Global Arc

This course will use economic concepts to analyze the relationship between education and economic performance, at both the individual and aggregate level. It will also use economic and statistical tools to evaluate various education policy options. These range from long-standing debates about class size to the controversy surrounding the No Child Left Behind legislation. To that end, the course will familiarize students with contemporary education institutions, enable students to apply economic and statistical tools to questions arising from these institutions, and enable students to evaluate education policy options.

Applies microeconomic analysis to the demand for labor, labor supply, and the determination of wages. Examines investments in human capital, unemployment, discrimination, unions, government intervention in the labor market. Empirical findings as well as theoretical models are studied. Prerequisites: 100, 302, and MAT 175 or equivalent. Two lectures, one precept.

This course will provide an opportunity to apply the concepts and methods studied in economics core courses to analyze selected topics in health economics. Topics will change from year to year. Prerequisites depend on topic. Two 90-minute lectures and one precept.

Survey of the Russian economic experience from 1860 through 1998. Emphasis will be on Soviet and Russian growth and development and the importance of critical systemic and policy changes; the administrative command era and the contemporary transition experience of the 1990's.

This course develops a conceptual framework for examining government taxing and spending, and uses this framework to analyze current public policy issues. We focus on both the efficiency and equity aspects of the government.

This course explores the role that money, financial markets and institutions, and monetary policy play in shaping the economic environment. The class investigates why these markets and institutions arise and may lubricate the resource allocation analytically (rather than descriptively), using tolls of economic theory. Two lectures, one class.

In the US and many other developed countries, economic inequality has risen to historic levels in recent decades. What are the causes of this trend -- "natural" market forces (e.g., globalization?) or changes in public policy (e.g., erosion of the minimum wage)? Are measures currently proposed to counteract inequality and poverty -- e.g, progressive taxation, transfer programs to low-income families, public insurance programs such as Medicare -- effective? An emphasis is placed on understanding what basic microeconomic theory as well as empirical evidence can (and cannot) tell us about these questions.

The course focuses on fiscal and monetary policies to promote high-quality growth with price stability, but some attention will also be given to sector-specific policies and other aspects of macroeconomic adjustment and structural reform, including tax and financial sector reforms, external competitiveness, and public and external debt management. We will study various macroeconomic models, including models used by central banks for monetary policy analyses.

This course covers topics related to the current economy and current economic policy. The course will begin by reviewing the causes of the recession that began in December 2007. It will concentrate on consumer behavior, financial markets, unemployment, and the housing sector. The role of public policies in contributing to the economic crisis and in ending the crisis will be explored. The state of the recovery will be assessed and monitored. The course will also consider current economic policy priorities.

Surveys development economics including current issues, historical background, growth theories, trade and development, markets and planning, strategies for poverty alleviation, agriculture, technology, employment, industry, population, education, health, and internal and external finance. Selective attention to particular countries and regimes. Prerequisites: 101 and 300 or 310, or instructor's permission. Two lectures, one precept.