1 - 10 of 173 results for: ECON

The economic way of thinking and the functioning of a market economy. The behavior of consumers and firms, markets for goods and inputs, and principles of international exchange. Applications and policy issues in economics.

Aggregate economic relationships, including output, employment, inflation, interest rates, and exchange rates. Short-run fluctuations and long-run growth. Issues in monetary and fiscal policy. Prerequisite: 1A.

Seminar in applied economics with focus on the microcosm of Silicon Valley, how growth companies are originated, managed and financed from start-up to IPO. Round-table discussion format. Applicable to those students with an interest in technical innovation and business development. Enrollment limited to 10 students.

Welfare-reform legislation passed by the federal government in the mid 1990s heralded a dramatic step in the movement that has been termed the devolution revolution. The centerpiece of this legislation is the transfer of much responsibility for antipoverty programs to the states. States now have had their first opportunity since the War on Poverty of the 1960s to undertake radical changes in the design of their public-assistance programs. This seminar will explore how recent reforms have changed the welfare system and examine who is affected by these changes. In addition to conventional welfare programs (e.g., food stamps, AFDC, TANF, SSI, Medicaid), we will examine other governmental policies assisting low-income families. These will include direct income-transfer programs (e.g., Earned Income Tax Credit and income taxes) and labor- market regulations imposed by governments to enhance the earnings of poor families (e.g., minimum wages and overtime rules). We will apply economics principles to understand the effectiveness of these programs and their consequences on the behavior of families.Prerequisites: an understanding of basic concepts of labor markets, taxes, and transfers is recommended. Co-requisite: ECON 1A.

Preference to freshmen. The history of the Internet, how it developed into its present form, and how it operates. The underlying networking and computing technology. The economic mechanisms that allow data interchange between the networks that comprise the Internet. Comparison of the Internet to other network industries such as telecommunications and electricity. How the Internet can provide maximum benefit to all consumers. How the Internet affects economic activity including the impact of online shopping on manufacturer-supplier relationships, the viability of newspapers and other print media in a world with widespread Internet access, opportunities for selling products online, and the Internet as a medium for delivery of video services. Prerequisite: ECON 1.

The title of this course is the title of one of the books that will be required summer reading. The course will introduce modern finance theory and cover a wide range of financial instruments: stocks, bonds, options, mutual funds, exchange traded funds, mortgage back securities, etc. Historical returns on different asset classes will be examined. The efficient market hypothesis and the case for and against index funds will be discussed. The course for 2013 will examine the ongoing policies to stimulate the economy including the quantitative easing policy of the Federal Reserve. There will be coverage of global financial markets. We will try to reconcile the long-run return on stocks, bonds, and money market instruments with the capital asset pricing model. We will try to connect financial markets with the problems of the real economy including the entitlement programs. We will talk with venture capitalists, Federal Reserve officials, hedge fund and mutual fund managers, and those who manage large institutional endowments. Students will be expected to write a short paper and make an oral presentation to the class. A wide range of topics will be acceptable, including market regulation, the introduction of new financial instruments, the functioning of commodity futures markets, and evaluations of the federal government intervention in financial markets.