Information found in this online edition of the 2008-09 catalog is unofficial and for informational purposes only. By authority of the dean of the College, some factual corrections to the printed version may appear here. The official document of record is the printed edition of the 2008-09 Catalog. For more information, please contact the Office of the Registrar.
Economics
Chair: James H. Grant
The Department of Economics offers courses designed to help students understand and evaluate the ways in which human societies organize work, production, and the distribution of income. The department emphasizes the study of contemporary capitalism and the role of markets and government in the economy.
A sound understanding of economics is important for those pursuing careers in business, law, or government. Economics courses at Lewis & Clark emphasize both theory and application. Within the major, students may declare a concentration in one of four specialty areas, described below.
The Major Program
The core curriculum begins with the introductory Principles of Economics (Economics 100). Students are then encouraged to explore either the lowerdivision (200-level) electives or the other required 100- and 200-level core courses (intermediate microeconomics, intermediate macroeconomics, and statistics). Ideally, students interested in majoring in economics will have completed the lower-division core courses and declared their major by the end of the sophomore year. Students also have the option, upon completion of a specified set of electives, of earning a concentration in one of the following subfields of economics: international, management, public policy, or theory. The capstone experience for the economics major is the senior seminar, in which each student develops an original research paper. Students are strongly advised to work closely with members of the economics faculty to plan a program of study tailored to their individual interests.
Major Requirements
- A minimum of 44 semester credits, distributed among departmental core courses (Economics 100, 103, 291, 292, 303, and 433), and at least 20 semester credits of economics electives. If a student selects a concentration, 4 semester credits may be taken outside of the department, as noted below. At least 4 semester credits of electives must be selected from within department offerings at the 300 or 400 level.
- Mathematics 131 (Calculus I).
- GPA of 2.000 or higher in courses applied to the major.
Students intending to pursue graduate studies in economics or careers as research economists are strongly encouraged to take additional mathematics courses, particularly calculus, linear algebra, differential equations, and statistics.
Areas Of Concentration
Students may choose between a degree in general economics (with no concentration), or a degree with a concentration in one of the following fields: international, management, public policy, or theory. Students choosing general economics must select all 20 of their elective credits from courses offered within the economics department. To qualify for a concentration, the student must, in addition to satisfying the requirements for the major, take four of their five elective courses (16 of 20 elective credits) in the area of their concentration, which may include one course from outside the economics department.
General
All 20 elective credits from within the economics department
International
At least 16 of 20 elective credits from the following:
Economics
232 Economic Development
255 Technology, Institutions, and Economic Growth
256 The Industrial Revolution
280 Political Economy of Japan
295 Political Economy of Korea
314 International Economics
No more than 4 of 20 elective credits from the following:
International Affairs
318 Multinational Corporations
340 International Political Economy
341 Advanced Industrial Economies
Sociology/Anthropology
350 Global Inequality
Management
At least 16 of 20 elective credits from the following:
Economics
210 Financial Analysis
215 Game Theory
220 Money and Banking
244 Practicum
322 Decisions
323 Accounting for Financial and Managerial Decisions
358 Corporate Finance
444 Practicum
No more than 4 of 20 elective credits from the following:
Sociology/Anthropology
221 Sociology of Work, Leisure, and Consumption
370 American Advertising and the Science of Signs
Public Policy
At least 16 of 20 elective credits from the following:
Economics
215 Game Theory
220 Money and Banking
244 Practicum
250 Radical Political Economics
260 Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
265 Pacific Northwest Policy Issues
332 Urban Economics
335 Labor Economics
365 Public Economics
444 Practicum
No more than 4 of 20 elective credits from the following:
Communication
460 Communication Technology and Society
Political Science
275 Gender and Politics
307 Government and the Economy
Theory
At least 16 of 20 elective credits from the following:
Economics
215 Game Theory
250 Radical Political Economics
430 History of Economic Thought
434 Mathematical Economics
491 Advanced Macroeconomics
492 Advanced Microeconomics
No more than 4 of 20 elective credits from the following:
Mathematics
132 Calculus II
215 Discrete Mathematics
225 Linear Algebra
235 Differential Equations
Philosophy
315 Philosophy of Science
Minor Requirements
A minimum of 24 semester credits distributed as follows:
- Economics 100, 103, 291, and 292.
- An additional 8 semester credits. At least four of these must be at the 300 level or above, chosen from Economics 215, 220, 232, 250, 255, 256, 260, 265, 280, 295, 303, 314, 332, 335, 365, 430, 434, 491, and 492.
- GPA of 2.000 or higher in courses applied to the minor.
Note: Students seeking an economics minor must take three courses (at least 12 semester credits) that are discrete to the minor (not used in any other set of major or minor requirements).
Honors
The department grants honors on graduation to economics majors who meet the following criteria:
- Complete one of the following four courses with a minimum grade of B: Economics 430, 434, 491, or 492.
- Complete Economics 303 with a minimum grade of B.
- Attain a GPA of 3.500 or higher in all economics courses completed.
- Write an honors-quality senior thesis.
Resources For Nonmajors
Principles of Economics (Economics 100) is an introductory survey course for all students. It explains how a market system organizes the production and distribution of goods and services; what forces shape the overall level of employment, income, and prices in the United States; and how economic policy can be used to achieve the goals the public wants to reach.
Statistics (Economics 103) introduces students to the principles of statistical reasoning and their application to the social sciences. In particular, students learn methods for describing characteristics of large groups of individuals, and for empirically testing differences relevant to economic and social behavior.
Financial Analysis (Economics 210) is an introductory course on the use of accounting information for financial decision making. The focus is on the understanding and use of financial statements.
Many students majoring in other disciplines take more advanced courses in the economics curriculum; these all have Economics 100 as a prerequisite. Courses designed for exploring more general interests include Money and Banking (220); Economic Development (232); Radical Political Economics (250); Technology, Institutional, and Economic Growth (255); The Industrial Revolution (256); Environmental and Natural Resource Economics (260); Political Economy of Japan (280); and Political Economy of Korea (295).
Faculty
Cliff T. Bekar, associate professor. Economic history, industrial organization, game theory.
Eban S. Goodstein, professor. Environmental and natural resource economics, microeconomic theory, public economics.
James H. Grant, associate professor. Microeconomics, econometrics, labor economics, mathematical economics.
Martin Hart-Landsberg, professor. Political economy, economic development, international economics.
Arthur O'Sullivan, Dr. Robert B. Pamplin Jr. Professor of Economics. Urban economics, regional economics, microeconomic theory.
Harold J. Schleef, associate professor. Finance, statistics, decision making.
ECON 100 Principles Of Economics
Bekar, Goodstein, Grant, Hart-Landsberg, O'Sullivan
Content: Introduction to the study of market economies. Microeconomics, including supply and demand, production theory, market structure. Macroeconomics, including economic growth, inflation and unemployment, money and banking, monetary and fiscal policy. Government regulation and policy. Discrimination and poverty, imperfect competition, environmental problems, international competitiveness.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Each semester, 4 semester credits.
ECON 103 Statistics
Grant, Schleef
Content: Theory and applications of statistics and probability used in the study of economics. Descriptive statistics, probability, random variables and their distributions, statistical inference. Applications of statistical inference ranging from estimating the mean from a univariate population to multiple regression analysis.
Prerequisite: Mathematics 055 or equivalent.
Taught: Each semester, 4 semester credits.
ECON 210 Financial Analysis
Staff
Content: The use of accounting information for financial decision making. Understanding and use of financial statements as a primary source of accounting information. Reading and analyzing financial statements of domestic and international firms.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ECON 212 Economics And Consumer Decisions
Staff
Content: Introduction to decision-making tools for analyzing individual consumer decisions including strategies for investments in financial instruments, cash and credit management. Preparation and analysis of personal financial statements, budgeting, tax determination, and planning strategies.
Prerequisite: None.
Taught: Every third year, 4 semester credits.
ECON 215 Game Theory
Bekar
Content: The tools of cooperative and noncooperative game theory. Modeling competitive situations, solution concepts such as Nash equilibrium and its refinements, signaling games, repeated games under different informational environments, bargaining models, issues of cooperation and reputation, evolutionary game theory. Application to economics and other disciplines. Emphasis on quantitative modeling and analytical approaches to strategic thinking.
Prerequisite: Economics 100.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ECON 220 Money And Banking
Staff
Content: The operation of the financial sector and its interrelationship with the productive sector. The central institutions of money and banks; the Federal Reserve System and its operation of monetary policy. Keynesian, post-Keynesian, and monetarist theories and their policy implications.
Prerequisite: Economics 100.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ECON 232 Economic Development
Hart-Landsberg
Content: Problems of less-developed countries and proposed solutions. Extent and nature of international poverty and inequality, national and international causes of underdevelopment, strategies for development.
Prerequisite: Economics 100.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ECON 244 Practicum
Staff
Content: Opportunities for well-prepared students to put academic concepts and techniques to work in the private or public sector. Specific activities vary; usually involve work with a public agency or private group.
Prerequisites: Economics 100 or 210. Consent of instructor.
Taught: Annually, 2-4 semester credits.
ECON 250 Radical Political Economics
Hart-Landsberg
Content: Critical connections among different economic structures and dynamics, on one hand, and political strategies and struggles for change, on the other. Economic crisis theory, theories of the state, class and class consciousness, labor, and social movement struggles.
Prerequisite: Economics 100.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ECON 255 Technology, Institutions, And Economic Growth
Bekar
Content: Emergence of modern economic growth in Europe. The roots of the Industrial Revolution over the very long term, 1000 to 1750, through the application of basic economic theory. Causes and consequences of very long-term economic growth. Specific attention paid to technology, institutions, geography, and culture as sources of economic growth. While the geographic focus is European, important cross-sectional work, especially with regard to China, is undertaken.
Prerequisite: Economics 100.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ECON 256 The Industrial Revolution
Bekar
Content: Europe's transition from an agricultural to an industrial society in the 18th century. The roots of modern economic growth in preindustrial Europe, the contributions of science and technology, trade, government, and population. Consequences of industrialization for living standards, both long-run improvements and short-run hardships. Rise of European power abroad and colonial contributions to growth. Focus on the British Industrial Revolution.
Prerequisite: Economics 100.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ECON 260 Environmental And Natural Resource Economics
Goodstein
Content: An analysis of environmental and resource problems ranging from hazardous waste disposal to air pollution, species extinction to global warming, from an economic perspective. The property-rights basis of pollution problems, environmental ethics, benefit-cost analysis, regulatory policy, clean technology, population growth and consumption, sustainable development.
Prerequisite: Economics 100.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ECON 265 Pacific Northwest Policy Issues
O'Sullivan
Content: Basic economic analysis to explore issues facing the Pacific Northwest. Diagnosis of the problem motivating a policy and evaluation of the merits of the policy solution. Potential issues: financing public education, promoting economic development, protecting natural resources, designing mass transit, providing public support for professional sports, responding to gentrification.
Prerequisite: Economics 100.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ECON 280 Political Economy Of Japan
Hart-Landsberg
Content: Causes and (national and regional) consequences of Japan's economic development. Political, social, and cultural underpinnings of Japanese capitalism; state policies, state-corporate relations, and labor relations system; social and environmental problems and responses; political and economic relations with East Asia.
Prerequisite: Economics 100.
Taught: Every third year, 4 semester credits.
ECON 291 Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory
Staff
Content: Theories and policies of classical, Keynesian, new classical, and new Keynesian economists; national income accounting; IS-LM analysis; aggregate supply and demand; money, interest rates, and investment; government spending and taxation; fiscal and monetary policy.
Prerequisite: Economics 100.
Taught: Each semester, 4 semester credits.
ECON 292 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory
Goodstein, Grant, O'Sullivan
Content: An analysis of markets and the potential sources of market failure. Demand theory, production theory, market structure, factor pricing, general equilibrium. Principles governing production, exchange, and consumption among individual consumers and firms.
Prerequisite: Economics 100.
Taught: Each semester, 4 semester credits.
ECON 295 Political Economy Of Korea
Hart-Landsberg
Content: Economic and political developments in South and North Korea. State and society in traditional Korea, socioeconomic legacies of colonial Korea, division of the peninsula following World War II, postwar economic experiences of the two Koreas, Asian models of capitalism and socialism, inter-Korea relations and the relationships of the two Koreas with major powers, especially the United States.
Prerequisite: Economics 100.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ECON 299 Independent Study
Staff
Content: Opportunities for well-prepared students to design and pursue a substantive course of independent learning. Details determined by the student and the supervising instructor.
Prerequisite: Consent of department.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ECON 303 Econometrics
Grant
Content: Construction and estimation of empirical models of the economy; using empirical models to test economic hypotheses. Multiple regression analysis, residual analysis, analysis of variance.
Prerequisites: Economics 103. Economics 291 or 292. Mathematics 131.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ECON 314 International Economics
Hart-Landsberg
Content: Theoretical and practical problems of international economics; ideas and policies governing international trade and finance. Trade theory, foreign exchange markets, balance of payments, transnational corporate activity.
Prerequisite: Economics 291 or 292.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ECON 322 Decisions
Schleef
Content: Quantitative modeling tools applied to economics and management decision making. Deterministic modeling techniques include linear optimization and other techniques from operations research. Models for capturing uncertainty draw upon concepts from statistics and Monte Carlo simulation.
Prerequisite: Economics 103.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ECON 323 Accounting For Financial And Managerial Decisions
Staff
Content: How financial accounting information is used by decision makers outside a firm to analyze the firm's performance. How managers use information to make decisions about planning, operating, and control in the firm. Emphasis on case analysis.
Prerequisite: Economics 210.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ECON 332 Urban Economics
O'Sullivan
Content: Economic aspects of urban areas. Why cities exist and how they interact within a regional economy; the pattern of land use in modern metropolitan areas; the economic forces behind urban problems such as poverty, crime, congestion, and sprawl; evaluation of the merits of alternative policy responses to urban problems.
Prerequisite: Economics 292.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ECON 335 Labor Economics
Grant
Content: The operation and political economy of labor markets: supply of and demand for labor, wage determination under various market structures, discrimination, the role of trade unions, the nature of work.
Prerequisite: Economics 292.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ECON 358 Corporate Finance
Schleef
Content: The role of the financial officer in fulfilling the financial goals of the firm--subject to constraints imposed by technology, market forces, and society. Short-term financial planning, selection of capital investments, capital structure planning, cost of funds to the firm. Focus on financial concepts of valuation, investment decisions, financing decisions.
Prerequisites: Economics 103 and 292.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ECON 365 Public Economics
Goodstein, O'Sullivan
Content: Examination of the role of government in a primarily market economy. Microeconomic issues: the provision of public goods; externality problems; the incidence, efficiency, and broader impacts of taxation policy; different approaches to defining fairness in income distribution; economic theories of public choice. Pressing current public-policy issues including health care and education policy, welfare reform, campaign finance, the social security system, defense spending.
Prerequisite: Economics 292 or consent of instructor.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ECON 430 History Of Economic Thought
Goodstein
Content: Economic theory and analyses: how events suggested new theory and how new theoretical insights affected economic policies and trends. Economic analysts, including the mercantilists; Smith, Ricardo, and Malthus; Marx; Mill; Walras; neoclassicists; Keynesians.
Prerequisites: Economics 291 and 292. Junior standing.
Taught: Every third year, 4 semester credits.
ECON 433 Senior Seminar
Bekar, Goodstein, Grant, Hart-Landsberg, O'Sullivan, Schleef
Content: Advanced research in economics. Production of a research paper and distribution to instructor and class members. Oral presentation of research paper to students, faculty, and the campus community. The research paper requires students to construct, research, write, and present rigorous analysis on an economic question. Topics chosen by students.
Prerequisites: Economics 103, 291, 292, and 303.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.
ECON 434 Mathematical Economics
Grant
Content: Mathematical models of economic behavior. Mathematics of microeconomic theory and macroeconomic theory, economic optimization, equilibrium and disequilibrium analysis, probability models, growth theory, dynamic economic modeling.
Prerequisites: Economics 103. Economics 291 or 292. Mathematics 131.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ECON 444 Practicum
Staff
Content: Same as Economics 244 but requiring more advanced work.
Prerequisites: Economics 103, 291, and 292. Consent of instructor.
Taught: Each semester, 2-4 semester credits.
ECON 491 Advanced Macroeconomics
Staff
Content: Topics beyond intermediate macroeconomics including alternate theories of consumption and investment, macroeconomic forecasting, the role of expectations, problems with macro measurements.
Prerequisite: Economics 291.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ECON 492 Advanced Microeconomics
Bekar, Hart-Landsberg
Content: Microeconomic strengths and weaknesses of market-directed economic activity. Industrial policy, discrimination in labor markets, impact and role of trade unions, welfare economics.
Prerequisite: Economics 292.
Taught: Alternate years, 4 semester credits.
ECON 499 Independent Study
Staff
Content: Same as Economics 299 but requiring more advanced work.
Prerequisite: Consent of department.
Taught: Annually, 4 semester credits.