SRES 101H Markets & Prosperity I (Honors)
Fall semester only. A blend of economic ideas and history of economic thought, this course is the first part of a complete introduction to the elements of economics. The course employs natural language texts and non-technical materials to emphasize habits of mind, salutary intuitions, and historical knowledge for success in business and entrepreneurship. With no loss of rigor, the course takes a liberal arts approach to the foundations of economic thought, substituting critical annotation of text for traditional problem solving, and structured class discussion for traditional lectures. Course materials are chosen with a view to helping students `into the seat of Adam Smith,' a world of economic inquiry replete with surprise, wonder, and admiration, in pursuit of the causes and consequences of the wealth of nations. Topics covered include: economic exchange in human life; scarcity, cost, and choice; coordination problems and economic harmonies; efficiency and gains from trade; property, specialization, and the division of labor; origin, history and institution of money; time, risk, and uncertainty in economic life; markets, prices, information, and equilibrium tendencies; entrepreneurship, economic dynamics, and disequilibrium tendencies; monopoly, antitrust, and regulation; market failures and responses; socialist calculation and indicative planning. This section is reserved for Honors students and will require additional assignments.
Prerequisite
Open only to students in the University Honors Program