Courses in Economics

An introduction to the Canadian economy and to concepts and tools that can help us understand how the economy works and the roles that we play in it. This course will examine economic goals, activities, structures and institutions; tools for making economic decisions; markets and market failures; economic measurement; economic fluctuations; growth and development; and globalization.

This course deepens students' understanding of the ideas introduced in ECON 203 by examining the theoretical models that economists use to analyze specific economic issues. These include theories of production, consumption, and markets; macroeconomic models related to recessions, unemployment, and inflation; government monetary and fiscal policies; and international trade theory.

This course will examine the relationship(s) between economics and politics, both as practice and theory. Central to this is the appropriate role of government in the economic life of Canadian (and other) society. The present controversies on these issues will be investigated and discussed, as well as their origins. It will be argued that the general course of economic and other development in rich and poor countries (including Canada) is decisively influenced by views taken on this issue; that various options for the future present themselves, and that options for change in political economy are linked to and will be resolved on the basis of fundamental/religious perspectives.

Analysis of the conflicting viewpoints that influence International Political Economy (IPE); tracing the structure and changing form of IPE in trade, finance, technology and information flows; analysing and evaluating the tension between states and international markets; examining the dynamics and impact of international centres of political-economic power on regions of the world that are small and vulnerable; investigation of the role of large corporations in the global political economy. Attention will also be given to the impact of the IPE on policies in Canada. Descriptive and evaluative data will be included and examined throughout.

Proposed description: Expansion and deeper examination of the major microeconomic theories, including those related to consumer behaviour, production, market structures, and market failures. The role that these theories have played in the development of Canadian economic policies and goals will be a major focus of the course. Descriptive and evaluative data on the Canadian situation will be examined throughout. This course will be offered through independent, online study modules, with contact with the professor as needed.

Expansion and deeper examination of the macroeconomic theoretical models for the functioning of an open macroeconomy, like that of Canada. This will include models that produce calculable estimates of the main macroeconomic variables, such as total output, the general price level and inflation, levels of employment, and causes and impact of fluctuations in the economy's performance. Descriptive and evaluative data on the Canadian situation will be included and examined throughout. This course will be offered through independent, online study modules, with contact with the professor as needed.

This course will focus on a number of aspects of the relationship between economics and the environment, including: determining the nature of and need for sustainability in economic processes; examining the linkages between development and the environment; examining the causes of and policy responses to resource and environmental degradation; introducing ways to measure the environmental impact of economic processes; and examining international and transfrontier environmental issues.

This course identifies the nature and causes of the development and underdevelopment of countries and regions, emphasizing the poor. It explores development as a multi-dimensional process of change that happens in the context of social, political, technical and cultural conditions. The focus here is how economics relates to most of these. An overview of main theories (including how they arose historically) will be given and the main current issues in development will be reviewed. Development policies in poor countries and regions as well as international efforts to assist in their development, will round off the course.

Markets play a major role in coordinating human interaction and activity in the modern world. Some think this role should expand, others decry it as harmful or distorting of human society, morality, and environment. This course considers these debates by drawing on research from a variety of disciplines - including economics, sociology, philosophy, and theology - to consider the nature of markets, their social structural and anthropological foundations, and the effects they have on the people that inhabit them.

This course explores ideas and theories about economic life that have been developed from ancient times to the present, including (but not limited to) those of the major economic thinkers from Adam Smith onwards. These ideas will be analyzed in light of the economic, political, social and intellectual contexts that helped to shape them. By investigating this historical development, we will gain a better understanding of how current approaches to economics and economic policy-making came to be.

Most economies in the world today are, to at least some degree, capitalist. Capitalism is hailed by some as a driver of technological innovation and economic growth, but it is loathed by others as a source of inequality, exploitation, colonialism, and environmental degradation. In this course, we will evaluate these arguments, and explore a variety of possible alternatives to capitalism.

To respond effectively to today's economic challenges and opportunities, it helps to understand where they came from. This course explores economic history in the land that is now called Canada, beginning with Indigenous economies before European contact, continuing through the eras of colonization, resource development, and industrialization, up to the present time. The course will prioritize readings from diverse and marginalized voices, particularly Indigenous voices. Themes include the ongoing legacy of settler-colonialism, relationships between humans and the natural world, regional and equity concerns, and the drivers and limitations of economic growth. In addition, the course will build students' skills in scholarly research and writing.

A course on a topic or field of special interest to a member of the economics faculty and offered on a non-recurring basis.

This course creates awareness of the nature, development and implications of the powerful spread of trade and finance flows across the modern world. It analyses the positive and negative aspects of globalization and alerts students to the opportunities for responsible extension of economic activities (trade in particular) to countries, regions and parts of the world very different from Canada. The ethical, developmental and environmental dimensions of globalization will be integrated with the business aspects and options. Same as BUSI 461

View Course Outline

This course is designed to provide individual students with an opportunity to conduct supervised reading and research on a topic of the student's choice in consultation with a member of the economics teaching faculty. Student work in this course will be with a faculty member on a tutorial basis. Students must apply in advance to teaching faculty in economics for this course.