Economics Requirements
Communicating Plus: Economics. Students completing
a major in economics develop skills in the four Communicating Plus
areas — written communication, oral communication, critical thinking
and problem-solving. All courses in the curriculum address the central
issue of economics — the scarcity of resources relative to unlimited
material wants. Critical thinking is essential as students consider
the problems emanating from the scarcity of resources. Students practice
problem-solving by working through both quantitative and qualitative
problems reflecting difficult options. Written and oral communication
also are staples in the economics curriculum. Students encounter
an array of writing assignments ranging from essay exams to formal
research projects. Similarly, students engage in oral communication
activities such as small-group discussions, dialogs with guest speakers
and more formal group and individual presentations. Capstone courses
require students to demonstrate their understanding of the central
concepts, frameworks and analytic tools of economics, as well as competence
in the Communicating Plus skills areas.
Requirements for a major in economics: Economics
211-212; 351; 311 or 352; 481 or 482; Mathematics 120. Two more 400-level
courses and two more 300- or 400-level courses, not including 313.
Students may include either 361 or 461, but not both. Students anticipating
graduate study for masters or doctoral degrees in economics, business,
public policy, health administration and many other professional fields
should take courses in statistics, calculus and linear algebra.
Requirements for a teaching major in economics: Business
Administration 131; Economics 211-212, 311, 350, 352, 382 and 481;
one of the following: 332, 342, 361, 451, 461, 472 or 482; and History
401.
Requirements for an economics minor: 18-20 credits. Economics
211-212; 351 or 352; two additional courses at the 300/400 level, not
including 313.
Requirements for a teaching minor in economics: Economics
211-212, and 14 additional credit hours chosen from 311, 332, 342,
351, 352, 361, 451, 461, 481 or 482; and History 401.
Requirements for broad field social studies certification: Consult with your Educational Studies adviser.
Courses
211-212. Principles of Economics (Staff)
Four credits each semester. Fundamental economic principles
and their application to public policy, business management, and
personal decisions. Macroeconomics (Economics 211) addresses the
economy as a whole; the growth and fluctuations of total production,
employment and prices. Microeconomics (Economics 212) addresses the
decisions of individual households and businesses, and their interactions
through markets. The course sequence is normally taken in the sophomore year, though first-year students with strong academic backgrounds, especially in mathematics, may also enroll by permission of the department, preferably beginning in the spring semester. Normally, Economics 211 is taken first, followed by Economics 212, since the overall introduction to economics which begins each course is extensive in Economics 211 and only briefly reviewed in Economics 212.
300. Departmental Studies (Staff)
Two, three or four credits. Special subjects in economics not covered by regular courses. This course may be repeated for credit when topics change. Prerequisite: Consent of the instructor.
Topic for 2007-08: The Economics of Professional Sports (Schoofs)
Four credits. An examination of key economics issues in the major professional team sports (baseball, football, basketball, hockey). These include labor-management relations and the frequency of strikes and lockouts, salary cap agreements and other restrictions on player earnings, revenue and cost analysis of a typical team, how leagues function as monopolies, new stadium/arena construction and governmental financing, expansions of leagues to new cities vs. creation of new leagues, competition vs. cooperation between teams. Counts toward the economics major or minor. Prerequisite: Economics 212 or consent of the instructor.
311. Money and Banking (Huang)
Four credits. Financial markets and the role of depository institutions
as money-creators. Theories of the supply and demand for money and the
interrelationships between money, interest rates, prices and output.
Instruments and objectives of Federal Reserve monetary policy and the
effectiveness and incidence of these policies. Prerequisite:
Economics 211-212, or consent of the instructor.
313. Corporation Finance (Huang)
Four credits. Theoretical framework for analysis of business
financial policies and problems consistent with the objective of
maximizing the market value/stock price of an individual corporation.
This is the basic financial management course introducing students
to such essential financial concepts as the analysis of financial
statements, the time value of money, stock and bond valuation, risk
and return, capital budgeting and the cost of capital. Same as Business
Administration 313. Prerequisite: Economics 211-212, Mathematics
120. Prerequisite or corequisite: Business Administration 131.
332. Resource and Environmental Economics (Hauge)
Four credits. Offered in 2007-08 and alternate years. Theoretical
framework for the analysis of environmental pollution and renewable
and nonrenewable resource management. Topics include public goods
and common-property resources; private cost, social cost, externalities
and market failure; designing and implementing environmental policies;
benefit-cost analysis; the global environment. Prerequisite:
Economics 212 or consent of the instructor.
342. Introduction to Econometrics (Hauge)
Four credits. Offered in 2006-07 and alternate years. An
introduction to the statistical methods for empirically testing economic
relations. Results are derived in an intuitive manner and applied
to actual estimation problems. Topics include the two-variable regression
model, multiple regression analysis, use of dummy variables, problems
in the selection of variables and functional form, multicollinearity,
serial correlation, heteroskedasticity, lagged relationships, simultaneous
equation systems, two-stage least squares, the identification problem. Prerequisite:
Economics 211-212 and Mathematics 120 or consent of the instructor.
351. Price Theory (Hauge)
Four credits. Theories of the behavior of individual economic
units: consumers, businesses and resource owners. The processes
of valuation, production and distribution characteristic of a market
system are considered as well as implications for welfare and public
policy. Prerequisite: Economics 212.
352. Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory (Hauge)
Four credits. Analysis of growth and fluctuation of total
production and employment, as well as prices and interest rates,
primarily with neoclassical and Keynesian theories. Effects of government
monetary, fiscal and other policies on growth and stabilization.
Draws on current events and debates, and macroeconomic history, from
the United States and abroad. Prerequisite: Economics 211.
354. Managerial Economics (Schoofs)
Four credits. Principles and cases of management decision-making and policy formulation within the business firm, including
applications in the areas of marketing and finance. Aspects of price
theory are applied to questions regarding risk and profitability,
forecasting demand and costs, pricing strategies, capital budgeting
and investment decisions, advertising and other non-price competition,
employment practices, and inventory management. Prerequisite:
Economics 351.
361, 461. Development Economics (Hauge)
Four credits. Offered in 2007-08 and alternate years. Major
analytical and policy issues facing the "less developed" nations — 3/4
of the world's people. Global issues: defining development;
its global patterns and historical process; theories of growth and
underdevelopment; role of the state in industry, finance and trade;
population and migration. Applications to selected topics, such as:
poverty and inequality; agriculture and environment; women and health;
education and employment; multinational corporations and international
institutions including the World Bank, IMF and WTO. Students select
countries for research.
361. Development Economics I (Hauge)
Four credits. Offered in 2007-08 and alternate years. An
interdisciplinary survey of the primary issues studied by development
economists and faced by practitioners. Prerequisite: Economics
211 or consent of the instructor.
451. International Economics (Hauge)
Four credits. International trade in goods and services
and its effects on national welfare and economic structure. International
flows of financial assets and their effects on total production,
prices and interest rates. International and U.S. laws and systems
shaping both. Fundamental theories applied to policies regarding
international trade, finance, economic integration and related labor
and environmental issues. Prerequisite: Economics 351 or consent
of the instructor.
461. Development Economics II (Hauge)
Four credits. Offered in 2007-08 and alternate years. Theoretical
foundations of development policy. Meets with 361 and for additional
sessions. (See Economics 361.) Prerequisite or corequisite: Economics
351.
481-482. History of Economic Thought (Schoofs)
Three credits each semester. The development of economic
inquiry up to the present, from the mercantilists through Smith,
Ricardo, Mill, Marx, Marshall, Keynes, the Chicago School and others.
Prerequisite for 481: Economics 211-212. Prerequisite for 482:
Economics 481.
541, 542. Independent Study (Staff)
One to four credits each semester. Supervised investigation
of problems in economics of special interest to the student. Prerequisites:
Junior or senior standing, consent of the department chair, and 12
credits toward the major.
551, 552. Independent Study: Internship (Staff)
One to four credits each semester. Supervised work off campus
in an area of economics of special interest to the student. Prerequisites:
Junior or senior standing, consent of the department chair and 12
credits toward the major.
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