Economics (EC)
Survey the basic issues of international economics and micro/ macroeconomics. Explore the concept of optimal decision making to achieve the highest level of well-being given limited and scarce resources. Learn why consumers buy different products and how firms determine how much to produce of each product under different levels of competition. Study why people get paid different salaries/wages, why poverty exists in a nation of abundance, and how a country’s economy changes over time. Discuss sustainability topics, such as water, air, and pollution from an economic perspective and explore the concept of money and fiscal policy. EC180 does not fulfill the EC181 and EC182 requirement of the accounting, business administration, management, marketing, and finance majors.
Investigate the concept of people making correct or optimal decisions to achieve the highest level of well-being given limited and scarce resources through the use of supply-and-demand analysis. Focus on the theories behind national income accounting, how and why a country’s economy grows or declines over time, and why a country sometimes experiences periods of high unemployment and/or high rates of inflation. Examine the role business and government can play in causing and eliminating economic instability in our economy. Discuss the basics behind international trade and finance.
Examine rational decision making by individuals, households, and firms under different levels of competition, regulations, and policy constraints. Investigate why consumers buy different products and how firms determine how much to produce of each product under different levels of competition. Examine why people get paid different wages and salaries, poverty, the distribution of income in our society, and externalities such as pollution.
Study the international aspect of economic life, including the theory of international trade; exchange rates, markets and financial institutions; balance of payments; international investments; global environmental economic issues; international commercial treaties and agreements; and the position of the United States in the world economy.
Analyze the economics of employment and the use of human effort in the production of goods and services, including the structure, policies, and problems of labor organizations; collective bargaining practices and problems; regulation of labor by government; wage determination; unemployment; social security; and the functioning of culturally diverse U.S. labor markets.
This course will provide the student with an understanding of Comparative Economic Systems. The main trends in economic thought from its beginnings to the present will be discussed. A critical survey of the theory and the use of macroeconomic and microeconomic models and their policy implications are analyzed in terms of economic planning, research allocation, capital formation, foreign trade, industry and market structure.
Explore the role of financial markets and institutions in the economy, the structure and determination of interest rates, the Federal Reserve Board and monetary policy, debts securities markets, equity markets, futures and options markets, and commercial banking.
Intensive study of a particular topic in economics selected by the student with the approval of the department. Open to seniors only. Credit to a maximum of three, dependent upon nature and depth of intended research.