Undergraduate Economics Courses

• 2410 Principles of Economics, Macroeconomics
• 2420 Principles of Economics, Microeconomics
• 3210 The Financial System and the Economy
• 3430 Public Finance
• 3510 Macroeconomic Theory and Policy
• 3520 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory
• 3540 Japanese Economy and Business
• 3970, 3980 Cooperative Education
• 4100 Law and Economics
• 4260 Financial Markets and Institutions
• 4310 Problems in Government Finance
• 4390 Employee Benefits
• 4400 Business and Government
• 4420 Labor and Human Resource Economics
• 4440 International Economics
• 4470 Economic Development of the Third World
• 4490 Industrial Relations Legislation
• 4500 Urban and Regional Economics
• 4510 Unions and Collective Bargaining
• 4570 Managerial Economics
• 4570 Managerial Economics
• 4600 Environmental and Natural Resource Economics
• 4620 Econometrics and Forecasting
• 4650 Comparative Economic Systems
• 4660 History of Economic Thought
• 4700 Sports Economics
• 4890 Internship in Economics
• 4990 Independent Study in Economics

ECON 2410 Principles of Economics, Macroeconomics. Three credits. As an aid to understanding modern economic society: economic concepts of national income and its fluctuations, inflation, unemployment, role of the banking system, monetary and fiscal policies, and international topics. [ top]

ECON 2420 Principles of Economics, Microeconomics. Three credits. As an aid to understanding modern economic society: economic concepts of consumer and firm behavior; the pricing of goods, services, and productive factors; international topics; and an overview of the American economy. [ top]

ECON 3210 The Financial System and the Economy. Three credits. Prerequisites: ECON 2410; junior standing. Basic introduction to the functions of financial institutions and markets in the conduct of domestic and international economic transactions. Within financial market context, focus on special role that money plays as an asset and a determinant of the price level, the cause of inflation and inflation's effects on interest rates and borrowing costs, and the influence of Federal Reserve actions (monetary policy) on money and interest rates. [ top]

ECON 3430 Public Finance. Three credits. (Same as FIN 3430.) Prerequisites: ECON 2410, 2420; junior standing. Economic foundations of federal tax and expenditure policies. Current issues in federal budget policy. Policy applications illustrating key concepts such as public goods, externalities, income distribution, tax incidence, tax equity, and allocative efficiency. Intergovernmental fiscal relations. [ top]

ECON 3510 Macroeconomic Theory and Policy. Three credits. Prerequisites: ECON 2410; junior standing. Analysis of national income, employment, and price levels. Monetary and fiscal policies; international economic relations. [ top]

ECON 3520 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory. Three credits. Prerequisites: ECON 2410 and 2420. The course serves as a second semester of microeconomic theory, following ECON 2420, Principles of Economics, Microeconomics. The intermediate topics examined include consumer choice, the labor supply model, the life cycle model, choice under uncertainty, production and supply, the cost of production, perfect competition, monopoly, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, game theory, and the human capital model. [ top]

ECON 3540 Japanese Economy and Business. Three credits. Prerequisites: ECON 2410; junior standing. The Japanese economy and its social, physical, and trade environment in comparison with those in other countries, particularly the United States. May be used for credit toward the Global Studies minor. [ top]

ECON 3970, 3980 Cooperative Education. Three credits. (Same as FIN 3970 and 3980.) Prerequisite: junior standing. Cooperative Education experiences provide students with opportunities for on-the-job training in conjunction with on-campus academics. These courses do not satisfy major or minor requirements. Interested students should contact the MTSU Cooperative Education Office. Students will be selected for participation, and opportunities may be limited. [ top]

ECON 4100 Law and Economics. Three credits. Prerequisite: ECON 2420; junior standing preferred. Applies microeconomic theory to the analysis of legal rules and institutions. The course will also examine the economics tools lawyers and experts use in analyzing antitrust issues. Topics include intellectual property rights, measuring compensatory damages in liability cases, current legal issues such as tort reform, the role of economics in bargaining and settlement, and antitrust law topics such as mergers and price-fixing. [ top]

ECON 4260 Financial Markets and Institutions. Three credits. (Same as FIN 4260.) Prerequisites: ECON 3210 with a minimum grade of C (2.0); FIN 3010 or 3000. Examines the structure and functioning of our monetary-financial system. Emphasis on the institutional process of financial intermediation in the financial marketplace and the role that specific institutions and instruments play. [ top]

ECON 4310 Problems in Government Finance. Three credits. (Same as FIN 4310). Prerequisites: ECON 2410, 2420. Current issues in taxation, theory of income taxation, consumption taxes, property and wealth taxes. Advanced treatment of tax incidence, tax efficiency, income distribution, fiscal federalism, and state and local budget issues. [ top]

ECON 4390 Employee Benefits. Three credits. (Same as FIN 4390.) Prerequisite: junior standing. Includes descriptive review and taxation, legislative, and administrative dimensions of the major components of employee benefit plans such as retirement systems, deferred compensation plans, health insurance, death benefits, disability benefits, paid and unpaid time off. Technical analysis and problem solving emphasized to develop applied skills. Social insurance and international benefits integrated. [ top]

ECON 4400 Business and Government. Three credits. Prerequisites: ECON 2420; junior standing. The economics of public policy toward private business in the U.S. Many dimensions including economic theory, history, philosophical foundations of government, economic statistics, as well as applications of those disciplines to a wide variety of policy issues. [ top]

ECON 4420 Labor and Human Resource Economics. Three credits. Prerequisites: ECON 2410 or 2420; junior standing. Current issues and theories, returns to training and education (human capital), earnings differences; union impacts and government regulation of labor relations and labor markets; human resource information system modeling, including applied PC or mainframe data analysis and integration of Internet information sources. [ top]

ECON 4440 International Economics. Three credits. Prerequisites: ECON 2410, 2420; junior standing. Differences between domestic trade and international trade, foundations of international trade, economic effects of free trade and restricted trade; mechanisms of international payments and structure of balance of payments; history and contemporary issues of trade policies and world monetary systems. [ top]

ECON 4470 Economic Development of the Third World. Three credits. Prerequisites: ECON 2410, 2420; junior standing. Conditions and problems of the less-developed countries; causes, processes, and consequences of economic development; introduction to basic growth models, development theories, and strategies for development. Economic as well as noneconomic factors studied. [ top]

ECON 4490 Industrial Relations Legislation. Three credits. (Same as BLAW 4490 and MGMT 4490.) Prerequisite: junior standing. Economic background and effects of government regulation of labor relations; emphasis on a detailed examination of the National Labor Relations Act as amended or expanded by the Labor Management Relations Act, the Labor Management Reporting and Disclosures Act, and Title 7 of the Civil Rights Act. [ top]

ECON 4500 Urban and Regional Economics. Three credits. Prerequisites: ECON 2410, 2420. Economic problems of urban communities, including problems resulting from population shifts to suburbia; urban planning; land utilization; revenue structures; urban renewal transportation; problems of minority and poverty groups. [ top]

ECON 4510 Unions and Collective Bargaining. Three credits. (Same as MGMT 4510.) Prerequisite: junior standing. The collective bargaining process: its evolution in the public and private sectors and its contemporary legal environment; compensation, institutional and administrative issues; strikes and impasse resolution procedures. [ top]

ECON 4570 Managerial Economics. Three credits. Prerequisites: ECON 2420; MATH 1630 or 1810 or 1910; junior standing. Familiarity with time value of money, spreadsheet, and regression analysis helpful. Microeconomic theories in depth; emphasizes practical applications in economic decisions. Topics cover fundamental economic concepts, theory of demand, theory of production, theory of cost, optimization, forecasting, game strategy in oligopolistic rivalry, long-term investment, and regression analysis. [ top]

ECON 4600 Environmental and Natural Resource Economics. Three credits. Prerequisite: junior standing preferred. Problems of environmental quality and natural resource scarcity from an economic perspective. Topics include the interaction between the environment and the economy, the benefits and costs of environmental regulation, the use of incentives to achieve least-cost pollution control, international environmental issues such as global warming, the role of natural resources in the U.S. economy, the problems associated with natural resource scarcity and depletion, and problems related to consumption of renewable resources. [ top]

ECON 4620 Econometrics and Forecasting. Three credits. Prerequisites: ECON 2410, 2420; MATH 1810 or 1910; junior standing. The application of statistical methods to economic problems; covers statistical inference, regression analysis in economics and finance, and an introduction to econometrics. Emphasis on applications to actual economic data and includes use of econometric software. [ top]

ECON 4650 Comparative Economic Systems. Three credits. Prerequisite: ECON 2410. Compares economic institutions and performance among nations; presents the historical and cultural context of economic evolution in selected nations; and examines the relationship between institutional arrangements and outcomes such as prosperity, liberty, and equality. [ top]

ECON 4660 History of Economic Thought. Three credits. Prerequisites: ECON 2410, 2420; junior standing. Background of modern economic thought; ancient economic thought; the main current of developing economic analysis through feudalism, mercantilism, and the physiocrats; Adam Smith and the classical economists; rebels and the neoclassical economists; twentieth-century contributions. [ top]

ECON 4700 Sports Economics. Three credits. Prerequisite: ECON 2410 required, ECON 2420 and junior standing preferred. Practical application of various economic theories in the areas of public finance, labor markets, game theory, industrial organization, and price theory within the context of sports. The course will also focus on objective examination of common misperceptions with sports- related statistical data and to relate them to issues in the broader economy. Topics include the benefits and costs of financing sports arenas, structure and competitiveness of sports leagues, antitrust exemptions, effects of title IX regulations, labor bargaining and negotiations, wage and price determination. The course also explores issues in collegiate sports such as the potential for crowding out other college programs, the prisoner's dilemma facing athletic departments. [ top]

ECON 4890 Internship in Economics. One to three credits. Prerequisites: junior standing and recommendation of advisor. Supervised work experience in cooperating business firms or governmental agencies together with specialized academic study relating to the work experience. [ top]

ECON 4990 Independent Study in Economics. One to three credits. Prerequisite: junior standing. Problems for intensive study are chosen in joint consultation between student and instructor. [ top]