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Microeconomics, also known as price theory, is the study of how individuals and firms allocate scarce resources to competing ends. The focus of price theory is the role relative prices play in the decision-making of consumers, the operation of firms, the structure of markets, and the choices of resource suppliers and employers. Throughout the semester students will learn to use economic models and optimization techniques to analyze a variety of decision-making processes, including consumer utility optimization, and producer profit maximization in the contexts of perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and monopoly. Students will also learn to apply price theory to the analysis of airline regulation, taxicab licensing, racial and gender discrimination, the subprime mortgage crisis, impact of liability caps on the Gulf oil disaster, etc. By the end of the semester students will master the basic tenets of price theory and will be able to use them in the analysis of empirical problems.

Sports economics utilizes the tools of economic theory to study sports markets, but also uses sports to shed light on economic concepts that are less easy to observe in other sectors of the economy. For example, player statistics provide easily obtainable data on worker productivity that can be applied to labor market theory. Also, sports leagues are one of the few legal operating cartels in the U.S., allowing us to observe the effects of monopoly power. Topics covered in this class will include: demand for sports, teams and profit, labor markets and unions, league structure and competitive balance, public subsidies for stadiums, and amateur sports.

This is a macro-oriented class. This course studies the theoretical and practical aspects of financial markets, commercial banking, and central banking. Particularly, the course focuses on [1] the components of the financial system, [2] money and its components, [3] how the interest rates are determined and their behavior, [4] commercial and central banking, and [5] the impact of monetary policy on the domestic and international macro economies along with the latest developments in financial regulations. By the end of the semester, students will have a solid understanding of the role that money and banking plays in the real world and will be equipped with the tools to analyze related problems.

This course examines the interaction of government and business in a market economy. Students will apply economic theory to an analysis of the legal and institutional aspects of government regulation. Topics include: antitrust law (mergers, price-fixing, monopolization, etc.); economic regulation and deregulation in markets for energy, transportation, and telecommunications; and social regulation in the areas of environmental protection, occupational safety and health, and consumer protection.