Course Information

ECONOMICS DEPARTMENT


Course: FE210
Title: INTRODUCTORY ECONOMICS
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: A course in elementary economic theory with applications to contemporary problems. Topics include determination of GDP, price theory and market equilibrium, monetary and fiscal policy, unemployment, inflation and international trade.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: None.
Course: FE220
Title: ACCOUNTING
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: An introductory course in the basic principles of accounting. Cannot be taken for humanities/social science credit.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: None.
Course: FE301
Title: FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: A study of the theory and techniques of financial analysis applied in the federal government and industry.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: FE210.
Course: FE310
Title: ECONOMIC GEOGRAPHY
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: Provides a systematic understanding of economic growth and the issue of finite limits to improved living standards around the world. Studies population growth, the resources of the principal nations of the world, industry location, international trade, commodity cartels and the requirements for continued technological advances.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: FE210 or approval of department chair.
Course: FE311
Title: HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: Traces the evolution of economic doctrine from the ancients to modern day with emphasis on the period since the 18th century. Reviews the contributions to economic knowledge by Smith, Malthus, Ricardo, Marx, Mill, Marshall, Keynes and others. Various schools of thought, including mercantilism, classical, neo-classical, historical, institutionalism and Keynesianism are examined.
Offered: Spring
Requisites: Prereq: FE210.
Course: FE312
Title: MACROECONOMICS
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: A course on the theories of the aggregate level of income, employment and the price level. Includes discussion of determinants of economic growth, the interaction of the domestic economy with the world economy, and the formulation and impact of monetary and fiscal policy.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: FE210.
Course: FE314
Title: INTERNATIONAL TRADE POLICY
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: Study of international trade and finance, emphasizing policy and the institutions that shape policy. We will consider why countries trade, why some countries use tariffs and other barriers to trade, how international financial markets work, why so many countries now participate in regional trade arrangements, and the benefits and costs associated with globalization.
Offered: Spring
Requisites: Prereq: FE210 or FP210.
Course: FE315
Title: ECONOMICS OF DEVELOPING NATIONS
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: Study of the economic characteristics, problems and policies of developing nations, covering economic growth patterns in Third World nations, their changing role in the international economic order and the different economic routes being employed toward economic progress.
Offered: Spring
Requisites: Prereq: FE210.
Course: FE320
Title: COST ACCOUNTING
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: A study of concepts and techniques of cost accounting. Primarily concerned with the derivation of production cost arising from materials, labor, services employed and overhead. Cannot be taken for HUM/SS credit. Not offered every year.
Offered:
Requisites: Prereq: FE220.
Course: FE321
Title: COMPARATIVE SYSTEMS AND TRANSITIONAL ECONOMIES
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: The study of the structure and performance of alternative forms of economic organization, capitalist, socialist/communist, and mixed economic systems, and the study of the conversion of socialist systems to capitalism with particular focus on eastern European countries and the former Soviet republics. Not offered every year.
Offered:
Requisites: Prereq: FE210.
Course: FE331
Title: ECONOMIC STATISTICS
Credits: 2-2-3
Description: Survey of descriptive and inferential statistical techniques involving more than one variable. Strong emphasis on regression analysis and use of computers.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: FE210 and (SM230 or SM239).
Course: FE334
Title: FINANCIAL MARKETS AND INSTITUTIONS
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: A study of financial institutions and instruments covering their development and role within the economy and financial system. The forces creating the rapid changes of financial institutions and instruments in the 1980s and 1990s are explored, as well as the regulation of financial institutions and markets.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: FE210 or approval of department chair.
Course: FE335
Title: ECONOMICS OF NATIONAL DEFENSE
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: The application of economic analysis to defense decision-making and the consequences of defense decisions for weapons; volunteers vs. conscription; leaders vs. resource managers; competitive vs. monopoly contractors; pay vs. non-pay factors in reenlistment.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: FE210 or approval of department chair.
Course: FE337
Title: ECONOMICS OF THE DEFENSE INDUSTRIAL BASE
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: Application of economic principles to issues relating to military procurement and contracting, conversion of military industrial capacity to peacetime uses, wartime mobilization of industrial capacity, strategic stockpiling and economic warfare.
Offered: Spring
Requisites: Prereq: FE210.
Course: FE341
Title: MICROECONOMICS
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: Theories of the economic behavior of consumers and producers, the determination of final good and factor prices, market structures and general economic equilibrium. The application of price theory to business problems and public-policy issues.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: FE210.
Course: FE342
Title: ECONOMIC METHODS FOR ENGINEERS
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: Application of microeconomic principles and analytical tools to the costing of investment projects in both private and public/military contexts.
Offered: Spring
Requisites: Prereq: FE210.
Course: FE345
Title: ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: Economic evaluation of policies involving conflicting public and private uses of natural resources. Topics include environmental benefit and cost measurement, causes and consequences of pollution, management of depletable and renewable resources and the economics of energy. Not offered every year.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: FE210.
Course: FE354
Title: DEVELOPMENT OF THE U.S. ECONOMY
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: Economic theory is used to analyze the evolution of the U.S. economy; among topics considered are the American Revolution, westward expansion, slavery, industrialization, market concentration and the Great Depression.
Offered: Fall
Requisites: Prereq: FE210 or approval of department chair.
Course: FE362
Title: THE ECONOMICS OF TECHNOLOGY
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: An analysis of productivity growth, characteristics of invention and innovation, determinants of research, and development activities of government and business; the economic impact of automation and reindustrialization. Not offered every year.
Offered:
Requisites: Prereq: FE210.
Course: FE363
Title: MACROECONOMICS
Credits: 2-2-3
Description: A course on the theories of the aggregate level of income, employment and the price level. Includes discussion of determinates of economic growth, the interaction of the domestic economy with the world economy, and the formulation and impact of monetary and fiscal policy. Laboratories involve work with a large macroeconomic model.
Offered: Fall
Requisites: Prereq: FE210.
Course: FE405
Title: ADVANCED MACROECONOMIC THEORY
Credits: 4-0-4
Description: The purpose of this course is to utilize the tools and intuition from microeconomics, macroeconomics, and statistics to understand the structure and workings of capital markets. We take the standpoint of an economic researcher who wants to understand the prices and quantities that are observed in the financial markets, rather than the perspective of an individual who wants to make a fortune in the stock market. By the end of the course, one should have a clear understanding of how to price a financial security and the central role the notions of a risk-return trade off, consumer optimality, and no-arbitrage play in achieving this.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: FE363, FE331, FE341 and (FE412, FE422, FE431, FE434 or FE460)
Course: FE411
Title: ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT AND GROWTH
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: This course provides a rigorous study of the current issues facing developing countries on both the individual and aggregate level. Topics to include such issues as human capital investment, provision of health care resources, trade and globalization, government institutions, foreign aid and growth during times of structural change. Individual country case studies may also be presented.
Offered: Fall
Requisites: Prereq: FE365 or FE341.
Course: FE412
Title: INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND FINANCE
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: A rigorous examination of current international issues in a theoretical and empirical framework. Topics include motivations for trade; trade versus protectionism; the multinational enterprise; exchange rate issues and the international monetary systems and the role of the International Monetary Fund and World Bank.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: FE365 or FE341.
Course: FE422
Title: LABOR ECONOMICS
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: A study of the distribution of income with emphasis on the demand for and supply of labor services; the choice-theoretic behavior of firms and individuals in the determination of wages and the employment level. Topics analyzed include human capital theory, occupational choice, the unemployment-inflation relationship and the wage effects of discrimination and unions.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: FE341.
Course: FE431
Title: PUBLIC FINANCE
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: The use of government expenditures and taxation in a market economy to change the allocation of resources and to modify the distribution of income. Examination of the economic effect of government budgetary policy. Microeconomic theory and federal tax and budgetary institutions are emphasized.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: FE341.
Course: FE434
Title: MONEY AND BANKING
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: A consideration of central and commercial banking institutions; an investigation of the demand for money and its role as a focal point for monetary policies designed to obtain full employment, price stability and international monetary equilibrium
Offered: Spring
Requisites: Prereq: FE365.
Course: FE435
Title: MACROECONOMIC FORECASTING
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: As a forward-looking discipline, economists use forecasting as the basis for private sector decision making. Moreover, businesses and governments forecast future revenues and costs. Macroeconomic Forecasting examines the modern, quantitative, statistical-econometric techniques of producing and evaluating forecasts of macroeconomic variables. The course introduces the fundamental techniques to analyze trend, seasonality and cyclical fluctuations and the development of simultaneous equation models of the economy.
Offered: Fall
Requisites: Prereq: FE363 and SM230.
Course: FE436
Title: BUSINESS CYCLES
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: An advanced treatment of the empirical and theoretical issues surrounding business cycles. Topics include empirical regularities of cycles, models of inventory cycles, labor and credit markets, technology shocks, and the international transmission of cycles. Simulation-based methods of analyzing such models, and the role of fiscal and monetary policy in economic stabilization, are included.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: FE363.
Course: FE437
Title: MONETARY THEORY AND POLICY
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: An advanced study of topics in monetary economics and their application to macroeconomic issues. Consideration of the role of money as a medium of exchange in commodity and fiat systems. Theories of money demand and empirical measures of the money supply. Development of macroeconomic models of money and the effect of monetary policy on inflation, unemployment and economic growth.
Offered: Fall
Requisites: Prereq: FE363.
Course: FE445
Title: ECONOMETRICS
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: Quantification of basic economic theory; multiple regression, correlation and identification techniques for the construction and testing of economic models and a study of selected alternative models of particular economic interest.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: FE341, Calculus II, and (FE331 or SM339).
Course: FE450
Title: GAME THEORY
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: Game theory is the study of strategic behavior in situations where decision makers are aware of the interdependence of their actions. While game theory is widely applicable in social and biological sciences, this course introduces the basic notions of game theory with emphasis on economic applications such as auctions, oligopoly pricing, and entry deterrence. In particular, the course introduces students to the fundamental problems and solution concepts of non-cooperative game theory by examining both simultaneous and sequential move games, static and dynamic games, and games with imperfect, and asymmetric information.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: FE341.
Course: FE460
Title: PUBLIC POLICIES TOWARD BUSINESS
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: An examination of public regulation of private enterprise in the U.S. with emphasis on the rationale for and application of antitrust policy and direct regulation.
Offered: Spring
Requisites: Prereq: FE341.
Course: FE461
Title: INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: Industrial organization is the study of industry and firm behavior. Using microeconomic and game theory tools, this course explores the relationships among firms in an industry or across industries by examining the nature of strategic interaction among firms. The course will utilize available computer software to study theoretical models and empirical evidence for a wide variety of market phenomena such as price wars, patent races, price-fixing conspiracies, mergers, and advertising campaigns. It will also consider public policies that affect the structure of markets and the behavior of firms, particularly antitrust laws, which try to create a balance between the benefits of coordination and consolidation and the detriments of market power. This course counts as a restricted FE major elective for economics majors and as an economics major elective for the quantitative economics major.
Offered: Spring
Requisites: Prereq: FE341.
Course: FE462
Title: INFORMATION ECONOMICS
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: An exploration of the basic theory of information in economics, with special reference to the valuation of information. Students apply microeconomics in solving problems in the allocation, distribution, storage, and transportation of information. Students learn the unique features of markets for information, and the institutional and regulatory environment within which information markets function.
Offered: Fall
Requisites: Prereq: FE341 or FE341Q.
Course: FE475
Title: RESEARCH SEMINAR
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: Directed research on a specific topic; capstone to economics major. Emphasis on empirical work using computers.
Offered: Spring
Requisites: Prereq: 1/C FEC major.
Course: FE480
Title: IT RESEARCH SEMINAR (FE)
Credits: 3-0-3
Description: Directed research on a specific topic incorporating both economics and information technology. The capstone course for IFEA and IFEI majors.
Offered:
Requisites: Prereq: 1/C IFEA or IFEI major.
Course: FE500
Title: HONORS RESEARCH SEMINAR I
Credits: 2-0-2
Description: Examination of techniques and methodology of social science research; students will choose topics for development in FE506.
Offered: Fall 2008-2009
Requisites: Prereq: 1/C FECH major.
Course: FE506
Title: HONORS RESEARCH PROJECT
Credits: 1-6-4
Description: Directed independent research on topics chosen in FE500. Emphasis on empirical work using microcomputers.
Offered: Spring
Requisites: Prereq: 1/C FECH major.