Courses
All courses carry 3 credits unless otherwise specified.
503 Advanced Microeconomic Theory
Detailed examination of selected topics: consumer behavior, production, capital, income distribution, market structure, general equilibrium, game theory and coalition formation. Not available for Ph.D. credit. Prerequisite: ECON 203.
504 Advanced Macroeconomic Theory
Comparison of major schools of macroeconomic thought and their application to current economic trends and policy debates. Not available for Ph.D. credit. Prerequisite: ECON 204.
596 Independent Study
597DP The Practice of Development Policy and International Cooperation
This course exposes students to the practice of development policy and international cooperation and how they affect policy design and implementation in developing countries. It discusses the role of academic thinking and operational experience in guiding development policy and cooperation, effectiveness,and limitations; and discusses agenda setting processes in global strategies, the role played by key stakeholders in the North and South, and the implicit and explicit rules of division of power and leadership. The instructor draws on both the literature and his own experience in development policy. This course is ideal for students considering advanced studies in economic development, development studies, and international relations, as well as those interested in a career in development policy. Open to Seniors, Juniors and Graduate students only. Prerequisite: Econ 204, and either Econ 203 or Res Econ 202. (Econ 366 or Econ 367 highly recommended). Graduate students who do not meet the prerequisite must be enrolled by the GPD's office.
597EM Special Topics — Ecological Macroeconomics
This course focuses on the relationship between achieving climate stabilization, on the one hand; and advancing economic growth, expanding job opportunities and raising living standards, on the other. We consider these issues, and the relevant literature, for countries and regions of the global economy at all levels of development. Prerequisites: Open to Graduate students only. For undergraduates, the prerequisites are: Econ 204 with a grade of B or better AND permission of instructor. Meets with Pub Pol & Adm 597EM.
597P Special Topics — The Political Economy of Public Health
This course offers a survey of the Political Economy of Public Health. This is an emergent research stream that seeks to understand the distal political and economic causes of population health, and represents a return to the origins of public health, captured by Rudolph Virchow's famous dictum: "Medicine is a social science, and politics is nothing more than medicine on a grand scale." It extends the social determinants of disease tradition, making it more dynamic and moving further upstream. Students will be taught various topics in heterodox economics and comparative political economy that are necessary to understand the patterning of health outcomes at a societal level. This course will focus primarily on the advanced market economies. There are no prerequisites.
598 Practicum
696 Independent Study
699 Master’s Thesis
700 Microeconomics of Coordination and Conflict
Introduces microeconomic concepts relevant to the coordination of social interactions with particular attention to conflict, cooperation, collective action, competition, and coordination failures.
701 Microeconomic Theory
Systematic development of theory of the consumer, firm, and industry, and their interactions through markets. Prerequisite: ECON 203.
702 Game Theory and Strategic Interactions
Addresses contemporary issues in game theory and the microfoundations of economic institutions.
703 Introduction to Economic History
Introduction to economic history. Topics: transition from feudalism to capitalism in Europe; slavery and the southern U.S. economy; rise of large-scale firms; depression and instability in the 20th century. Prerequisite: Economics graduate student status.
705 Macroeconomic Theory I
Systematic development of static and dynamic theories of aggregative economic behavior and their applications. Prerequisite: ECON 204
706 Macroeconomic Theory II
Systematic development of static and dynamic theories of aggregative economic behavior and their applications. Prerequisite: ECON 204
707 History of Economic Thought
Alternative concepts of economics and radically different economic theories have always contested for hegemony within economics. Examines pre-classical, classical, Marxian, neo-classical, and Keynesian theories to stress their differences and conflicts.
708 Political Economy I
Marxian theory. Topics include historical materialism, class, value and surplus value, the labor process, and accumulation and crisis. Additional topics vary with instructor.
709 Political Economy II
Current issues in political economy, focusing on race and gender inequalities. Consideration of Marxian, feminist, institutionalist and neoclassical approaches. Some attention to empirical and econometric research.
710 Political Economy III
Advanced topics in Political Economy.
711 Money, Credit and Financial Markets
Considers a range of questions in which financial structures play a central role, including monetary theory and financial regulation; the politics of central bank policy; and the theory of saving and investment.
721 International Finance
Analysis of the political economy of foreign exchange markets, adjustment mechanisms, speculation, capital flows, transfer problems and relationship between balance of payments correctives and domestic policy goals. Prerequisite: ECON 705 or consent of instructor.
722 International Trade Theory
Pure theory of international trade. Reasons for trade, gains from trade, factor price equalization, commercial policy, trade and economic development, and customs unions.
751 Mathematical Methods for Economics
Develops mathematical skills required in macroeconomics, microeconomics, econometrics, and most fields of applied economics. Includes optimization techniques and dynamics. Mastery of mathematical reasoning is reinforced by extensive problem solving.
753 Applied Econometrics
Examines econometric techniques by observing how practitioners have utilized econometrics as a tool for analyzing substantive questions.
763 History of Capitalist Development in Europe and the World Economy
This course examines the emergence and evolution of capitalist forms of economic organization, and their interaction with noncapitalist forms. It begins with the Atlantic economy and the African slave trade, and then covers nineteenth-century industrialization in Britain, France, Germany and Russia. The next readings, which include areas in both the center and periphery of the world economy, are organized by topic: trade and the international division of labor, international finance and foreign investment, imperialism, migration, and changing industrial leadership in the world economy. Special attention is paid to ways in which capitalist development has been uneven across space, time, and economic groups or classes.
764 United States Economic History
Evolution of the U.S. economy from colonial times, including slavery, the development of capitalism, large corporations, trade unions, the Great Depression, and the changing role of the state.
765 Economic Development: Structural Problems
Concept of economic development and structural changes needed in underdeveloped countries to permit development. Prerequisite: 15 hours of economics.
766 Economic Development: Policy Issues
Policy decisions involved in efforts of underdeveloped countries to induce development. Prerequisite: ECON 765.
773 Comparative Economic Systems
Theory of alternative economic systems, of national economic planning, and of resource allocation under different systems
781, 782 Labor Economics
Theoretical and empirical analysis of labor market issues primarily using tools developed in microeconomics and econometrics. First semester: a general survey of neoclassical, institutionalist, and Marxian theories and empirical work on wage determination. Second semester: an intensive analysis of selected topics. Prerequisites for 781: ECON 701. Prerequisite for 782: ECON 781.
796 Independent Study
797B Special Topics — Empirical Methods in Labor Economics
This course surveys empirical methods used in contemporary labor economics in particular and applied microeconomics more generally. The course is geared towards both understanding the econometric foundations of various empirical strategies, and developing facility in applying such strategies in practical research. For all topics, we will focus on both the understanding various estimators (using textbooks and lecture notes) as well as applications in actual papers. The course will assume you have completed the core graduate econometrics sequence or equivalent; this is not an introductory level class. I also expect you to be familiar with programming in STATA. (I will almost exclusively use STATA in this course.)
797EE Special Topics — Economics of Education
This course will examine contemporary issues in education through the use of economic theory and current research literature. Particular attention will be paid to the causes of the racial and socioeconomic academic achievement gap in the U.S. and policy solutions that attempt to close that gap. Topics include (but are not limited to): teacher selection and evaluation, school choice and charter schools, standardized testing and accountability measures, and school finance reform.
797EM Special Topics — Ecological Macroeconomics
This course focuses on the relationship between achieving climate stabilization, on the one hand; and advancing economic growth, expanding job opportunities and raising living standards, on the other. We consider these issues, and the relevant literature, for countries and regions of the global economy at all levels of development.
797EV Special Topics — Political Economy of the Environment
Application of political economy to management of natural resources and environmental quality. Topics include distribution, valuation, property rights, globalization, and selected policy issues.
797GS Special Topics — Gender, Sexuality, Work, and Pay: Empirical Perspectives
This course is designed to provide doctoral students, masters students, and advanced undergraduates an overview of the empirical research on gender and sexuality inequality in the labor market. We will draw primarily on empirical research that addresses theoretical predictions from economics and sociology, as well as research on policies designed to reduce inequality.
797K Special Topics — Modeling Growth and Distribution
This course focuses on the formal modeling of growth and distribution with an emphasis on work within a broadly Keynesian and/or neo-Marxian approach. Topics include: Keynesian and Kaleckian one-sector models, neo-Marxian models, models of cumulative causation and uneven development, mainstream theories of endogenous growth.
797L Special Topics — Open Economy Macroeconomics
Examines linkages between growth, distribution, real exchange rates, prices, interest rates, development, and related macroeconomic phenomena. Studies the political economy of trade and investment liberalization using mainstream and heterodox models. Develops the tools required to analyze issues in an open economy context.
797N Special Topics — Macroeconomic Theory III
The aim of this course is to provide an introduction to formal macroeconomic models within a broadly behavioral and structuralist tradition, including Keynesian and neo-Marxian theories. Topics include: the instability of "full employment", the non-existence of a structurally determined NAIRU, business cycles, economic growth, money and finance, and open economy models.
797P Special Topics — Political Economy of Public Health
This course offers a survey of the Political Economy of Public Health. This is an emergent research stream that seeks to understand the distal political and economic causes of population health, and represents a return to the origins of public health, captured by Rudolph Virchow's famous dictum: "Medicine is a social science, and politics is nothing more than medicine on a grand scale." It extends the social determinants of disease tradition, making it more dynamic and moving further upstream. Students will be taught various topics in heterodox economics and comparative political economy that are necessary to understand the patterning of health outcomes at a societal level. This course will focus primarily on the advanced market economies. The first part of the course will cover capitalist development and population health. Topics will include: (1) Capitalist development and life expectancy; (2) Ideology, individualism, and public health; (3) Class, race, and health inequalities; (4) The welfare state and health; (5) Financial crisis, austerity and health; (6) Deindustrialization and health; and (7) Mass incarceration and health. The second part will study corporate power, and examine corporations as disease vectors. We will consider corporations that produce and market tobacco, alcohol, sugary drinks and foods, automobiles, guns, and prescription drugs, including opioids. The last part of the class will cover healthcare and medicine, examining health insurance and drug innovation and pricing.
797S Special Topics — Dissertation Workshop
The dissertation workshop is open to doctoral students who are at the stage of developing a dissertation prospectus. The goal of the workshop is to help students build skills and develop research practices, and to provide a collaborative forum for the purpose of putting together a dissertation prospectus. Through the course of the semester, students are expected to develop a research plan and timeline, share and comment on each other's writings and research ideas, and make significant progress on writing the prospectus.
797T Special Topics — The Political Economy of Agrarian Reform
Political economy of rural change as societies transform from pre-industrial forms to industrial. Topics include mode of production debates, creation of wage labor, rural class configurations, gender in transition, transition and accumulation, and agricultural class relations worldwide in the context of globalization.
797UD Special Topics — Political Economy of Urban Development
The world that we live in today is predominantly urban ? a phenomenon that is of recent origin. Indeed in much of the developing world, there is also a rapid urbanization of inequity as oppressed rural majorities migrate permanently or temporarily, and form the excluded urban majorities. This course provides perspectives from which the current urban moment in both the developed and developing worlds can be understood, analyzed, and critiqued. At the same time, cities are potential sites of resistance and emancipation, a theme that will be discussed in the course.
797W Special Topics — Time Series Econometrics with Applications to Heterodox Macroeconomics
This course will introduce students to the basic techniques of time series econometric analysis and encourage them to apply some of these techniques to investi gate interesting issues in heterodox macroeconomics, radical political economy and the political economy of development. The material that will be discussed in the course can be divided into two broad topics: (a) analysis of stationary time series processes (both univariate and vector processes), and (b) analysis of non-stationary time series processes (both univariate and vector processes).
797X Special Topics — African Economic Development
This course offers a survey of key structural and policy issues in African economic development. It is intended to provide both a retrospective and prospective view of African economies, taking into account domestic, regional and global dimensions. The themes covered include: growth and structural transformation; poverty and inequality; financing Africa's development; capital flight; conflicts and policies for post-conflict recovery; gender and development; Africa in the global policy arena.
801 Economic Theory Workshop
802 History and Development Workshop
803 Labor Economics Workshop
804 Political Economy Workshop
896 Independent Study
897A Special Topics — Applied Mircoeconomics Workshop
897E Special Topics — Workshop in New Methods in History of Economic Thought
899 Doctoral Dissertation
