Economics
105.
Introductory Macroeconomics.
(3)
Economics on a national scale: determination of national income, employment level, inflation and impact of policies affecting money supply, interest rates and government programs. Current macroeconomic issues and problems. Meets New Mexico Lower-Division General Education Common Core Curriculum Area IV: Social/Behavioral Sciences (NMCCN 2113). (Prerequisite for most upper-division courses).
106.
Introductory Microeconomics.
(3)
Exploration of individual consumer behavior, production decisions by the firm and supply and demand relationships in the marketplace. Examination of the international dimension of production and consumption choices. Meets New Mexico Lower-Division General Education Common Core Curriculum Area IV: Social/Behavioral Sciences (NMCCN 2123). (Prerequisite for most upper-division courses.)
203.
Society and the Environment.
(3)
(Also offered as CRP 203)
Introduction to environmental and natural resource issues of both global and local scale. Investigates basic causes and consequences of environmental problems including interrelated physical and social science dimensions.
212.
Personal Investing.
(3)
Investment options available to the individual will be analyzed in terms of economic theories of capital markets. Risk, value, returns and portfolio analysis.
239.
Economics of Race and Gender.
(3)
Examines economic situation of women and minorities in the United States. Explores effects of race, gender and ethnicity on the economic performance of workers and evaluates various strategies for social change.
**300.
Intermediate Microeconomics I.
(3)
Intermediate analysis of microeconomic theory and concepts. Topics include consumer behavior and demand, production and costs, price and output under both perfect competition and pure monopoly.
Prerequisite: 105 and 106
**303.
Intermediate Macroeconomics I.
(3)
Theories of national income determination in explaining business cycles; aggregate supply; and the role of expectations. Role of monetary and fiscal policies in stabilizing the economy.
Prerequisite: 105 and 106
**309.
Introductory Statistics and Econometrics.
(3)
Introductory statistics, probability, probability distributions and hypothesis testing. Basic econometric techniques emphasizing estimation of economic relationships and the use of econometric models in forecasting.
Prerequisite: 105 and 106 and STAT 145
**315.
Money and Banking.
(3)
Principles of money, credit and banking; organization and operation of the banking system; and the relationship between money, banking and the level of economic activity.
Prerequisite: 303
*320.
Labor Economics.
(3)
Determinants of labor force, wage levels and structures, and employment; human capital theory and discrimination, economic consequences of trade union and government intervention.
Prerequisite: 300
*321.
Development Economics.
(3)
Theories of development and growth. Problems facing developing countries and possible solutions. Historical case studies of some developing countries.
Prerequisite: 300 or 303
*330.
Consumer Economics.
(3)
Introduces the theory of consumer behavior and demand analysis. Empirical applications of consumer theory will be explored. Possible topics include: consumer safety, family budgeting, marketing research and the household production function approach.
Prerequisite: 300
*331.
Economics of Poverty and Discrimination.
(3)
Explores trends in income distribution especially across and within groups and examines theories explaining behavior and outcomes. Public policy concerning poverty and discrimination is studied and discussed.
Prerequisite: 300
*332.
Economics of Regulation.
(3)
Nature of modern firms and markets: relationship of market structure, conduct and performance, including analysis of antitrust policy, public utility regulation and “deregulation” of some industries.
Prerequisite: 300
*333.
Industrial Organization.
(3)
Firms and markets; interactions of firms in markets that are noncompetitive (oligopolistic and monopolistic); various government policies to control the behavior of firms with market power.
Prerequisite: 300
*335.
Health Economics.
(3)
Market concepts and health care issues. Economic assessment of the U.S. health care system. Explores physician supply and demand, hospitals, malpractice, pharmaceuticals, insurance and related topics.
Prerequisite: 105 and 106
*341.
Urban and Regional Economics.
(3)
Spatial nature of economics: housing markets, natural hazard and technological risks, local and regional public finance, transportation issues, environmental problems and the relationship of regional and urban economies to national and international economies.
Prerequisite: 300
342.
Environmental Economics.
(3)
Introduction to economics of environmental management problems, conceptual tools and policy applications: resource scarcity and sustainability, efficiency and equity, property rights and externalities, benefit-cost analysis and discounting, provision of public goods and nonmarket valuation.
Prerequisite: 105 and 106
*343.
Natural Resource Economics.
(3)
Use and management of natural resources and systems useful to humans. Issues include: why natural resources are important, economic growth impact, optimal exploitation and identification and management of environmental concerns.
Prerequisite: 300
*350.
Public Finance.
(3)
(Also offered as POLS 350)
Taxation, governmental borrowing, financial administration and public expenditures.
Prerequisite: 300
*360.
History of Economic Thought.
(3)
Development of the principle economic doctrines and schools of economic thought from the Physiocrats to Keynes.
Prerequisite: 105 and 106
395.
Seminar in Current Economic Issues.
(1-3, no limit Δ)
Topics will vary. Offered on an occasional basis. For course content, consult the economics department.
Prerequisite: 300 and 303
*403.
Intermediate Macroeconomics II.
(3)
Theories of consumption, investment and money demand. Models of economic growth. Introduction to open economy macroeconomics. Macro modeling and analysis of economic policies, using actual data and computer models.
Prerequisite: 303
*407.
Mathematical Methods in Economics.
(3)
A survey course designed to develop those mathematical results and methods which find frequent use in economic analysis.
Prerequisite: 300 and 303
*408.
Economic Forecasting Methods: A Time Series Approach.
(3)
Computer modeling of economic time series using univariate Box-Jenkins models and multivariate vector autoregressive models. Intervention models to assess policy impacts such as gun control, environmental law, tax changes and social programs.
Prerequisite: 309
*409.
Intermediate Econometrics.
(3)
Intermediate econometric techniques with strong emphasis on computer modeling of applied economic problems. Covers autocorrelation, heteroscedasticity, multicollinearity, dummy variable and distributed lag model and the use of econometric models in forecasting.
Prerequisite: 309
*410.
Topics in Health Economics.
(3, no limit Δ)
Specialized topics in health care economics including medical education, national health insurance, comparative systems, drug industry and other contemporary issues. Emphasis on empirical applications in the study of health care issues. For course content, consult the economics department.
Prerequisite: 300 and 309 and 335
*421.
Latin American Economics.
(3)
Analysis of recent and historical issues in Latin American economies, including inflation, debt, trade, regional integration, privatization, stabilization and structural reform.
Prerequisite: 303 and 309
*423.
Topics in Latin American Development.
(3)
Analysis of economic development and its relation to poverty, schooling, the informal sector, agrarian issues and sustainable development using case studies from Latin America.
Prerequisite: 300 and 309
*424.
International Trade.
(3)
Determinants of patterns of international trade and comparative advantage. Trade restrictions and gains from trade. International factor movements.
Prerequisite: 300 and 309
*427.
Topics in Labor Economics.
(3)
Wage theory, industrial relations, migration, discrimination, comparative labor problems, special groups in the work force and other contemporary topics. Emphasis on economic implications and the role of public policy in these labor topics.
Prerequisite: 309 and 320
*429.
International Finance.
(3)
Foreign exchange markets and the international financial system. Exchange rate determination, balance of payments adjustment and the effectiveness of government policies in the open economy. International monetary system.
Prerequisite: (303 or 315) and 309
*442.
Topics in Environmental and Natural Resource Economics.
(3)
Focus on public policy and regulation. Specialized issues such as development and management of water, mineral, energy, air quality, forest and fishery resources, resource scarcity, sustainability, non-stationary pollution, water quality and global resource distribution.
Prerequisite: 300 and 309
*445.
Topics in Public Finance.
(3)
Intermediate public finance. Public economics topics: taxation, expenditure, welfare and distribution. Concentration on selected topics such as crime, education, health, regulations (EPA Acts), agreements (NAFTA) and the courts (Takings Clause).
Prerequisite: 300 and 309 and 350
451 / 551 - 452 / 552.
Independent Study.
(1-3, 1-3)
For senior students wishing to study topics not covered in an existing course or in more detail. Requirements will be agreed upon between student and instructor.
Prerequisite: 300 and 303 and 309
*466.
Public Sector Project Analysis.
(3)
(Also offered as CRP 466)
Product evaluation, cost-benefit analysis, capital budgeting, financing, federal-state relationships, environmental and public welfare impacts of projects and other related issues.
Prerequisite: 300 and 350
*478.
Seminar in International Studies.
(3)
(Also offered as POLS 478)
Designed to provide seniors from any discipline an opportunity to apply an international perspective to their undergraduate training. Each student will present a term project drawing upon his or her particular background and relating it to international matters. Open only to seniors.
Restriction: senior standing
497-498.
Reading for Honors.
(3,3)
Open to juniors or seniors with an overall grade point average of at least 3.2 and approval of the department.
Prerequisite: 309
Restriction: junior or senior standing and permission of department.
499.
Senior Honors Thesis.
(4)
501.
Microeconomics I.
(3)
Topics include producer and consumer theory, duality and welfare measures, competitive markets and monopoly and decision making under uncertainty.
503.
Economic Theory.
(3)
Macro and micro theory with applications.
504.
Mathematical Tools and Economic Models.
(3)
Calculus and matrix theory as applied to macro and micro models. Unconstrained and constrained optimization; static and comparative static analysis; introduction to dynamic analysis.
504.
Applied Macroeconomics.
(3)
Basic macroeconomic theory applied to current economic problems and policy issues.
Prerequisite: 303
506.
Macroeconomics I.
(3)
Closed and open economy macroeconomics. Aggregate demand and supply. Different models of business cycles. Micro foundations of macroeconomics.
508.
Statistics and Introduction to Econometrics.
(3)
Discrete and continuous probability distributions; expectations; joint, conditional marginal distributions; hypothesis testing; least squares estimators; violation of the least squares principle. Econometric software with applications.
509.
Econometrics I.
(3)
Theory and applications: ordinary and generalized least squares, hypothesis testing, dummy variable and distributed lag models; simultaneous equation and two stage least square models; forecasting. Emphasis on computer modeling.
Prerequisite: 508
510.
Econometrics II.
(3)
Simultaneous equation methods, nonlinear least squares, maximum likelihood method, qualitative dependent variable models, asymptotic properties and test statistics. Emphasis on computer modeling.
Prerequisite: 509
513.
Microeconomics II.
(3)
Competitive equilibrium and welfare economics. Topics from imperfect competition, decision making under uncertainty, introduction to game theory and distribution theory.
Prerequisite: 501 and 504
514.
Macroeconomics II.
(3)
Dynamic macroeconomics. Optimal economic policy. Theories of economic growth.
Prerequisite: 504 and 506
520.
Labor Economics.
(3)
Determination of optimal wage and employment. Demand and supply of labor, wage theory, education, migration, unions, labor market discrimination and full employment policies.
Prerequisite: 501
521.
Comparative Labor Problems.
(3)
Immigration issues, labor markets in Latin America, and other comparative labor issues.
Prerequisite: 501
522.
Selected Groups in the Work Force.
(3)
Employment problems of special groups (e.g., African-Americans, Hispanics, women, youth) in the work force. How economic theories explain their economic status. Economic models (education, school quality, occupational choice).
Prerequisite: 501
533.
Seminars in Industrial Organization.
(3)
Industrial organization is the study of firms and markets. Course covers firms internal organization and the interactions of firms in markets that are competitive, oligopolistic or monopolistic.
Prerequisite: 501 and 504
534.
Experimental Economics.
(3)
Working markets in laboratory setting. Designing market experiments. Experimental investigations of simple market organization. Examination of more complex settings. Applications: theory, environmental, public finance and labor.
Prerequisite: 501 and 504
535.
Evaluation of Public Programs.
(3)
Use of benefit-cost analysis as the principal means of evaluating public sector programs such as bridges, dams, roads, reservoirs, consumer product safety regulation and environmental regulations.
Prerequisite: 501 and 504
538.
Topics in Applied Economics.
(3)
Special topics in applied economics as they pertain to the major fields and support courses. Available for use by visiting faculty.
Restriction: permission of instructor.
Prerequisite: 501 and 504
540.
Environmental and Natural Resource Modeling.
(3)
Dynamic optimization and optimal control theory applications (deterministic and stochastic). Optimal resource utilization, pollutant stocks, principal agent problems, etc. Computer solution of models. Students will develop and solve a research problem.
Prerequisite: 501 and 504
541.
Sustainable Development.
(3)
Seminar of the political economy of sustainable development with emphasis on the management of large natural systems, particularly river basins.
542.
Environmental and Natural Resource Economics: Survey.
(3)
Overview of environmental and resource concepts, models and issues. Mass balance, property rights, common property, public policy, externality theory, non-market valuation, resource scarcity, renewable and nonrenewable resource management.
Prerequisite: 501
543.
Natural Resource Economics.
(3)
Models of natural resource utilization. Fossil fuels, hard rock minerals, fisheries, forest resources, groundwater and surface water.
Prerequisite: 540
544.
Environmental Economics.
(3)
Causes and consequences of environmental externalities. Design and implementation of alternative policy instruments. Theory and methods to measure economic value of market and non-market environmental services.
Prerequisite: 501 and 504
545.
Water Resources II–Models.
(4)
(Also offered as WR 572)
Use of technical models in water resources management addresses conceptual formulation and practical application of models from administrators perspective. Lab focuses on use of graphic aids to explain technical information.
{Spring}
551 / 451 - 552 / 452.
Independent Study.
(2-3, 2-3)
An independent study course on economic problems or issues. The study is carried out under the supervision of an economics faculty member.
Restriction: permission of instructor.
560.
Introduction to Public Finance.
(3)
An introduction to the advanced study of public finance. Issues covered include welfare theory, market failure, externalities and public goods, public choice, taxation and government expenditure.
Prerequisite: 501 and 504
562.
Normative Theories of Public Finance.
(3)
Welfare theories, general equilibrium, market failure, income distribution, optimal taxation, first best analysis and cost benefit analysis.
Prerequisite: 560
565.
Positive Theories of Public Finance.
(3)
The behavior of politicians and bureaucrats, taxpayers, the distribution of tax burdens and government subsidies and the behavior of state and local governments. Additional topics as time allows.
Prerequisite: 560
570.
Institutional Economics.
(3)
Overview of institutional thought including comparing historical and evolving traditions (including early American institutionalism and “new” institutional economics) and connections to public policy. Examines institutional approaches relative to economic methodology and philosophy of science.
Restriction: permission of instructor.
580.
International Trade.
(3)
Causes and patterns of trade; welfare and distributional effects of trade; effects and political economy of trade policies such as tariffs, quotes, export subsidies; regional economic integration; international factor movements. With empirical applications.
Prerequisite: 501 and 506
581.
International Finance.
(3)
Balance of payments adjustment; exchange rate determination, international financial flows, economic policies under alternative exchange rate regimes; regional monetary integration and the international monetary system. With empirical applications.
Prerequisite: 501 and 506
582.
Topics in International and Development Economics.
(3)
Examines issues in theory and policy in international and development economics. Explores growth, trade policies, exchange rate and international payments problems, public finance, price stability, technology transfer, income distribution or other issues.
Prerequisite: 501 and 506
583.
Development Economics.
(3)
Applies economic development theories to country-wide studies, with an emphasis on Latin America and other developing regions.
Prerequisite: 501 and 506
584.
Interdisciplinary Seminar on Problems of Modernization in Latin America.
(3)
(Also offered as HIST 689, POLS, SOC 584)
595.
Workshop in Applied Economics.
(1-3)
Research problems. Student presentations of methodology and results. Research projects may be student-directed or undertaken in conjunction with regular and/or visiting faculty.
Restriction: permission of instructor.
Offered on CR/NC basis only.
599.
Master’s Thesis.
(1-6, no limit Δ)
Offered on a CR/NC basis only.
699.
Dissertation.
(3-12, no limit Δ)
Offered on a CR/NC basis only.
