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University Bulletin: Undergraduate Programs 2003-2004 The George Washington University  

 
   
 

ECONOMICS



Professors J.L. Gastwirth, R.M. Dunn, Jr., R.S. Goldfarb, A.M. Yezer, J.J. Cordes, J. Pelzman, R.P. Trost, B.L. Boulier, H.S. Watson, M.D. Bradley, S.C. Smith, P. Labadie, G.L. Kaminsky, D.O. Parsons, R.F. Phillips (Chair), M.O. Moore, N. Vonortas, F.L. Joutz, S. Joshi
Associate Professors A.S. Malik, S.M. Suranovic, W.P. Mullin, V. Fon, R.M. Samaniego
Assistant Professors M. Cipriani, C. Wei, S. Emran, M.X. Chen, A. Fostel, T. Sinclair, P. Carrillo, S. McCoskey
Adjunct Professor S.N. Kirby
Professorial Lecturers R.S. Belous, D. Fixler, H. Hertzfeld, H. Stekler, F.D. Weiss
Associate Professorial Lecturers L. Clauser, N. Pham

Bachelor of Arts with a major in economics—The following requirements must be fulfilled:
1. The general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.
2. Prerequisite courses—Econ 1112.
3. Required courses in related areas—Math 21, 31, or 52; Stat 111 or 112, or equivalent; 6 credit hours of a social science other than economics.
4. Required courses in the major—Econ 101, 102, 121, 198, and five additional 100-level economics courses to be approved by the departmental advisor. A maximum of three regional courses (Econ 133, 169, 170, 185) can be counted toward the five additional courses. Of the three international courses (Econ 180, 181, and 182), only two may be counted toward the major.

Bachelor of Science with a major in economics—The following requirements must be fulfilled:
1. The general requirements stated under Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.
2. Prerequisite courses—Econ 1112.
3. Required courses in related areas—Math 31 and 32, or equivalent; Stat 111 and 112, or equivalent; 6 hours of additional course work in mathematics, statistics, systems engineering, or computer science, to be approved by the departmental advisor (e.g., Math 33, 124, 125, 142; Stat 157, 158, 181, 183;
EMSE 101, 102, 154, 173; CSci 123, 173, 174, 194).
4. Required courses in the major—Econ 101, 102, 121, 123, 198, and four additional 100-level economics courses to be approved by the departmental advisor. A maximum of three regional courses (Econ 133, 169, 170, 185) can be counted toward the four additional courses. Of the three international courses (Econ 180, 181, and 182), only two may be counted toward the major.

Five-Year Bachelor of Science with a major in economics and Master of Arts in the field of economics—Students interested in this dual degree program should consult the undergraduate program advisor in the Economics Department by the second semester of the sophomore year.

Five-Year Bachelor of Arts or Bachelor of Science with a major in economics and Master of Public Policy—Students interested in this dual degree program should consult the director of the Public Policy Program by the second semester of their sophomore year.

Special Honors—Students may apply for graduation with Special Honors. To be eligible, a student must meet the requirements for Special Honors stated under University Regulations, must have a grade-point average of at least 3.5 in economics courses, and must submit an honors paper to the department. Upon review of the honors paper, the student may be recommended for graduation with Special Honors.

Minor in economics—(a) 18 credit hours in economics, including Econ 1112, 101, 102, 121, and one other approved 100-level course in economics; (b) one of the following: 6 credit hours of an approved statistics sequence, such as Stat 111, 112; or 6 hours of an approved mathematics sequence, such as Math 31, 32; or one approved statistics course, such as Stat 111, and one approved mathematics course, such as Math 31 or 52; or one approved mathematics course or one approved statistics course and one additional 100-level course in economics (other than Econ 133, 134, 169, 170, 171, or 185). Stat 129 cannot be used to satisfy the requirements of the minor. With permission, a limited number of graduate courses in the department may be taken for credit toward an undergraduate degree. See the Graduate Programs Bulletin for course listings. Departmental prerequisite: Econ 1112 is prerequisite to all other courses offered by the Department of Economics.

1112 Principles of Economics (3—3) Bradley, Dunn, Goldfarb, Trost, Samaniego, Yezer
  Major economic principles, institutions, and problems in contemporary life. Econ 11: Microeconomics—supply and demand, the price system and how it works, competitive and monopolistic markets. Econ 12: Macroeconomics—national income concepts, unemployment and inflation, institutions of monetary control. Econ 11 is prerequisite to Econ 12. (Econ 11 or 12—fall and spring)
101 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory (3) Fon, Goldfarb, Joshi, Malik,
  Parsons, Watson, Carrillo Analysis of household economic behavior, including derivation of demand functions. Analysis of firm behavior, including derivation of supply frameworks. Demand and supply interaction under various market structures and in factor markets. (Fall and spring)
102 Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory (3) Bradley, Joutz, Labadie,
  Sinclair, Soares, Wei Investigation of the determinants of national income, inflation, unemployment, and interest rates. Alternative business cycle theories, with emphasis on the role of imperfect information, uncertainty, and expectations. (Fall and spring)
105 Economic Conditions Analysis and Forecasting (3) Staff
  Theory and empirical analyses of economic trends and fluctuations; use of economic indicators and simple econometric models. (Fall)
121 Money and Banking (3) Joutz, Labadie, Samaniego, Wei
  The role of money, credit, interest rates, foreign exchange rates, and commercial banks and other financial institutions in the U.S. economy. (Fall and spring)
122 Monetary Theory and Policy (3) Staff
  Analysis of classic and modern monetary theories and their application to current economic conditions. The links between theory and policy. The altered role of money over time; the new money technology. (Spring)
123 Introduction to Econometrics (3) Trost, Phillips, Sinclair
  Joint offering of the Economics and Statistics Departments. Construction and testing of economic models: regression theory, parameter estimation, and statistical techniques applicable to economic models. Prerequisite: Math 31; Stat 112. (Fall and spring)
133 Economies of the Former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe (3) Staff
  Analysis of the transition process in the former Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. Topics include economic models of planned economies and comparative analysis of economic development programs of the newly independent states and Eastern Europe. (Fall)
136 Natural Resources and Environmental Economics (3) Malik
  Analysis of market mechanisms that allocate energy and natural and environmental resources; investigation of actual and optimal resource allocation across uses and time; review of arguments for public intervention. (Spring)
142 Labor Economics (3) Ribar, Parsons
  Analysis of labor supply and demand; measurement and theory of unemployment; occupational choice; wage differentials; labor market issues and policies. (Fall)
148 Health Economics (3) Staff
  Economic analysis of the determinants of demand, supply, output, and distribution in the health care sector, with special emphasis on current policy issues of access, quality, and cost. (Spring)
151 Economic Development (3) Smith, Emran
  Theories and empirical studies of the economic problems of developing countries. (Fall and spring)
157 Urban and Regional Economics (3) Yezer, Carrillo
  Analysis of the determinants of urban growth and development; firm location; the functioning of urban land and housing markets.
158 Industrial Organization (3) Mullin
  Analysis of market structure, conduct, and performance of firms in a market economy, with emphasis on case studies of U.S. industries. (Fall)
159 Government Regulation of the Economy (3) Mullin
  Economic analysis of antitrust and regulation in the American economy. Prerequisite: Econ 101 or 158. (Spring)
161 Public Finance: Expenditure Programs (3) Cordes, Watson
  Economic analysis of government spending and social regulation programs. Topics include public goods, externalities, income transfer and social insurance programs, and benefit—cost analysis of government programs. (Fall)
162 Public Finance: Taxation (3) Cordes, Watson
  Economic analysis of taxes and government deficits. Topics include individual and corporate income taxes, payroll taxes, sales and excise taxes, property and wealth taxes, design of tax systems, and effects of taxation on labor and capital markets. (Spring)
165 Economics of Human Resources (3) Boulier
  Economic analysis of education and training, labor market discrimination, marriage and the family, and social security. (Fall)
167 Economics of Crime (3) Yezer
  Analysis of crime, both empirical and theoretical, that examines the links between law and economics, the economics of criminal participation, and the economics of law enforcement. (Spring)
169 Introduction to the Economy of China (3) Staff
  Background, organization, and operation of the economy. Appraisal of performance and analysis of problems of development. (Fall)
170 Introduction to the Economy of Japan (3) Staff
  Analysis of the structure and growth of the Japanese economy. (Spring)
180 Survey of International Economics (3) Moore, Suranovic
  Basic concepts of international trade and international finance, with emphasis on policy issues.
18182 International Economics (3—3) Dunn, Moore, Suranovic, Pelzman, Chen, Fostel, Cipriani
  Econ 181: International trade theory and policy. Econ 182: International macroeconomic theory and policy. (Academic year)
185 Economic History and Problems of Latin America (3) Staff
  Analysis of present structures and problems of Latin American economies.
190 Law and Economics (3) Pelzman, Fon
  An introduction to the economic analysis of legal systems. How laws alter behavior and how laws might be designed to satisfy efficiency and fairness criteria. Prerequisite: Econ 101.
191 Game Theory (3) Joshi, Fon
  An introduction to game theory, covering concepts such as Nash equilibrium, evolutionary games, backward induction and subgame perfection, Bayesian—Nash games of imperfect information, adverse selection, and moral hazard. Prerequisites: Econ 101; Math 21, 31, or 52 or equivalent. (Fall and spring)
195 Special Topics (3) Staff
  Topics vary, depending on current issues of interest and faculty availability.
198 Proseminar (3) Boulier, Bradley, Fon, Goldfarb, Parsons, Suranovic, Watson
  Preparation and presentation of a research paper in any field of economics agreed upon by student and instructor. Review of selected topics in contemporary economics. Open only to economics majors in their senior year.
199 Independent Research (3) Staff
  Prerequisite: Completion of 12 hours of 100-level economics courses, including Econ 101 or 102, with a minimum grade-point average of 3.4; and approval of an independent research project by a faculty member of the Economics Department.
 

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© 2008 University Bulletin
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Information in this bulletin is generally accurate as of fall 2007. The University reserves the right to change courses, programs, fees, and the academic calendar, or to make other changes deemed necessary or desirable, giving advance notice of change when possible.