Economics, BA

Chair:

Devashish Mitra
110 Eggers Hall
315-443-3843

Faculty

Merima Ali, Badi Baltagi, Kristina Buzard, Monica Deza, Gary V. Engelhardt, William Horrace, Hugo Jales, Andrew Jonelis, Shafaat Khan, Jeffrey D. Kubik, Derek Laing, Yoonseok Lee, Chung-Chin (Eugene) Liu, Michael Lorenzo, Tidiane Ly, Devashish Mitra, Inge O’Connor, Jan Ivar Ondrich, Thomas Pearson, Alexander Rothenberg, Abdulaziz Shifa, Perry Singleton, Aron Tobias, Yulya Truskinovsky, Yulong Wang, Maria Zhu

Economists analyze the internal functioning of markets and market outcomes. While modern economics focuses on market forces, markets function imperfectly in some cases and that introduces scope for policy action. Our curriculum emphasizes the application of economics to the study of public policy issues and the role of government in a market economy. Examples include analysis of international trade and relations, economic behavior in the workplace, health care, taxation, and numerous other spheres of a global economy. Students who major in economics prepare themselves for a variety of careers. Some move on to graduate study in economics and become professional economists; the majority, however, pursue careers in law, public policy, government, and many aspects of business, including banking and financial analysis, management, and marketing. Consequently, some students choose to pursue double majors and dual degrees. Further information on these programs is available in the Academic Rules and Regulations section of this catalog or in the economics department office.

The department offers both the B.A. degree in economics as well as a STEM-designated B.S. degree in economics. The B.A. has a liberal arts focus and emphasizes the applied and policy aspects of economics. The B.S. is attractive to the more mathematically oriented student.

For all Arts and Sciences|Maxwell students, successful completion of a bachelor’s degree in this major requires a minimum of 120 credits, 96 of which must be Arts and Sciences|Maxwell credits, completion of the Liberal Arts Core requirements, and the requirements for this major that are listed below.

Dual Enrollments:

Students dually enrolled in Newhouse* and Arts and Sciences|Maxwell will complete a minimum of 122 credits, with at least 90 credits in Arts and Sciences|Maxwell coursework and an Arts and Sciences|Maxwell major.

*Students dually enrolled in the College of Arts and Sciences|Maxwell as first year students must complete the Liberal Arts Core. Students who transfer to the dual program after their first year as singly enrolled students in the Newhouse School will satisfy general requirements for the dual degree program by completing the Newhouse Core Requirements.

Student Learning Outcomes

1. Correctly define advanced/field specific level economics vocabulary

2. Correctly utilize advanced/field specific level economics vocabulary

3. Effectively identify the applications of advanced/field specific level graphical economic tools and analytic techniques

4. Independently choose and effectively utilize appropriate advanced/field specific level economic graphical analysis to policy analysis

Major Requirements

To Earn a B.A. in Economics

A student becomes an economics major after consulting with an economics advisor on a plan and course of study and bringing them to the department office for approval. To earn a B.A. in economics, a student:

1. Quantitative Skills Requirement

MAT 284 - Business Calculus
Students must earn a grade of C or higher in MAT 284

2. Completes 6 credits of Principles of Economics

(ECN 101 and ECN 102 ) OR (ECN 101 and ECN 203 )

3. Completes 21 credits of Upper-division Economics Courses including:

ECN 301 - Intermediate Microeconomics or
ECN 311 - Intermediate Mathematical Microeconomics
ECN 302 - Intermediate Macroeconomics
ECN 422 - Introduction to Statistics and Econometrics
Credit will not be given for both ECN 422 and ECN 521 .

Four other upper-division electives in economics

Upper-division electives are ECN 300 or higher, (excluding ECN 301 , ECN 302 , ECN 303 , ECN 311 , ECN 365 , ECN 422 , ECN 470 and ECN 521 ), including at least two courses that have a prerequisite of:

ECN 301 - Intermediate Microeconomics or
ECN 311 - Intermediate Mathematical Microeconomics or
ECN 302 - Intermediate Macroeconomics
Credit will not be given for both ECN 422 and ECN 521 .

Additional Information

In all, 27 credits of economics courses are required.

The Economics Department applies a two-thirds rule to the upper-division economics courses (item 3 above). Two-thirds of the upper-division coursework must be taken at Syracuse University or its affiliate programs, such as SU Abroad. In practical terms, no more than two of the upper division courses may be taken at another college or university and applied to the B.A. economics major at Syracuse University.

Graduation with a B.A. in economics requires an overall grade point average of 2.0 or higher in 21 credits of upper-division economics courses.

Scheduling

It is recommended that students sequence their courses in the following manner:

The Principles of Economics (ECN 101 and ECN 102 or ECN 101 and ECN 203 ) and the Calculus quantitative skills requirement MAT 284 should be completed by the end of the sophomore year or earlier.
The quantitative skills requirement MAT 284 is a prerequisite for the intermediate theory courses ((ECN 301 or ECN 311 ) and ECN 302 ).
The intermediate theory courses ((ECN 301 or ECN 311 ) and ECN 302 ) are the prerequisite courses for ECN 422 and many of upper-division electives. For this reason, it is important that students complete their intermediate coursework by no later than the fall of their junior year or earlier.
Students should complete ECN 422 and at least two upper-division electives in economics by the end of their junior year or earlier.

Substitutions

Courses not listed in the above plan and/or taken outside Syracuse University will not be counted toward the fulfillment of economics degree requirements except upon the approval of a petition. Such petitions should be approved before the substitution course is taken, unless it was completed while the student was regularly enrolled in the school or college in which the course was offered. For management students with a second major in economics, FIN 355 may be used as a substitute for ECN 481 . Credit is not given for both ECN 481 and FIN 355 .

Curriculum Suggestions

Students who are more analytically inclined or interested in graduate school should plan to take MAT 295 /MAT 296 , and take ECN 311 rather than ECN 301 . In addition, they may wish to take ECN 505 and ECN 522 as upper-division economics electives.

Students planning to enter law school after graduation may find ECN 431 , ECN 451 and ECN 481 of particular interest, while those who plan to pursue graduate degrees in management may want to choose from ECN 465 , ECN 481 , and ECN 487 . Students pursuing an international specialty might be interested in ECN 410 (Economic Development), ECN 465 , and ECN 481 . Students preparing a public sector specialty might find ECN 431 of particular interest. Those with a human resources interest should select ECN 451 . Those interested in macroeconomic theory should consider ECN 481 .

The School of Management allows economics majors to take one course per semester in the School of Management. These courses are counted as general electives and not as economics or arts and sciences electives.