ECONOMICS (ECON)
ECON 101 - PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS I
Overview of how a market society works, trades, consumes, redistributes, and enjoys the fruits of its produce. Macroeconomics is a Willis Tower look at the whole economy; the course will connect the tiny dots to see the big picture. For the student who wants to know more about unemployment, economic growth, inflation, inequality, and economic policy.
Credits: 3
Attributes: International Studies, Social Science
Prerequisites: MATH 095 or MATH 010 or MATH 021
Course Notes: or higher.
ECON 102 - PRINCIPLES OF ECONOMICS II
The purpose of studying economics," said a famous economist, "is to avoid being deceived by economists." Most economic policy, from welfare reform to climate change legislation, is drafted and defended with the language of "microeconomic" logic. Microeconomics is about the person on the street, the family, Connie’s Pizza, Bill Gates and monopoly, gangs and drugs, pollution and production, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the "feminization of poverty," and the history of welfare reform.
Credits: 3
Attributes: International Studies, Social Science
Prerequisites: ECON 101
ECON 200 - INTRODUCTION TO SOCIAL JUSTICE STUDIES
Various ways of conceptualizing social justice; how the social sciences can be used to understand questions of social justice; case studies in collective action for social justice.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Justice Studies, Social Science
Prerequisites: ENG 102
ECON 208 - WORKING CLASS STUDIES: FROM THE COAL MINES TO COVID19
What does it mean to be working class in a nation that pretends to be classless? We’ll discuss memoirs, radio and film documentaries, movies, literary writing, and other texts to explore this question. Who is considered “working class,” and what has this meant culturally, economically, and politically? We will examine the historical and current life experiences of working-class people in the US, and in the Chicago area specifically, paying particular attention to how the experiences of being working class have always intersected with racialized, ethnic, gendered, and sexual identities. How has class impacted our experiences of, and assumptions about, belonging, community, political voice, and educational opportunity? And how have working-class folks always organized for economic and political justice?
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Justice Studies, Social Science
ECON 210 - MONEY AND BANKING
The nature of money and its role in the economy. The supply of and demand for money including the parts played by banks and the central bank. Theories of the effects of central bank policy including the quantity theory, Keynesian theories, and rational expectations. Introduction to the theory of interest. Crosslisted with FIN 301.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Science
Prerequisites: ECON 101 and ECON 102 and ENG 102 and (MATH 110 or MATH 116 or MATH 121)
ECON 211 - LABOR AND THE LAW: PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE
Uber, Lyft, Airbnb, temp agencies, outsourcing, and independent contacting are transforming the workplace in the US and beyond. This course explores how and why these changes are occurring and what the changes imply for workers and for labor law and policy. It is an experiential learning course that involves researching gig work in Chicago, focusing on advocacy efforts on behalf of workers in the gig economy.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Justice Studies, Social Science
ECON 214 - THE ECONOMICS OF GLOBALIZATION
Globalization and global economic crises have become household words, yet what do they really mean, who benefits, and who loses? This interdisciplinary course examines the phenomenon of globalization using economic, sociological, and feminist analyses to explore controversial themes of the globalization debate, some of which include: offshoring, economic development, international migration, sweatshops, transnational corporations, the Global South, and gender equity. We will examine both the benefits and costs that have resulted from the opening and crossing of international boundaries and borders and examine how these changes have impacted people from both rich and poor countries throughout the world.
Credits: 3
Attributes: International Studies, Non-western Culture, Social Justice Studies, Social Science
Prerequisites: ECON 101
ECON 234 - ELEMENTARY STATISTICS
This course applies statistical techniques to problems in the social sciences and business. Elementary probability and probability distributions, random variables, expectation and variance; normal probability distributions (binomial distributions, time-permitting). Applications to estimation, confidence intervals, statistical testing of hypotheses, two-sample techniques. Correlation and least squares.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Science
Prerequisites: MATH 116 or MATH 121 or MATH 110 or Compass-College Algebra with min score of 45
Course Notes: Math courses higher than 121 satisfy the prerequisite.
ECON 235 - ELEMENTARY STATISTICS LAB
The course incorporates collaborative learning, oral and written reports and technology. Emphasizes techniques, exploration and applications rather than derivation. All projects will use real data and conclusions are not predetermined. Topics include methods of summarizing data, statistical inference and regression.
Credits: 1
Attributes: Honors Program
Course Notes: Must be taken concurrently with MATH 217, ECON 234, or, SOC 291
ECON 302 - HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT
Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back." Thus spoke John Maynard Keynes, a 20th-century authority on economic theory and distinguished student of the history of economic thought. The development of economic thinking from the 16th century through the present day. Theories and methodologies of some great economists, such as Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, and Lord Keynes.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Science
Prerequisites: ECON 101
ECON 305 - MODERN POLITICAL ECONOMY
Topics from Marxist, Post Keynesian, and Institutionalist approaches to political economy; focus on their philosophical foundations and political implications. Topics may include growth, distribution, and prices; classes, exploitation, and alienation; the labor theory of value; historical materialism; and the economics of socialism.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Science
Prerequisites: 9 Credit Hours of Soc. Sciences
ECON 308 - FEMINIST POLITICAL ECONOMY
Beginning with the emergence of socialist feminism in the second wave women’s movement this course traces the development of feminist political economy. Feminists challenged traditional and new left theories of politics and economics and developed new ways of conceptualizing both. We will examine the impact of this movement on theories of capitalism, the state, the family, and globalization through lenses that place gender, race, class, and sexual orientation at the center.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Justice Studies, Social Science, Women Gender Studies
ECON 317 - ECONOMICS OF WORK AND LABOR
This course will investigate the changing nature of work including such topics as: contigent labor, part time work, the low wage labor market, out sourcing, unionization, and consultancy. These topics will be explored both thoeretically and empirically with an emphasis on ho wdifferent schools of thought within economics try to make sense of the contemporary labor market.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Science
Prerequisites: ECON 102
ECON 321 - INCOME & EMPLOYMENT THEORY
Intermediate macroeconomics. Theories output, employment, prices, and the business cycle. Topics may include government stabilization policy, international economic relations, economic growth, and the distribution of income.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Science
Prerequisites: ECON 102
Course Notes: with grade of C or higher
ECON 323 - PRICE THEORY
Intermediate microeconomics. Theories of the household and the firm as a foundation for the determination of prices in a market economy, efficiency and social welfare, the effects of monopoly, the distribution of income, and government policy.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Science
Prerequisites: ECON 102
Course Notes: with C grade or higher
ECON 326 - THEORIES OF JUSTICE
The course wil explore some fundamental questions about economic justice in a dialogical and interdisiplinary context. Student will read selesctions from classic texts (Aristotle to Walzer) as well as journal articles by contemporary theorists. The idea and self reliance will be central to our inquiry.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Justice Studies, Social Science
Prerequisites: ECON 102 or SOCJ 201 or ECON 201 or POS 200
Course Notes: or consent
ECON 338 - FINANCIAL CRISES & MARKETS
Role of money and financial institutions in modern economies investigated through modern macroeconomic theory. Special attention is paid to the nature and causes of financial crises.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Science
Prerequisites: ECON 101
ECON 340 - SPECIAL TOPICS IN ECONOMICS
Designed to address topics of interest to students in a variety of disciplines, this upper-level course will enable students to move beyond the basics of Economics 101 and 102 and see how what you learned in those courses can be used to address issues in economics as a discipline and issues in public policy. The specific content of the course varies by semester.
Credits: 3
Prerequisites: ECON 101 or ECON 102 (may be taken concurrently)
Course Notes: The content of this Special Topics course varies by semester, and may include but is not limited to Economics of the, Environment, Health Economics, and Behavioral Economics., Please check with the Economics advisor for a description of, the course in a particular semester.
ECON 346 - INTRODUCTION TO ECONOMETRICS
Construction of economic models, statistical testing of economic hypotheses, and estimation of parametric values in economic relationships using regression analysis. Computer applications.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Science
Prerequisites: ECON 234
ECON 350 - TOPICS IN ECONOMETRICS AND FORECASTING
Advanced topics that may include matrix formulations of regression models, regression diagnostics and residuals analysis, stepwise regression, time series data and time series models (serial correlation of residuals, Akaike Information Criterion, Durbin-Watson test), ARIMA models , systems of equations, and Seemingly Unrelated Regression. Excellent preparation for quantitative research and advanced graduate work. Background in statistics and linear regression models required.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Science
Prerequisites: ECON 346
ECON 355 - RHETORIC AND WRITING IN ECONOMICS AND THE SOCIAL SCIENCES
An introduction to the varieties of rhetorics employed in economics and other human sciences, including parts of philosophy and statistics. Practices of reading for the variety of rhetorics will be complemented by practices of writing for them. Students will learn to write persuasively in their home disciplines, and in several different genres.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Science
Prerequisites: ENG 102
ECON 356 - ECONOMICS OF INEQUALITY
History, causes, and consequences of rising economic inequality in the U.S. and elsewhere.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Justice Studies, Social Science
Prerequisites: ECON 101
ECON 360 - INTERNSHIP IN ECONOMICS
Internship in Economics.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Science
ECON 363 - MATHEMATICS FOR ECONOMISTS
Mathematical tools and techniques in modern Keynesian, Neoclassical, Marxian, and Neoricardian economic theories. The methodology of mathematical economics, sets, functions, matrix algebra, comparative statics, and differential calculus.
Credits: 3
Attributes: Social Science
ECON 374 - ECONOMICS OF DEVELOPMENT AND UNDERDEVELOPMENT
Major models in development from theoretical and practical perspectives. Mainstream, capital centered, and dualistic theories; growth with equity; basic needs; dependency; and Marxian approaches.
Credits: 3
Attributes: International Studies, Non-western Culture, Social Science
ECON 376 - INTERNATIONAL TRADE AND IMPERIALISM
Theory of international trade, international movements of capital and labor, and national commercial policies; economic analysis of multinational corporations and imperialism.
Credits: 3
Attributes: International Studies, Social Science
ECON 377 - INTERNATIONAL FINANCE AND BALANCE OF PAYMENTS
Theory and description of foreign exchange rates and foreign exchange markets; interactions between national income and balance of payments; evaluation and reform of international monetary institutions.
Credits: 3
Attributes: International Studies, Social Science
Prerequisites: ECON 102
ECON 395 - INDEPENDENT STUDY
Study of special topics under supervision of faculty.
Credits: 1-3
Attributes: Social Science