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Economics

See also the Graduate Program in Management.

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ECON E-10a Principles of Economics

Fall term (10062)

Siddiq M. Abdullah, PhD, Professor of Management, Pine Manor College.

Class times: Saturdays beginning Sept. 12, 10 am-1 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900.

The course deals with basic economic principles that help us understand the process of decision making by individuals and societies. We analyze the fundamental economic activities of production, distribution, exchange, and consumption at both the micro and macro level. Besides developing an understanding of the functioning of a free market system, we also critically examine the controversies that surround the use of public policies for the greater common good. Prerequisite: a working knowledge of elementary algebra and geometry. (4 credits)

Spring term (22004)

Bruce D. Watson, MA, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University.

Class times: Tuesdays beginning Jan. 26, 7:35-9:35 pm. Optional sections to be arranged.

Course tuition: noncredit and undergraduate credit $950.

Online option available.

This course provides an introduction to current economic issues and to basic economic principles and methods. Economics is not primarily a set of answers, but rather a method of reasoning. By the end of the course, students are able to use the framework they have learned to form their own judgments about the major economic problems faced by the United States and other countries. Prerequisite: high school algebra recommended. (4 credits)

ECON E-1010 Microeconomic Theory

Fall term (10782)

Robert Neugeboren, PhD, Lecturer on Economics, Harvard University.

Class times: Wednesdays beginning Sept. 2, 5:30-7:30 pm. Required sections Tuesdays, 6:30-7:30 or 7:35-8:35 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit and undergraduate credit $950, graduate credit $1,850.

Online option available. Lecture 1 video.

Spring term (23285)

Bruce D. Watson, MA, Lecturer in Extension, Harvard University.

Class times: Wednesdays beginning Jan. 27, 7:35-9:35 pm. Optional sections to be arranged.

Course tuition: noncredit and undergraduate credit $950, graduate credit $1,850.

Online option available.

This course presents the basic analytical tools of microeconomics. We start by looking at the decision making of individual consumers and ask how these decisions can be optimized or improved. Next, we look at the ways firms make and coordinate their decisions under varying market structures, including perfect competition and monopoly. Then we look at strategic behavior in imperfectly competitive markets, making use of concepts from game theory such as Nash equilibrium. Finally, we take up topics including bargaining theory, information economics, environmental externalities, and public goods. Prerequisites: ECON E-10a, or the equivalent and MATH E-8 or satisfactory placement test score; MATH E-15 recommended. (4 credits)

ECON E-1012 Macroeconomic Theory (22243)

Spring term

Hossein S. Kazemi, PhD, Associate Professor of Economics, Stonehill College.

Class times: Thursdays beginning Jan. 28, 7:35-9:35 pm. Required sections Thursdays, 6:30-7:30 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900, graduate credit $1,800.

This course provides an analysis of the economy in aggregate. It examines theories of national income determination, unemployment, inflation, business cycles (recession and depression), financial markets, and the global economy. Special attention is paid to central banking in the United States, around the globe, and the evolving debate over the role of the government in the economy, budget deficits, trade deficits, and the changing nature of work in America. Prerequisite: ECON E-10a, or the equivalent. (4 credits)

ECON E-1035 The Economics of Decision Making (13473)

Fall term

David S. McIntosh, MBA, Founder, Creative Business Breakthroughs.
Jon A. Fay, AB, Founding Partner, Wilson Alan LLC.

Class times: Saturdays beginning Sept. 12, 10 am-1 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900, graduate credit $1,800.

In this course we study how people actually make decisions, what rationality lies behind seemingly irrational behavior, and how decision making can be influenced. Building on economic principles useful in understanding business and consumer decision making, we study forces that prevent efficient and rational outcomes from occurring, as well as tools for influencing decisions. Prerequisites: ECON E-10a, or the equivalent. (4 credits)

ECON E-1040 Strategy, Conflict, and Cooperation (21946)

Spring term

Robert Neugeboren, PhD, Lecturer on Economics, Harvard University.

Class times: Wednesdays beginning Jan. 27, 5:30-7:30 pm. Required sections Tuesdays, 6:30-7:30 or 7:35-8:35 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit and undergraduate credit $950, graduate credit $1,850.

Online option available.

This course is an introduction to the "strategic way of thinking" and a primer on the mathematical theory of games. Students learn about game theory through a combination of analytical techniques and a series of in-class and take-home exercises. Applications are drawn from economics and other social sciences. Topics include the prisoner's dilemma and the arms race, the minimax theorem, Nash equilibrium, bargaining, subgame perfection, and the evolution of cooperation. Prerequisite: MATH E-8, or the equivalent or satisfactory placement test score. (4 credits)

ECON E-1297 International Economics (21181)

Spring term

Siddiq M. Abdullah, PhD, Professor of Management, Pine Manor College.

Class times: Saturdays beginning Feb. 6, 10 am-1 pm. Optional sections to be arranged.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900, graduate credit $1,800.

This course is an introduction to foreign trade and international finance theories. We empirically examine recent developments in the economies of the United States, Europe, and the Pacific region. Discussion topics include NAFTA, the European Union, WTO, economic reforms, and other contemporary institutional changes. Prerequisite: ECON E-10a, or the equivalent. (4 credits)

ECON E-1500 The Economics of Financial Markets (23271)

Spring term

Mark Tomass, PhD, Research Fellow, Center for Middle Eastern Studies, Harvard University.

Class times: Wednesdays beginning Jan. 27, 7:35-9:35 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900, graduate credit $1,800.

This course provides the analytical skills necessary to understand forces that determine the prices of financial assets, derivatives, and stocks. It develops a system of tools to examine how interest rates, prices of bonds, international capital flows, and exchange rates are simultaneously determined. Finally, it examines how stock markets function and how market agents assess the value of stocks. Prerequisite: ECON E-10a, or the equivalent. (4 credits)

ECON E-1530d Money and Monetary Policy (12505)

Fall term

Hossein S. Kazemi, PhD, Associate Professor of Economics, Stonehill College.

Class times: Thursdays beginning Sept. 3, 7:35-9:35 pm. Required sections Thursdays, 6:30-7:30 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900, graduate credit $1,800.

This course examines money and monetary policy in both theoretical and applied fashion. The first part of the course is an analysis of the role of money, central banking, and monetary policy in the economy with a clear focus on how the Federal Reserve reacts to economic news and how its reaction affects financial markets, particularly fixed income and equity markets. The second part of the course starts with classical monetary theory and moves to modern quantity theory. Prerequisite: ECON E-1012, or the equivalent. (4 credits)

ECON E-1600 Economics of Business

Fall term (13399)

Robert E. Wayland, MA, Chief Executive Officer, Robert E. Wayland and Associates.

Class times: Tuesdays beginning Sept. 1, 7:35-9:35 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900, graduate credit $1,800.

Spring term (23096)

Robert E. Wayland, MA, Chief Executive Officer, Robert E. Wayland and Associates.

Class times: Tuesdays beginning Jan. 26, 7:35-9:35 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900, graduate credit $1,800.

This course introduces economic concepts that can be applied to many management and executive tasks. These include the economic perspective on the nature, scale, and organization of the firm; the role of information and transaction costs in internal and external markets; principal-agent theory; contracting; and the firm's relationship to customers and suppliers. Prerequisite: ECON E-10a, or the equivalent. (4 credits)

ECON E-1661 Environmental Economics (13429)

Fall term

Jennifer Clifford, PhD, Lecturer in Economics, University of Massachusetts, Boston.

Class times: Mondays beginning Aug. 31, 5:30-7:30 pm.

Course tuition: noncredit $600, undergraduate credit $900, graduate credit $1,800.

Limited enrollment.

This course surveys the most critical topics in environmental economics. Economics, the science of how scarce resources are allocated, is at the core of our most challenging environmental issues. In a world of increasing scarcity and competing demands, economic analysis can guide public policy to efficient use of resources. Market failures are at the root of many of our most serious environmental problems. Remedies include getting prices to reflect true costs, providing productive incentive structures, and explicitly valuing environmental amenities. Topics covered in this course include the economics of population growth, poverty and income distribution, market failures, economic valuation, economic incentive instruments, food and water resources, international agricultural markets, fisheries, and wildlife conservation. (4 credits)

ECON E-2328 The Emergence of Modern Economic Growth: A Comparative and Historical Analysis (13462)

Fall term

James A. Robinson, PhD, Professor of Government, Harvard University.

Course tuition: graduate credit $1,850.

Online only, beginning Sept. 3. Lecture 1 video.

Limited enrollment.

This course is an overview and analysis of comparative economic development during the last half millennia. It examines the emergence of modern economic growth in Europe after 1500, and the forces that led to the great divergence in prosperity in the nineteenth century. Also considered: colonialism, communism, fascism, and revolution. The recorded lectures are from the Faculty of Arts and Sciences course Economics 2328. Prerequisite: introductory econometrics. (4 credits)



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