EC 101 -- Contemp Econ Issues

Wild salmon for sale at public market (Metchosin, British Columbia) - photo by ElysianFields [link]

Expanded course description

The purpose of this course is to introduce students to the tools of economic analysis by way of application to contemporary issues. Topics evolve from the news cycle, and may include environmental policy, international trade, social security and fiscal policy, monetary policy, unemployment, health care, income inequality, and other current issues. Students will discover that economics is much more than simply the study of money. Instead, economics is concerned with the ordinary business of life. As such, economics is a particular way of analyzing issues and problems, or a set of tools that can be applied in a wide variety of situations. Students in economics learn to apply these tools such as marginal analysis and opportunity cost and follow a chain of logic to a rational conclusion. A common application of this approach is the expected impact of a hurricane on the price of Florida orange juice. Another example is applying economic analysis to environmental issues. Can markets for pollution credits help reduce the negative impact of industrial production? What are the tradeoffs of saving salmon on the Columbia River by reducing hydroelectric generation? Students should come away from the class with the general ability to understand and analyze contemporary economic issues.

Group: SSC

Offered 200701.

Syllabus

Although syllabi can change from term to term, a syllabus may provide further information about typical instances of this course.