics department each term and a maximum of two during the degree program with a student with the GPA=3.5 above. Student should obtain agreement from a faculty member to supervise the research project before registering.
50:220:492. Economics Major Seminar (3)
Prerequisites: All other courses specifically required for the economics major. Designed to integrate course materials, introduce recent philosophies and techniques in economics, and apply them to selected problems. Reading and research reports required. Topics vary from year to year.
50:220:495-496. Honors Program in Economics (3)
To enter program, student must submit a written proposal for departmental approval before registration. Credits awarded only on satisfactory completion of two-term sequence. A program of readings and guided research in a topic proposed by the student, culminating in an honors thesis presented to departmental faculty for approval. Eligibility for such a project is judged by the student’s qualifications and availability of an appropriate supervising professor with a student with the GPA=3.5 above. The supervisor works individually with the student over a two-term sequence, 50:220:495-496, during the student’s last three terms before graduation. Total credits earned are determined by the department according to the nature of the project; a grade is not given until completion of the two-term sequence and department approval of an honors thesis embodying the project.
50:220:497. Internship (3)
Students apply classroom learning to gain experience and develop skills in the fields related to their career interests through internships supervised by an instructor. To enroll in 50:220:497, students must have completed nearly all of the course requirements for the major in economics and have achieved a grade-point average in economics of at least 3.0. This course is coded by faculty member; thus, when registering, the student should make certain that the forms will contain 220:497-X, where X means the relevant individual faculty member’s code for this purpose. Individual study under supervision of a member of the economics faculty. The internship expands professional skills and earns academic credits, up to a 3-credit maximum, regardless of the duration of the internship (a minimum of 200 hours). Students required to file by-weekly activity reports and a final report and presentation to the Economics and Business Society.