Economics

This course covers European economic integration including definitions, connections, stages, and political integration. The impact of economic integration is reviewed, taking into consideration trade and financial integration, through empirical evidence of the integration process in Europe. Also discussed is the Divergence/Convergence debate. Students are given an overview of the Economic and Monetary Union in Europe including its involvement in the Impossible Trinity Principle and the Theory of Optimal Currency Areas. Finally, the course covers macroeconomic principles in the EMU which includes governance in the EMU, monetary policy in the time of crisis, fiscal policies in the EMU and the exchange rate policy for the Euro.

The course provides an overview of working in the United Kingdom and examines the changing organizational structures of work in Britain. It examines the social and economic changes that affect the workplace in the UK. Topics covered include the sociology of work; trade unions; oppression at work; generational changes at work. 

The main purpose of this course is to introduce the basic principles of financial derivative securities, so that students can rationally analyze and use them when they need to face complex derivatives. The course focusES on introducing the basic derivative securities, including product concepts such as futures, options, swaps, relevant pricing theory, and an analysis of the use of derivatives.

This course provides students with a framework for understanding modern ideas in the theory of international trade, and to use this framework to analyze the major policy issues of world trade. Students study the key concepts of positive and normative trade theory and leading examples of recent empirical work on the pattern of trade and the effects of protection and preferential trading agreements.

This course provides an overview of the development of economic theory, primarily emphasized as a science in evolution and fostered by the debate on the main economic issues of the time as a response to economic reality. The course focuses on major writers and economic issues central to the development of what is considered standard economic theory, as well as lesser-known contributions, to account for the historical and theoretical preconditions for contemporary economic theory.

Why are some countries rich while others are poor? Since the publication of the WEALTH OF NATIONS by Adam Smith, the sources of global inequality have been a key subject in economics. As Robert Lucas has famously claimed, once we start thinking about them, "it is hard to think about anything else." This makes the study of economic growth and development over the long run relevant for economics and the social sciences alike. Economic history introduces tools and methods of describing and analyzing growth and development and it develops critical thinking by demonstrating both the potential and limitations of economic theory in explaining economic change in the real world. The course consists of an overview of Western economic development from the early modern period, ca. 1500, to the present. The course focuses on the drivers of industrialization and of increased prosperity in the Western world and on the historical origins of the disparity in the wealth of nations today. The course is organized in two parts. The first part discusses the drivers of long-run development: the commercial, agricultural, and industrial revolutions, the role of institutions, and the origins of globalization. The second part illustrates the impact of major shocks on economic development in the 20th century: the World Wars, the Great Depression, and the challenges of the new globalization since the 1970s.