Seminar in Economic Issues

 

Economics 4349                                                                      Barry Hirsch, Chapman 419

Fall 2007                                                                                 Office Hours: Wed, 9:00-11:00am or by appt.

MW 2:00-3:45                                                                         phone: 999-8112 e-mail: bhirsch@trinity.edu

Chapman 105                                                                          homepage: www.trinity.edu/bhirsch

 

Course Description and Goals:

 

The goal of Current Economic Issues is to enable you to use economic analysis and reasoning to better understand public policy and economic issues.  Competency will be demonstrated through oral and written analysis of economic issues.  It can be achieved through careful reading, knowledge of current events, and class discussion.  The course will expose you to important economic concepts through applications.  Major topics this semester include the economics of the stock market, Social Security, and topics of your choice organized around class presentations and readings from the Journal of Economic Perspectives.

 

ECON 4349 fulfills the Senior Experience requirement of the University’s Common Curriculum, when accompanied by the non-credit course ECON 4001.  Enrollment in ECON 4001 requires senior standing.  With permission from the Department Chair, ECON 4349 taken in the junior year combined with ECON 4001 in the senior year, may satisfy the requirement.

 

Required Reading:

 

Required readings for Part I of the course are listed on the outline.  You should purchase the following:

 

Burton Malkiel, A Random Walk Down Wall Street, 9th ed., 2007.

 

All other readings in the first part of the course are posted on Blackboard.

 

Following Part I of the course, we will read articles selected from the Journal of Economic Perspectives (JEP) to accompany student presentations.  Hard copies of the JEP are available in Coates Library at HB1 J643.  Complete copies of papers through 2004 are available electronically (in pdf) from JSTOR (through Coates Library – click on Articles & More, then JSTOR, then Browse, then Economics, and then JEP).  For issues after 2004, you may view the table of contents for each issue and abstracts for each article at: http://www.aeaweb.org/jep/contents/ (click on Previous Issues).  To view the full articles you may go to Coates.  You are responsible for all papers presented in class.  Once JEP articles are selected and scheduled for presentation, they will be posted on Blackboard (in pdf).

 

Regular reading of the New York Times or Wall Street Journal is expected.  Current events will be discussed in class.  The New York Times is freely available (you must register) on the Web at http://www.nytimes.com. 

Economics links that you may find of interest are available at my homepage: http://www.trinity.edu/bhirsch/.

 

Grading:

 

Final grades are based on a weighted average of a midterm exam (20%); final exam (30%); two in-class presentations or one presentation and one paper (20% each, a total 40%); and class participation and queries (10%).  You must complete all work as scheduled.  If you must miss an exam for a legitimate reason, you must contact me in advance of the exam for approval and scheduling of the test at an alternative time.  Reading the assigned articles prior to class and regular attendance are essential for satisfactory performance in the course.

 

Academic Integrity:

 

The Academic Honor Code prohibits dishonesty in academic work.  You are expected to behave honorably and not tolerate dishonesty by others.  Any violation of academic integrity will be dealt with aggressively.

 

Exam and Presentation/Paper Proposal Schedule:

 

Presentation  proposals:                       Wednesday, September 12

Midterm:                                  Monday, October 15

Presentations:                           Scheduled individually throughout semester

Final Exam:                             Saturday, December 8, 8:30-11:30 am

 

In-Class Presentations/Papers (20% each)

 

You are responsible for either two class presentations or one presentation and one paper.  The central focus for each presentation or paper will be an article chosen from the Journal of Economic Perspectives.  For class presentations, you will have a minimum of 50 minutes.  One day prior to your presentation, you must email to the instructor and classmates a brief (typically one-page) outline of your talk.  In your presentation, you should walk the class through the article, carefully explaining the central points of the article and the reasoning and analysis that lead to these points.  The relevant economic principles should be emphasized.  Although not required, you may refer to other material if appropriate.  You must present fairly the arguments or reasoning of the JEP author(s), but you are free to critique or provide alternative positions if appropriate.  You are expected to engage in an open discussion with the class and instructor during your presentation.

 

All students are expected to read each JEP article prior to its presentation and to bring the article to class.  You are responsible for all assigned readings and material from the student presentations.  Where appropriate and if approved by the instructor, the required class reading and presentation may be based on an economics article from a source other than the JEP.

 

In lieu of a second presentation, some students will write a 5-7 page paper.  The paper can be on another Journal of Economic Perspectives article or any other article approved by the instructor.  Some of you may want to choose an article on the same topic as the JEP article you present in class, in which case your paper might contrast the approaches and evidence taken by the different authors.  The proposal for your paper is due the same date as presentation proposals.  Because class slots for presentations are limited, some students may be required to substitute a paper for a second presentation.

 

Selecting Presentation Topics and Preparing the Proposal

 

I recommend the following approach.  Look at issues of the Journal of Economic Perspectives, published since late 1987, for ideas on topics and the economic approach to various issues.  Articles vary in difficulty.  You should select an article for presentation only after reading through it, and not select it based solely on the title, topic, and abstract.

 

You must turn in two brief presentation proposals on Wednesday, September 12, one for each presentation (or presentation and paper).  Each proposal should include:

 

a)      Proposed title of talk/paper.

b)      Full reference for the JEP paper designated as required reading.

c)      A paragraph or two describing the focus of the presentation/paper, the issues to be examined, and the economic principles that will be emphasized.

 

Your proposal will not be graded (while there is no carrot, there will be a penalty stick for late proposals).  In the event that one of your proposed topics or articles is not approved, I will work with you to select an alternative topic and article.  Almost any topic is permitted, as long as it lends itself to the use of economic analysis, and if the selected JEP article is appropriate for the class.  The more detailed your proposal, the more feedback I can provide prior to your presentation and paper.

 

Although not required, if you wish to find economics articles published in other academic journals, you may want to turn to EconLit, which provides a comprehensive index of scholarly articles in economics (to access, go to Coates Library, click on Databases, and go to EconLit).  For a comprehensive database of recent working papers, go to http://www.ssrn.com and search for a topic or author.

 

Reading List and Course Outline: Part I

 

1.    Economic Efficiency, Market Failure, and the Analysis of Policy: Overview

 

Harvey Rosen, Public Finance, 7th ed, 2005, Ch. 1 (“Government at a Glance”).

Robert Cooter and Thomas Ulen, “A Review of Microeconomic Theory,” Law and Economics, 3rd ed., 2000.

 

2.    Stock Prices, Returns, and Efficient Markets: Theory and Evidence

 

Burton Malkiel, A Random Walk Down Wall Street, 9th ed., 2007 (1st ed., 1973), Chs. 1-11.

John Cassidy, “Smart Money: Two Wall Street Classics Appear in New Editions,” New Yorker, Oct. 2003.

Jon Hilsenrath, “As Two Economists Debate Markets, The Tide Shifts,” Wall Street Journal, Oct. 18, 2004.

John Allen Paulos, “All Investors are Liars,” Wall Street Journal, September 2, 2003.

 

3.    Social Security Financing and Benefits: How Does it Work? Sorting Out Alternative Reforms

 

Press Commentary:

David Wessel, “The Basics of Social Security,” Wall Street Journal, February 1, 2005.

Roger Lowenstein, “Social Security: A Question of Numbers,” New York Times Magazine, January 16, 2005.

Kelly Greene, “How Sick is Social Security?” Wall Street Journal, June 28, 2004.

 

Economists:

John Cogan and Olivia Mitchell, “Perspectives from the President’s Commission on Social Security Reform,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Spring 2003.

 

Dates to Remember

 

Presentation/paper proposal:    Wednesday, September 12

Midterm:                                  Monday, October 15

 

Reading List and Course Outline: Part II

 

Following the scheduling of student presentations, readings for Part II of the course will be posted.

 

 

 

 

Journal of Economic Perspectives (JEP) Articles for Class Presentation and Papers

 

Presentations:

 

1.  Monday, October 8:              Elizabeth Johnson

Claudia Goldin, Lawrence Katz, and Ilyana Kuziemko, “The Homecoming of American College Women: The Reversal of the College Gender Gap,” JEP, Fall 2006.

 

2.  Wednesday, October 10:       Allen Otto

Dan Black, Seth Sanders, and Lowell Taylor, “The Economics of Lesbian and Gay Families,” JEP, Spring 2007.

 

3.  Wednesday, October 17:       Fletcher Rhoads

Hilary Hoynes, Marianne Page, and Ann Huff Stevens, “Poverty in America: Trends and Explanations,” JEP, Winter 2006.

 

4.  Monday, October 22:            Kyle Altman    

Warwick McKibbin and Peter Wilcoxen, “The Role of Economics in Climate Change Policy,” JEP, Spring 2002.

 

5.  Wednesday, October 24:       Kayci McLeod

David Cutler, Edward Glaeser, and Jesse Shapiro, “Why Have Americans Become More Obese?” JEP, Summer 2003.

 

6.  Monday, October 29:            Ryan Klausing

Pascal Courty, “Some Economics of Ticket Resale,” JEP, Spring 2003.

 

7.  Wednesday, October 31:       Nat Lanier

John Quigley and Steven Raphael, “Is Housing Unaffordable? Why Isn’t It More Affordable?” JEP, Winter 2004.

 

8.  Monday, November 5:           Haley Hansen

Abhijit Banerjee and Esther Duflo, “The Economic Lives of the Poor,” JEP, Winter 2007.

 

9.  Wednesday, November 7:     Tim Kirkpatrick

Richard Thaler, “From Homo Economicus to Homo Sapiens,” JEP, Winter 2000.

 

10. Monday, November 12:        Brian Wood     

Robert Blendon, et al., “Bridging the Gap Between the Public’s and Economists’ Views of the Economy,” JEP, Summer 1997.

 

11. Wednesday, November 14:   Emily Bower

Steven Levitt, “Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: Four Factors that Explain the Decline and Six that Do Not,” JEP, Winter 2004.

 

12. Monday, November 26:        Allen Otto

Rachel McCleary and Robert Barro, “Religion and Economy,” JEP, Spring 2006.

 

13. Wednesday, November 28:   Elizabeth Johnson

Betsey Stevenson and Justin Wolfers, “Marriage and Divorce: Changes and their Driving Forces,” JEP, Spring 2007.

 

Written Papers on JEP Articles:

 

Kyle Altman on: Jonathan Cohen, “The Vulcanization of the Human Brain: A Neural Perspective on Interactions Between Cognition and Emotion,” JEP, Fall 2005.

 

Emily Bower on: Joel Slemrod, “Cheating Ourselves: The Economics of Tax Evasion,” JEP, Winter 2007.

 

Haley Hansen on: Emek Basker, “The Causes and Consequences of Wal-Mart’s Growth,” JEP, Summer 2007.

 

Tim Kirkpatrick on: Ernst Fehr and Simon Gachter, “Fairness and Retaliation: The Economics of Reciprocity,” Jr. Econ. Perspectives, Summer 2000.

 

Ryan Klausing on: Matthew Gentzkow and Jesse Shapiro, “Media, Education and Anti-Americanism in the Muslim World,” JEP, Summer 2004.

 

Nat Lanier on: Paul Portney, Ian Parry, Winston Harrington, and Howard Gruenspecht, “The Economics of Fuel Economy Standards,” JEP, Fall 2003.

 

Kayci McLeod on: Francine Blau and Lawrence Kahn, “Gender Differences in Pay,” JEP, Fall 2000.

 

Fletcher Rhoads on: Jonathan Leape, “The London Congestion Charge,” JEP, Fall 2006.

 

Brian Wood on: Steven Levitt, “Understanding Why Crime Fell in the 1990s: Four Factors that Explain the Decline and Six that Do Not,” JEP, Winter 2004.