Economics

Courses Taught

• DS 265 "Just" Data?
  Massive data collection and sophisticated “Big Data” methods are used in marketing and recruiting, teacher evaluation, criminal justice, national security, and many other fields. These methods have potential to improve social outcomes, but can also perpetuate historical socioeconomic injustices, reinforce biases, and paint a veneer of rational objectivity over erroneous assumptions. This course introduces relevant statistical and computational concepts through lab activities, while also reflecting critically on these methods’ limitations and ethical implications through discussion of specific case studies. Prerequisite: Previous credit or concurrent registration in one of: CS 107 or 111; OR Math 107 or equivalent; OR DS 256.
• ECON 103 Principles of Microeconomics
  Courses provide general understanding of economic systems and economic analysis, with emphasis on the operation of the U.S. economy. Topics include the price system, theory of consumer behavior, theory of production, theory of the firm, income distribution, welfare economics, and the micro aspects of international trade.
• ECON 252 Gender Issues in Economics
  Application of economic theory and empirical analysis to gender and LGBT issues, focusing on the US economy. Course explores how changes in family structures, gendered social norms, and macroeconomic conditions affect labor force participation, considers evidence regarding discrimination by identity and related differences in earnings, and evaluates how intersections of gender identity with race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and social class impact individuals’ economic choices and the effects of public policies. Prerequisite: Economics 103. ECON 252 and WGS 252 are cross-listed.
• ECON 302 Gender Issues in Economics
  Application of economic theory and empirical analysis to gender and LGBT issues, focusing on the US economy. Course explores how changes in family structures, gendered social norms, and macroeconomic conditions affect labor force participation, considers evidence regarding discrimination by identity and related differences in earnings, and evaluates how intersections of gender identity with race and ethnicity, sexual orientation, and social class impact individuals’ economic choices and the effects of public policies. Prerequisites: ECON 241 and ECON 245. ECON 350 recommended.
• ECON 352 Advanced Econometrics
  Study of the application of mathematical economic theory and statistical procedures to economic data. Coverage includes the development of appropriate techniques for measuring economic relationships specified by economic models and testing of economic theorems. Prerequisite: Econ 350, plus one other 300-level course.
• ECON 404 Capstone Seminar in Mathematical Economics
  This course develops the language of mathematics in the context of economics. The course considers the mathematics and economic applications of equilibrium, slopes and derivatives, differentials, optimization (maximizing profits or utility and minimizing costs or expenditures), constrained optimization (e.g., maximizing utility subject to the budget constraint), and integration. Applications include problems in consumer and producer theory, general equilibrium, welfare economics, growth and discounting, oligopoly behavior, game theory, statistics, and econometrics. Prerequisite: Econ 241, 243, 245, 249, 350 and at least one 300-level elective Econ course.