Economics B.A.

Bachelor of Arts - Economics

College Humanities & Sciences

Catalog Year: 2014-2015

Degree Specific Credits: 36

Required Cumulative GPA: 2.0

Note: Refer to graduation requirements listed previously in the catalog. See index.

Economics - Lower-division Core

Rule: All courses are required.

Note: Within the 36 credits the student must include ECNS 201S, 202S. Three credits of ECNS 101S may be counted toward the additional fourteen credits of upper-division economics courses if taken before attaining junior status.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description ECNS 201S - Principles of Microeconomics
Offered every term.  The nature of a market economy, economic decisions of the household and firm, competition and monopoly, value and price determination, distribution of income and applied microeconomic topics.
 3 Credits
Show Description ECNS 202S - Principles of Macroeconomics
Offered every term.  Prereq., ECNS 201S.  The determination of the level of national economic activity, inflation, economic instability, the role of money and financial institutions, and selected topics in public economic policy.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 6 Total Credits Required

Economics - Upper-division Core

Rule: All courses are required.

Note: Within the 36 credits the student must include ECNS 301, 302, 403, 488, 494, 499 and fourteen economics elective credits numbered 300 or above. ECNS 398 credits do not count toward the 36-credit requirement. The Upper-division Writing Expectation must be met by successfully completing the Senior Economics Thesis, ECNS 488 and 499.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description ECNS 301 - Intermediate Micro with Calc
Offered spring and  autumn.  Prereq., ECNS 201S and M 162 or equiv. Analysis of consumer behavior, production, factor pricing, externalities and public goods.
 3 Credits
Show Description ECNS 302 - Intermediate Macroeconomics
Offered autumn and spring.  Prereq., ECNS 202S.   Analysis of national income determination, unemployment, and inflation with emphasis on the role of fiscal and monetary policy.
 3 Credits
Show Description ECNS 403 - Introduction to Econometrics
Offered autumn.  Prereq., an introductory statistics course.  Quantitative methods in economics with emphasis on regression analysis.
 4 Credits
Show Description ECNS 488 - Res Meth & Thesis Design
Offered autumn.  Prereq., senior standing, economics major. Development of senior thesis proposal; presentation of research topics and methods by economics faculty and seminar participants.
 2 Credits
Show Description ECNS 494 - Senior Seminar
Offered spring.  Prereq., senior standing, economics major. Capstone course for economics majors.  Advanced topics in economic methodology, theory and/or public affairs.
 2 Credits
Show Description ECNS 499 - Senior Thesis/Capstone
Offered spring. Prereq., senior standing, economics major.  Completion of senior thesis; presentation of results by seminar participants.
 2 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 16 Total Credits Required

Upper-division Electives

Rule: A minimum of fourteen credits of upper-division Economics electives is required; more credits may be taken.

Note: A minimum of fourteen credits of upper-division Economics electives is needed to satisfy the economics degree. ECNS 101S may be counted toward these additional 14 credits if taken before attaining junior status (60+ credits). ECNS 398 does NOT count toward the 36-credit requirement; however, the following may count as upper-division economics electives: GPHY 323S, PSCI 365, FORS 320 and NRSM 425.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description ECNS 310 - Intro Health Economics
Offered intermittently.  Prereq., economics course. Survey of market forces that govern the production and consumption of medical care in the U.S. market; uncertainty, asymmetric information, and concentrations of market power resulting in inefficient outcomes. Topics include cost escalations, role of medical insurance, and problems of an aging population.
 3 Credits
Show Description ECNS 312 - Labor Economics
Offered intermittently.  Prereq., ECNS 201S. Economic analysis of labor markets. Theories of wage determination, discrimination and poverty with implications for manpower policy.
 3 Credits
Show Description ECNS 313 - Money and Banking
Offered intermittently.  Prereq., ECNS 202S. Definition and role of money; banks and other financial institutions as suppliers of money; the federal reserve system as a regulator of money; monetary theories, history, and policy.
 3 Credits
Show Description ECNS 320 - Public Finance
Offered intermittently.  Prereq., ECNS 201S. Rationale for governmental expenditure; public goods; public choice. Analysis of expenditure policy. Intergovernmental relations.
 3 Credits
Show Description ECNS 391 - Special Topics
(R-9) Offered intermittently.  Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.
 1 To 9 Credits
Show Description ECNS 405 - Game Theory
Offered every other autumn.  Prereq., ECNS 201S. An introduction to the tools of game theory and how they are applied.  In many real-world economic situations, outcomes are jointly determined where one agent's choices will affect another's welfare, and vice versa.  Game theory provides a method of analyzing these economic situations where decisions are interrelated, and each agent recognizes this fact and thus makes decisions strategically.
 3 Credits
Show Description ECNS 406 - Industrial Organization
Offered intermittently.  Prereq., ECNS 201S.  The theoretical basis for public policy solutions to market power. Emphasis on case studies in matters of antitrust, regulation of public utilities, and public ownership of business enterprises.
 3 Credits
Show Description ECNS 431 - International Trade
Offered intermittently.  Prereq., ECNS 301 or consent of instr.  International trade: theory, policy, institutions, and issues. Analysis of comparative advantage and trade restrictions, negotiations, and agreements.
 3 Credits
Show Description ECNS 433 - Economics of the Environment
Offered intermittently.  Prereq., ECNS 201S. Outlines a theoretical framework for the analysis of environmental problems, including concepts of market failure and externalities, materials balance and property rights. The policy implications of this analytical model are explored for a range of topics including pollution and the preservation of natural environments and species.  Formally cross-listed with EVST 440.
 3 Credits
Show Description ECNS 445 - Int Env Econ & Clim Change
Offered autumn every other year.  Same as CCS 445, EVST 445.  Prereq., ECNS 201S. An introduction to the economics of various policy approaches towards climate change and other international environmental issues such as trans-boundary pollution problems, international trade and the environment and pollution haven hypothesis.
 3 Credits
Show Description ECNS 450 - Adv. Topics in Economic Dev.
Offered intermittently.  Prereq., ECNS 201S and ECNS 202S, or consent of instructor.  Advanced treatment of the processes of economic growth and development in the less developed world.
 3 Credits
Show Description ECNS 491 - Special Topics
(R-9) Offered intermittently.  Experimental offerings of visiting professors, experimental offerings of new courses, or one-time offerings of current topics.
 1 To 9 Credits
Show Description FORS 320 - Forest Environmental Economics
Offered autumn. Prereq., ECNS 201S; and M 121 and M 122 or M 151 or M 162 or M 171 or M 172.  Economic techniques to support decision making about the allocation of scarce resources, and management of forests for timber and other ecosystem services.
 3 Credits
Show Description GPHY 323S - Econ. Geog. of Rural Areas
Offered spring odd-numbered years. Study of the location of economic activities, including agriculture, industry, and services.  Focus on the changing nature of rural areas.
 3 Credits
Show Description NRSM 425 - Nat Res & Envir Economics
Offered alternate spring. Prereq., ENSC 201S or FORS 320; and M 115, M 121, M 122, M 151, M 162, M 171, or 172. Introduction to analytical approaches for economic analysis of management of non-renewable resources, fisheries, forests, threatened and endangered species, and the atmosphere.
 3 Credits
Show Description PSCI 365 - Pub Policy Issues and Analysis
Examines a variety of public policy issues including economic, social welfare, health care, environmental and criminal justice policy.  Emphasis is placed on substantive policies and policy analysis.
 3 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 14 Total Credits Required

Non-economics Required Courses

Rule: All courses are required.

Note: Non-economics courses required for the undergraduate degree are: M 115, M 162 and STAT 216 or equivalent. M 162 must be taken before ECNS 301. STAT 216 must be taken before ECNS 403. Students may prefer to take the two-course sequence M 171 and M 172 instead of M 162. Students planning graduate study in economics should take M 171 and M 172 and consider M 221, M 307 and ECNS 511, 513 and 560.

Show All Course Descriptions Course Credits
Show Description M 115 - Probability and Linear Math
Offered every term. Prereq., M 090 with a grade of B- or better, or M 095, or ALEKS placement >= 3. Systems of linear equations and matrix algebra. Introduction to probability with emphasis on models and probabilistic reasoning. Examples of applications of the material in many fields.
 3 Credits
Show Description M 162 - Applied Calculus
Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., ALEKS placement >= 5 or one of M 121, 122 or 151. Introductory course surveying the principal ideas of differential and integral calculus with emphasis on applications and computer software. Mathematical modeling in discrete and continuous settings. Intended primarily for students who do not plan to take higher calculus.
 4 Credits
Show Description STAT 216 - Introduction to Statistics
Offered autumn and spring. Prereq., M 115 (preferred), or one of M 121, 135, 151, 162 or 171, or ALEKS placement >= 4. Introduction to major ideas of statistical inference. Emphasis is on statistical reasoning and uses of statistics.
 4 Credits
Minimum Required Grade: C- 11 Total Credits Required