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ECON 492, the Senior Seminar, is the culmination of the economics major. In this course you apply the economic theory and econometric techniques you learned in the core courses of the economics major to a topic chosen by the instructor. Global Poverty is the topic selected for this edition of ECON 492.
The central activity of the seminar is the preparation by each seminar participant of a written report of an economic research project/proposal on a poverty topic and an oral presentation of the intervention plan. Most students find that ECON 492 is one of the best courses they have ever taken because you get to do "real" economics. You will leave this course with tangible evidence of your knowledge and abilities in the form of your written research paper. I want you to be proud of your efforts and your results. The structure of the course is designed to help you achieve the best results possible.
This course is very challenging and time intensive. Good results require significant amounts of intense effort and self- discipline. Every module is a critical component of your final product. You must work hard to complete each part of every module on time. You cannot afford to get behind. Remember that great efforts will yield great success. I hope you will not only appreciate, but also enjoy this special learning experience.
Upon the completion of this course, students will be able to:
• Synthesize and apply the tools of economics in a written economic analysis/proposal to alleviate an identified issue around global poverty.
• Evaluate and analyze professional economic research publications.
• Evaluate, summarize, and analyze economic data
• Make an oral presentation identifying an issue related to global poverty, present a thorough proposal of intervention, and identify the method of evaluation
ECON 304 (Intermediate Macroeconomics) or concurrent registration; ECON 306 (Intermediate Microeconomics) or concurrent registration; ECON 335 (Introduction to Econometrics) or AREC 335 (Introduction to Econometrics) or concurrent registration; senior standing
Registration open only to economics majors.
Section 801
Required
Textbooks and materials can be purchased at the CSU Bookstore unless otherwise indicated.
This course will utilize Gretl, a free and user-friendly econometric software, for graphics, data management, basic statistics, and econometric estimation.