As a nation, the United States is, at its heart, an experiment in self-government. As a species, human beings are, in essence, economic animals. (Although we know of other species that engage in economic transactions, humans are certainly the proverbial “king of the hill” when it comes to economic behavior.) This class will explore the intersection of individual behavior, market actors, and the American government. Economics is not simply the study of supply and demand, monetary policy, and GDP; it helps us understand decision-making – from individuals to local governments to nation-states. The goal of this course is to leave you with a set of tools that will help you analyze your own decision-making behavior, the decisions and claims made by policymakers, and the U.S. economy overall. Topics will include cost/benefit analysis; incentives; externalities; labor, employment, and income distribution; inflation; taxation; competition and subsidies (“tax credits”); and how events like the Great Depression and the Great Recession came about and what policy solutions were employed to address them. In addition, we will examine many of these concepts and issues on the personal, local, state, and national levels.

Students who wish to take this course for Advanced credit will be required to complete a capstone project over the course of the semester that includes creating a research question, conducting research with a required number of sources, writing an eight- to 10-page research paper, and presenting/defending their paper.