Economics 103 | Neilson, Young-Taft | 3 credits
This introductory course deals with how a market economy determines the relative prices of goods, factors of production, and the allocation of resources, and the circumstances under which it does it efficiently. Why such an economy has fluctuations and how they may be controlled are also covered.
This course is a basic requirement for the economics concentration and meets the economics requirement for the Columbia 3/2 program. No prerequisites. This course is offered every year.
Economics 105m/110m | Young-Taft | 4 credits
This course aims to introduce students to economics markets and the concept of uncertainty. This course involves four activities and/or goals: (1) reading paper financial newspapers together as a class and discussing economic discourse therein, (2) gaining an overview of economic and financial concepts, (3) discussing and testing out investing via a mock portfolio, and (4) considering the concept of markets relative to the idea of uncertainty in popular academic publications. Students will present the evolution of their portfolio activity during the course to the class at the end of the semester.
This course is not intended to be a substitute for or to overlap with core introductory courses in microeconomics and macroeconomics. There are no prerequisites for this course; students who have already completed Economics 105m may take this course at the 110-level. This course is generally offered once every year.
Economics 108 | Young-Taft | 3 credits
This course introduces students to the field of political economy through Marx's writings in the field, along with other political economic theorists of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. The course gives students a grounding in Marxist economic discourse and its relation to related social issues, such as race, gender, empire, media, poverty, and the state. In particular, students examine such questions as these: Is poverty a necessary outcome of industrialization? What are the function and role of the state in industrialization and modern political processes? In addition, students consider the relationship between economy and empire, as well as the effects of modern economy on women.
No prerequisites.
Economics 109 | Neilson | 3 credits
In this course, we study the structure and mechanics of financial markets, including the basic language of the stock, fixed-income and derivatives markets. This expands to a study of the institutions of the financial system, and their interaction with the economy more broadly. The tendency of financial systems to devolve into chaos becomes a jumping-off point for essential questions about the social importance of the financial system, and the question of whether and how to manage it. Although we begin from the point of view of economics, the goal of the course is to put finance into a multi-disciplinary perspective. The central objective of the course is for the students to become familiar with the various languages used to talk about finance: those of economists, of market participants, and of the other social sciences (including history, sociology, politics, and psychology). Familiarity with each of these languages is developed through a course focused on primary texts from each of these fields of study.
No prerequisites.
Economics 204 | Neilson, Young-Taft | 3 credits
Microeconomics studies the behavior of abstract individuals (for example, human beings, firms, or nations) relative to prescriptions of self-interest and environment, both independent of other individuals, and co-determinous with other individual’s behavior. Specifically, we study consumer choice, production decisions, and income distribution, as well as the principle of marginal reasoning. With the application of calculus, we derive explicit solutions to optimization problems. In doing so, we further consider and quantify individual rationality in relation to optimization problems in the face of scarcity as well as welfare. In tandem, we critique these tools and understandings, with perspectives from evolutionary, Keynesian, and Marxist economic theory, problematizing the relationship between microeconomics and macroeconomics as we do so.
Prerequisites: Economics 103 and Math 210, or permission of instructor. This course is generally offered once every year.
Economics 206 | Neilson, Young-Taft | 3 credits
This course introduces students to prevailing economic theories used by today’s policy makers including Keynesian, monetarist, and heterodox. It considers all major economic perspectives, including the central view that markets are a good way to organize the economy, but that markets generate certain significant flaws that need to be fixed. In discussing alternative economic theories and perspectives, the ultimate goal is to increase and deepen students’ awareness and understanding of economic issues, to improve their ability to evaluate various policy options, and to help them decipher political-economic rhetoric. The emphasis is on a conceptual understanding of topics such as economic growth, inflation, unemployment, the role of governments, and fiscal and monetary policies. Looking at the macroeconomic performance of the United States, the class examines the fundamental question of whether the capital accumulation process will inevitably lead to sustained economic growth or to a cyclical pattern of boom and bust. Students develop a sound theoretical and empirical understanding, which enables them to think critically about macroeconomic policy options.
Prerequisite: One previous economics course or permission of the instructor.
Economics 209 | Neilson, Young-Taft | 3 credits
This course offers an introduction to political economy, including radical economics. Political economy offers alternatives to the neoclassical view of modern capitalist economies. We start the course by studying the economic theories of Karl Marx such as labor theory of value and surplus and exploitation, and continue with brief introductions of contemporary political economic issues, among which are gender and economics, environment and economics, globalization and its institutions, political economy of agriculture and food crisis. This course also offers a close look to the theories of an American radical economist, Thorstein Veblen, and his theory of the leisure class. We complete our semester by looking at two alternatives at different scales: First, the Swedish economic system, an alternative to both capitalism and communism, and second, Mondragon Cooperative, a successful co-op in northern Spain.
Prerequisites: Economics 100 or Economics 101, or permission of the instructor (prior coursework in politics is recommended). This course is generally offered once every year.
Economics 226/326 | Neilson | 3/4 credits
This is a class in the economics of China, focusing on developments since the reforms of 1978. The class systematically considers key issues in the Chinese economy with the aim of understanding current problems and prospects for the near future. Each topic will be understood in two ways: first through text-based discussion of the particular way it manifests itself in contemporary China, and second, through the insights of development economics. Topics include: reforms through the 1990s; growth and poverty reduction; natural resource use; industrial and trade policy; exchange-rate policy; consumption; urbanization and migration; population growth; labor and wages; banks and the financial system; relations with the West.
Prerequisites: Economics 100 or Economics 101. This course is generally offered once every four years.
Economics 227 | Neilson | 3 credits
This course is a critical engagement with the operation of the global financial and trading system. We consider the meaning and genealogy of theories about the configuration of financial market prices, exchange rates and interest rates. These theories are understood as both descriptive and constitutive of the institutions of the international financial system, including the IMF, the Fed and other central banks, the private banking system, and importers and exporters of goods and services. This body of financial theory and institutional description is the ground for a critical and discussion-based classroom discourse that inquires as to the position and mobilization of the financial system in relation to other social forces.
Prerequisite: any prior course in the social studies division.
Economics 240/340 | Neilson | 3/4 credits
In this class, we study in comparative perspective two of the greatest economic transitions in recent history: first, the shift of China's economy from being mostly state-led to being mostly market-led; second, the emergence of the countries of Eastern Europe as independent states after the fall of the Soviet Union. Each of these transitions has evolved profound political and social change as cause and consequence of shifts in the predominant underlying economic organization and relationships. Unifying themes for the course include the tensions between economics and politics, between change and stability, and between theory and practice. We focus in particular on the pragmatic questions of implementing and financing industrialization and economic openness.
The course is cross-listed in economics and politics at the 200-level, with an optional extra paper and presentation at the 300-level. Prerequisite: an economics or politics course at the 200-level. This course is generally offered once every four years.
Economics 310 | Neilson, Young-Taft | 4 credits
In this class, we develop theoretical models of the macroeconomy. We begin with a framework that connects individual action to aggregate outcomes. In this framework, we then study the main theoretical approaches and schools of thought that have dominated research and policymaking in recent decades. Topics covered include: definitions of the national accounts, recessions and depressions, long-run growth, consumption, unemployment, monetary policy, prices and financial crises. In addition to the work required at the 200-level, students taking this class at the advanced (300) level will determine, in coordination with the professor, a semester-long research project in which they develop a theoretical concept in more depth and/or to make connections between practical and theoretical macroeconomic ideas. They are expected to deliver two 1500-word papers (one at midterm and one at the end of the term) and to lead one 30-minute discussion in class about their project and papers.
Prerequisites: Students taking the course at the 200-level must have taken a social studies course at the 100-level or above; those taking it at the 300-level must have completed at least one 200-level social studies course and at least one course in economics. The class is mathematical in nature but prior exposure to calculus is not required.
Economics 300/400 | Staff | 4 credits
Under these course numbers, juniors and seniors design tutorials to meet their particular interests and programmatic needs. A students should see the prospective tutor to define an area of mutual interest to pursue either individually or in a small group.