This project-based course will focus on the implementation of common methods of economic data analysis and modeling using Python.  After an introduction to Python for data analysis and computation, the course will be split into three main sections: (i) time series data and forecasting, (ii) cross-sectional data and inference, and (iii) applications of machine learning/AI methods.  In each section, students will create their own mini project in which they will apply methods covered in the section to real-world data in order to address a topic/question of their choosing.

In Fundamentals of Economics for Business II, you will be introduced to economic concepts and analysis involving the interactions of workers, firms, financial institutions, and government organizations throughout the economy as a whole - i.e. considering the economy as an interconnected system.  We will begin by discussing the general building blocks and relationships that constitute the basic setting for understanding macroeconomics.  In order to describe and track the functioning of the economy as a whole, we will then examine the calculation and use of common macroeconomic measures related to employment, the price level, and production.  With measures that we can apply to evaluate macroeconomic outcomes, we will then define a series of basic economic models that we can use to better understand changes in the macroeconomy.  Knowing that economies change over time, we will first learn about the sources and consequences of economic growth.  After our discussion of long-term growth, we will then develop a modeling framework to analyze the short-term fluctuations in production, employment, and the price level that define the business cycle.  After constructing our basic models, we will apply them to study the effects of two fundamental types of macroeconomic policy: monetary policy and fiscal policy.  These discussions will take us from the impact of taxation, government spending, and government debt to the roles of money, the functions of the banking system, and the purpose of the Federal Reserve.  We will conclude by expanding outward to the international economy to explore the economic relationships between countries in a globalized world including the flow of international investment, international trade, and currency exchange.  

In Survey of International Economics, we will cover topics that are foundational to an understanding of the relationships between economies of the world on an international and interregional scale.  We will begin by reviewing international trade around the world and develop the Gravity Model to better understand the patterns and composition of global trade.  To analyze the implications of trade for different societies, we will then consider three different sources of trade: comparative advantage (the Ricardian Model), factor of production abundance (the Heckscher-Ohlin Model), and economies of scale.  With our knowledge of various causes and consequences of trade, we will then evaluate the impacts of common trade policies and the political economy that translates societal preferences into the trade policies that governments of the world employ.  We will then learn about currency exchange rates: how they are determined, how they affect economies, and how/why some country governments may want to have fixed exchange rates.  Finally, we will conclude by combining everything that we have learned throughout the semester in order to consider how different countries have organized themselves under different international economic policy paradigms as well as the goals and constraints that motivate economic policymakers historically and today.