Course Description:

The United States, with only 5 percent of the world’s population, produces approximately 25 percent of the world’s output, uses roughly 25 percent of the world’s resources, and has dominated the global economy for over 60 years. However, the U.S. economy faces substantial challenges in the years ahead. Increasing international competition for jobs and resources, an aging population, persistent trade and government budget deficits, and rapid growth in entitlement programs combine to present significant challenges to current and future policy makers. This course will explore the economics of these issues, and several other important economic issues in the country, as well as some of the potential solutions.

The goal of this course is to help students better understand the economic issues policy-makers will be called upon to resolve in the coming years. These issues should be of particular interest to current young people since they most likely will bear the largest burden of the cost of addressing them.

This course incorporates weekly reading and writing assignments with classroom lectures and significant time for in-class discussions.

Textbooks:

• Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Economic Issues, 15th edition, Edited by Frank J. Bonello and Isobel Lobo; McGraw-Hill, 2012
• Issues in Economics Today, 6th edition, by Robert C. Guell; McGraw-Hill Irwin, 2012

Prerequisites:

Econ 100 or Econ 102. It is recommended that stidents take at least one other economics course