Course Schedule and Catalog

Long Title: MARKETS, GOVERNMENTS AND RESOURCE ALLOCATION

Department: Economics

Grade Mode: Standard Letter

Language of Instruction: Taught in English

Course Type: Lecture

Credit Hours: 3

Prerequisite(s): ECON 200 AND MATH 212

Description: This course lays the foundation for learning the theory of policy analysis, including an introduction to economic modeling. The course begins by introducing the basic model of the competitive economy, and then investigating the efficiency of the competitive equilibrium under a host of assumptions needed to derive a tractable model. The leads to the development of the two fundamental theorems of welfare economics. The course then discusses an analysis of government and lays out an overview of the public sector. The public sector accounts for about a third of all economic activity in the United States, which is relatively small compared to some other industrialized countries. The decisions of various governments affect us daily in many ways, and we will analyze the activities of government with a particular focus on the theory and evidence on government expenditure policy. The course then examines the existence and importance of various market failures and potential government solutions, followed by an analysis of the public sector and its decision making process.