Course List

160. CONTEMPORARY ECONOMIC ISSUES (3). Economic approach to analysis of problems such as poverty, crime, unemployment, and inflation. Insights and evaluation of policy proposals. Not open for credit toward the major or minor in economics.

260. PRINCIPLES OF MICROECONOMICS (3). Introductory study of market and non-market mechanisms in the allocation of productive resources and in the distribution of income. Includes the study of monopolies, oligopolies, and labor unions as well as applications to selected current economic problems. Sophomore standing recommended unless student is majoring or minoring in economics.

261. PRINCIPLES OF MACROECONOMICS (3). Introductory study of factors determining aggregate income, employment, and general price level. Such factors include roles of government, the banking system, and international monetary relations. Sophomore standing recommended unless student is majoring or minoring in economics.

300. LABOR ECONOMICS (3). Wage determination and the structure of wages, the institution of unions in the United States, and problems and treatment of economic insecurity. PRQ: ECON 260.

301. LABOR PROBLEMS (3). Aims, methods, and policies of organized labor; collective bargaining; and regulation of industrial relations. PRQ: ECON 260.

302. MINORITY ECONOMIC PROBLEMS (3). Economic status of minority groups in the United States; productivity and economic theories of discrimination; and public and private programs to achieve minority economic development. PRQ: ECON 260.

310. MONETARY POLICY (3). Roles of monetary theory and policy with emphasis on their implications for dealing with current economic problems within the structure of the U.S. monetary system. PRQ: ECON 261.

320. GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS (3). Introductory analysis of the structure, conduct, and performance of American industry. Emphasis on role of government policy through such measures as antitrust, regulation, and public ownership. PRQ: ECON 260.

330. INTERNATIONAL ECONOMICS (3). International trade, foreign exchange markets, balance of payments, and international monetary relations. Includes relevant theoretical foundations, institutions, and policy alternatives. PRQ: ECON 260 and ECON 261.

341. ECONOMIC AREA STUDIES (3).
A. Asia
B. Europe
C. Africa, South of the Sahara
D. Latin America
May be repeated to a maximum of 9 semester hours, but each topic may be taken only once. PRQ: ECON 260 and ECON 261.

360. INTERMEDIATE MICROECONOMICS (3). Exposition of economic price theory and resource allocation; commodity and factor price and output determination. PRQ: ECON 260.

360A. MICROECONOMICS LABORATORY (1). Computational,numerical, or graphical applications. CRQ: ECON 360.

361. INTERMEDIATE MACROECONOMICS (3). Theory of aggregate income, output, and employment; the price level and interest rates; and economic stabilization policy. PRQ: ECON 261.

361A. MACROECONOMICS LABORATORY (1). Computational, numerical, or graphical applications. CRQ: ECON 361.

370. CURRENT ECONOMIC ISSUES (3).
A. Health Economics
B. Income Distribution and Poverty
C. Economics and Equity
D. Economic Analysis of Recent Legislation
E. Topics in Modern Economics
Topics of current importance to consumers, resource owners, business, and government. May be repeated once as topics change. PRQ: ECON 260 and ECON 261.

380. COMPARATIVE ECONOMIC SYSTEMS (3). Tenets of conceptual economic systems. Emphasis on private enterprise, democratic socialism and communism. Thorough exploration of works of Karl Marx and V. I. Lenin. PRQ: ECON 260 and ECON 261.

385. INTRODUCTION TO URBAN AND REGIONAL ECONOMICS (3). Emphasis on the economic aspects of urban and regional problems and issues. PRQ: ECON 260.

386. ENVIRONMENTAL ECONOMICS (3). Theoretical foundations and economic analyses of pollution, congestion, resource depletion, and other environmental problems accompanying economic growth, population growth, technological change, and urbanization. Environmental policies and quality control, resource and energy conservation, population, technology, and economic growth policies. PRQ: ECON 260.

390. BASIC ECONOMETRICS AND ECONOMIC APPLICATIONS (3). Introduction to econometric concepts. Topics include simple linear estimation of consumption functions and of demand and supply functions; multiple regression as applied to money demand functions; prediction; and distributed lag models. PRQ: STAT 301 or STAT 350 or UBUS 223. CRQ: ECON 390A.

390A. BASIC ECONOMETRICS LABORATORY (1). Econometric applications. CRQ: ECON 390.

393. INTRODUCTION TO MATHEMATICAL METHODS IN ECONOMICS (3). Descriptions of static economic models by means of elementary calculus and matrix algebra; application and interpretation of the general linear model in economics. PRQ: MATH 211 or MATH 229; ECON 260 and ECON 261. CRQ: ECON 393A.

393A. MATHEMATICAL ECONOMICS LABORATORY (1). Computational, numerical, or graphical applications. CRQ: ECON 393.

397H. DIRECTED STUDY (1). Selected readings and study taken in conjunction with an upper-division economics course. May be repeated to a maximum of 4 semester hours. PRQ: ECON 260 and ECON 261.

402. COMPARATIVE LABOR RELATIONS (3). Patterns of industrial relations systems in European and selected emerging economies. Scope of collective bargaining and social welfare legislation. Cooperation between the various national labor movements. PRQ: ECON 300; ECON 360 or ECON 361; or consent of department.

403. ECONOMICS OF HUMAN RESOURCES (3). Analysis of factors affecting demand for and supply of labor. Human capital analysis, discrimination, labor market operations, and public policy. PRQ: ECON 360 or consent of department.

420. ANTITRUST ECONOMICS (3). Detailed analysis of monopoly, near monopoly, and various business practices. Examination of legal and economic foundations of current and past public policies toward monopoly. PRQ: ECON 360 or consent of department.

423. PUBLIC UTILITIES (3). General economic characteristics of and governmental policy toward public utilities. Problems such as pricing, finance, and private, cooperative, and public ownership. PRQ: ECON 360 or consent of department.

425. ECONOMIC EDUCATION (1-3). Exploration of selected economic concepts, topics, and classroom materials/applications to assist elementary or secondary teachers in developing K-12 economics curricula and instructional activities that meet State of Illinois standards. May be repeated to a maximum of 3 semester hours when topic varies. PRQ: Consent of department.

443. ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT (3). Analysis of major problems and issues of a theoretical and a policy nature concerning developing economies. PRQ: ECON 360 or ECON 361, or consent of department.

450. PUBLIC ECONOMICS (3). Analysis of the structure and effects of national, state, and local revenue and outlay systems. PRQ: ECON 360 or consent of department.

452. FISCAL POLICY (3). Examination of the role of the federal budget in fiscal policy. Public expenditures, taxes, and debt management are evaluated as tools of economic stabilization since World War II. PRQ: ECON 361.

454. STATE AND LOCAL FINANCE (3). Analysis of the expenditure revenue
process in state and local governments. Effect of intergovernmental grants and future of fiscal federalism. PRQ: ECON 360 or consent of department.

466. BUSINESS CYCLES (3). History of business fluctuations; theories and techniques of analysis; counter-cyclical monetary and fiscal policies; and survey of selected forecasting techniques. PRQ: ECON 361 or consent of department.

470. HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT (3). Development of economic thought to the mid-19th century. Emphasis on Adam Smith, Ricardo, Malthus, Mill, and Marx. PRQ: ECON 260 and ECON 261, or consent of department.

471. MODERN ECONOMIC THOUGHT (3). Evolution of neoclassical and modern theories of value, distribution, and income. Emphasis on Walras, Menger, Jevons, Marshall, Chamberlain, Robinson, and Keynes. PRQ: ECON 260 and ECON 261, or consent of department.

474. ECONOMIC HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES (3). Evolution and development of American economic institutions and processes from colonial times to the 20th century. Modern economic approach developed and applied to various topics. PRQ: ECON 260 and ECON 261, or consent of department.

485. URBAN ECONOMIC PROBLEMS AND POLICIES (3). Economic analysis of urban growth and land use and selected urban problems such as urban transportation, public finance, housing, poverty, and environmental quality. PRQ: ECON 360 and ECON 385, or consent of department.

490. ECONOMIC STATISTICS AND ECONOMETRICS (3). Topics include descriptive statistics, probability, estimation, hypothesis testing, correlation, and regression analysis, as applied to economic models. PRQ: MATH 230 or consent of department.

491. MATHEMATICAL METHODS FOR ECONOMICS (3). Mathematical methods used in economics with applications. Not available for credit to students with credit in ECON 491. PRQ: ECON 360, ECON 361, and MATH 229, or consent of department.

492. RESEARCH METHODS IN ECONOMICS (3). Analysis of societal issues in an economic framework; use of library, internet, and computer resources to conduct research; and organizing and writing an effective research paper. Students write a substantial research paper on a topic of their choice and present their findings to the class. PRQ: ECON 360 and ECON 361, and consent of department.

493. SEMINAR IN POLITICAL ECONOMY (3). Crosslisted as POLS
493X.
A. Decision Making in the Public Sector
B. International Relations
C. Metropolitan Studies
D. Human Resources and Training Policy
Selected topics in political economy, offered jointly by the Departments of Political Science and Economics. Topics listed by semester. Each lettered topic may be taken once. PRQ: Consent of department.

494. INTERNSHIP IN ECONOMICS (3). Student works for a firm or government agency under the sponsorship of an economics faculty member. Work experience must be approved by NIU's Cooperative Education/Internship Program and the Department of Economics. Student prepares a written report under the direction of the faculty member in the economics department. S/U grading. May not be repeated. PRQ: Junior or senior standing with a declared major in economics and consent of a department faculty member.

495. SEMINAR IN CURRENT PROBLEMS (3). Issues and policies in government, politics, and economics. PRQ: Consent of department.

496. AGRICULTURAL ECONOMIC POLICY (3). Alternative methods of solving farm problems and analysis of consequences for farmers, consumers, and taxpayers. PRQ: ECON 360.

496X. HISTORY AND SOCIAL SCIENCE INSTRUCTION IN GRADES 6-12 (3). Crosslisted as HIST 496. Organization and presentation of materials for history and social science courses at the middle school, junior high, and senior high school levels. PRQ: Admission to the history or social science teacher certification program and permission of Department of History's office of teacher certification.

497. INDEPENDENT STUDY IN ECONOMICS (3). Individually arranged study within the various fields of economics. Not open to economics graduate students. PRQ: ECON 360, ECON 361, and senior standing.

498. UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH (3). Independent work in economics under the direction of a faculty member. Open only to seniors. May be repeated to a maximum of 6 semester hours. PRQ: Consent of department.