Economics Courses

Luther College offers a diverse Economics Major, allowing you to choose one of two tracks.

Plan I

• Will appeal to those interested in studying the close links that economics has with the business world. Faculty teaching management, accounting, and management information systems are located on the same floor of Olin Hall as the economics faculty, and are indeed part of the same department. Students choosing Plan I of the economics major will therefore have a strong grounding in the business disciplines while taking, of course, a full slate of economics courses (including some electives).

Plan II

• Will appeal to students whose interests in economics is matched by an interest in policy issues or in philosophy. Here the usual core courses in economics and upper level economics electives are combined in a structured way with offerings from other departments on campus. Students in Plan II are also required to take a course in economic history.

Plan III (teaching)

• Same as Plan I, plus those requirements specified by the education department. See education department for secondary education minor requirements.

Economics Minor

• An Economics minor is also available.

For a minor in Economics, a student is required to take:

And three additional economics courses numbered above 250. Requirements for a second teaching area are the same as those for an academic minor.

Core Economics and Business Courses:

Accounting 150 - Managerial Accounting

The use of accounting information by management for planning and control. Topics include professional ethics, cost-volume-profit analysis, operational and capital budgeting, decision making, responsibility accounting, the new manufacturing environment, and an introduction to cost accounting systems including activity based costing (ABC). Prerequisite: 130 and math 110 or above. (Top)

Math 141 - Calculus 1 with Algebra and Trigonometry

Continuation of defrivative topics of mathematics 131 or 140: chain rule; the mean value therorem; Riemann sum approximations; definite integrals: anti-derivatives; applications. Students who earn credit for 141 may not earn credit for 151. Prerequisite: 131 or 140. (Top)

Math 151 - Calculus 1

Topics related with instantaneous rates of change: functions, limits, continuity, derivatives, anti-derivatives, definite integrals, the mean value theorem, applications. Graphing calculator use is required. Prerequisite: a minimum of 1-1/2 years of algebra, 1/2 year of trigonometry, 1 year of geometry. (Top)

Economics 130 - Principles of Economics

An introduction to the uses of economic theory in the analysis of problems emergent in large societies. Specific topics include consumer choice, decision making by firms in price taking, and price searching situations, and inflation and aggregate employment analysis. No prerequisite. (Top)

Economics 242 - Statistics

A first course in statistics which introduces descriptive and inferential statistical tools as they apply to economics, management, and the social sciences. Prerequisite: math 110 or above (130 recommended), or consent of instructor. (Top)

Economics Courses:

Economics 247 - Intermediate Economic Theory: Macro

Analysis of the factors influencing the aggregate levels of national income, employment, and inflation from a variety of perspectives, including the post-Keynesian. Prerequisite: 130, math 110 or above (130 recommended), or consent of instructor. (Top)

Economics 248 - Intermediate Economic Theory: Micro

Analysis of the determinants of resource allocation and income distribution with emphasis on the consequences of different methods of dealing with scarcity. Prerequisite: 130, math 110 or above (130 recommended, or consent of instructor. (Top)

Economics 255 - Environmental Economics

The application of economic principles to environmental issues. Valuation of environmental damage and environmental improvements, including non-market approaches. Methods of environmental regulation, such as taxes, standards, and transferable permits. Other topics such as climate change and species loss may also be covered. Prerequisite: 130. (Top)

Economics 256 - Economic History

This course focuses on applying basic methods of economic way of thinking (cost/benefit analysis, supply and demand analysis, simulation) through empirical examination of episodes in American, European, and world history. Prerequisite: 130. (Top)

Economics 333 - Economics of Information Networks

A course exploring the economics of information, language and networks. Microeconomic examination of how individual choice are shaped by information costs and asymmetries is combined with macroeconomic consideration of how information networks shape and/or frustrate public policy. Particular emphasis given to the economic consequences of language and effects of information on entrepreneurship. Prerequisite: 130. (Top)

Economics 361 - Money, Credit, and Banking

Developmental of the monetary and banking system. Nature and functions of monetary theories and policy. Prerequisite: 130. (Top)

Economics 362 - International Economics

Study of international economics principles necessary for understanding the world economy and economic exchanges that cross political boundaries. Topics include trade theory, governmental policies, international finance, foreign exchange markets, multinational corporations, and Third World perspectives. Prerequisite: 130. (Top)

Economics 366 - Public Finance

Economic analysis of activity undertaken through government, with emphasis on what is meant by such concepts as efficiency and fairness. Exploration of the ways in which different societies, at different times, have used the various tools of public finance. Prerequisite: 130. (Top)

Economics 368 - Law and Economics

The economic way of thinking is used to explore the relationships between law and economics, to consider how different kinds of laws and legal structures will/should/might work. Real-world examples-real statues, real cases-are used throughout to focus discussion in a comparison of two competing models of law and economics, the basic neoclassical model and a historical model that explicitly accounts for uncertainty and transaction costs. Prerequisite: 130. (Top)

Economics 442 - Introduction to Econometrics and other Research

Econometrics is the use of statistical methods in economic reasearch. This is an applied, rather than a theoretical course, and involves the use of tools such as VisualBasic within Excel (as a teaching method; Excel is not a statistics package). However, although the course requires a background in both economics and mathematics (see prerequisites) it also places econometrics in a wider context, studying where it is, and where it is not, appropriate as a reasearch tool. Thus, the course provides an introduction to economic research methods in general, and students gain practice in the writing of research papers. Prerequisites: 247 and 248, any statistics course, any math course numbered 151 or higher. Must earn a grade of B or above in all prerequisite courses.

Economics 490 - Senior Project

This course requires students to draw upon their economic education to formulate and address important public policy, business and ethical questions. Students meet in a seminar setting to study and discuss topics of special interest through the prism of an economic way of thinking. Students are also required to write and publicly present a research paper in which they apply their own economic analysis to an issue. Prerequisites: senior standing

Political Science 247 - An Introduction to the Politics of Social Policy

By focusing on current governmental efforts to reduce poverty, this course will investigate the influence of race, gender, class, ideology, demography, organized interests, and a market economy on how social policy is made in America. (Top)

Political Science 258 - Environmental Politics and Policy

In this course, students will identify and examine environmental issues confronting the United States, as well as the larger world. Students will identify and evaluate both current and proposed policies for addressing those issues. We will pay particular attention to the range of actors involved in the making ovenvironmental policy and will emphasize the relationship among politics, economics, ethics, and science in the making of environmental policies in the United States and internationally. (Top)

Political Science 355 - Constitutional Law

Relying primarily on Supreme Court opinion, the course emphasizes how the Supreme Court has and should interpret the Constitution. This course examines the role of the Supreme Court and the allocation of governmental powers within the American constitutional/political system. (Top)

Political Science 362 - Politics of Africa, Asia, and Latin America

A comparative examination of selected political systems in African, Asian, and Latin American nations alon the continuum of modernization and democratization.
(Top)

Political Science 364 - United States Foreign Policy

The first segment of the course examines the evolution of American foreign policy from 19th century isolationism to global power in the 20th century. the second segment explores the making of foreign policy today, with a focus on the role of the President, Congress, the State Department, and other institutions involved in policy formation. (Top)