Macroeconomics examines a country’s economy as a whole and seeks to discover how an economy can maintain high growth, keep unemployment rates and inflation low, and improve the circumstances of the poor in society. The topics in this course may include historical debates between capitalism’s proponents and its critics; competing proposals for how best to measure whether an economy is doing well; the nature of money and how government can affect the money supply; the role of interest rates in determining growth, inflation and unemployment rates; how the government can best avoid the boom and bust cycles of capitalism; and an examination of recent economic crises in the United States.

Prerequisite: Departmental approval