Teaching

EC 202-003 – Introduction to Macroeconomics

Fall 2025:  August 25-December 07, 2025

Fall Break: Monday, 10/20- Tuesday, 10/21

Finals:         Tuesday, 12/09/2025 from 3:00 PM - 5:00 PM; location TBA 

Class Meets: Mon Wed: 6:00 PM-7:20 PM (In-person)

Location:     Natural Resources Bldg. Rm 158

This course introduces students to the metrics used in tracking a country’s economy. Specifically, students will understand the determinants of the Gross National Product, unemployment, inflation (disinflation and deflation), and economic growth. The concepts of national income accounting, aggregate demand and supply, as well as fiscal and monetary policies are reviewed.

The concepts you learn in this class are the most commonly talked about in the media, political arenas, etc. You may forget about everything else you will learn in economics, but if you claim to have majored in economics, people expect you to understand these concepts!

Textbook

We will be using the textbook “Macroeconomics”, 6th edition, by Paul Krugman and Robin Wells. You are required to purchase an online access to the Macmillan’s Achieve product associated with this course. Remember: Only access Achieve by clicking on links in D2L. This required electronic resource includes the entire e-book and online homework. So, you need NOT to purchase a printed copy once you have registered to the Achieve platform (ISBN:9781319320195). 

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI)

DEI has become synonymous to accommodating groups that have been historically disadvantaged based on societal categorizations such as gender, race, ethnicity, age, country of birth, body masses and shapes, religion, sexual orientation, etc., by giving these groups necessary resources to help them achieve their potential.

Several studies have pointed out that, although the two concepts of diversity and inclusion are different but related, over time, they have been used interchangeably (Cox, 1991 & 1993; Morrison, 1992; Wentling & Palma-Rivas, 2000).

• MSU student population is diverse, in terms of the above categorizations of gender, race, ethnicity, age, country of birth, body masses and shapes, religion, sexual orientation, etc.

  • My job as an instructor is to make sure that all students in my classroom are heard by giving each of them an opportunity to speak up. If you are shy and have difficulties speaking in public, you can talk to me after class, you can come to my, and/or our TA’s office hours, in-person or via zoom. You can send me and the TA an email, which we answer within 24 hours or less.

• Inclusion refers to the removal of barriers that block employees/students from using the full range of their skills and competencies in an organization/classroom (Harvey, 1999; Roberson, 2006).

• Equity means everyone is provided with resources specific to their needs to be successful. This is different from equality which means everyone is treated the same exact way, regardless of a person's needs or other individual differences.

  • In my classroom, equity (not equality) is the rule. That means that, if you have an RCPD’s Accommodation Letter, we will explore all options that fits your needs to succeed in the class. It could be that you need more test time, that you do not test well in a “crowded” environment in which case a different room or virtual online testing could be explored, that you need preferential seating, that you need to accommodate a service dog, that you need assistance with notetaking (I make my lecture notes available to all students for this purpose), that you may leave a class session early on a need basis, etc.

EC 410 – Issues in the Economics of Developing Countries (W)

Summer Semester 2025/Online Asynchronous

Class Schedule: 5/12 - 6/27/2025

Class Meets: Online (Self-Paced)

Prerequisite: (EC 202 or EC 252H) and (EC 301 or EC 251H) and Completion of Tier I Writing Requirement 

The textbook we will use gives a great scenario to introduce the concept of development. It goes like this (I paraphrase): If you were dropped in a foreign place and then were asked the income level of the place, what cues would you look for? The clothes people are wearing, or the food they are eating? The means people use to get around? The look of the streets and buildings? The smell of the place?

How do we know a country is poor or rich? How do we define and measure poverty? Is income inequality synonymous with poverty? Is economic growth enough to qualify a country as developed? What are the roles of education and health in human development? Are institutions necessary in the development process? Who are the agents of economic change? How do we know that the actions these agents take are effective in curtailing poverty and spurring development?

Development economics seeks to understand the economics of the development process in low-income countries. In these countries, markets may not be working properly, institutions may be too weak and underdeveloped to guarantee the protection of private property rights, the production system may be too weak to satisfy the need of the population, etc. Consequently, free market economics as taught in rich countries may not work properly in poor countries.

This course reviews topics in development economics, such as growth, technological change, structural transformation, poverty and inequality, investment in human resources, trade, international capital flows, and the political economy of policy formation and governance. 

EC414: Economic Analysis of Sub-Saharan Africa

Fall 2023:  August 28-December 08, 2023

Break Days: Monday, 10/23 - Tuesday, 10/24

Finals:         Monday, 12/11 - Friday, 12/15

Class Meets: Tue Thurs: 6:00 PM-7:20 PM (In-person)

Location:     North Kedzie Hall Rm N101

Pre-requisite: (EC 202 or EC 252H) and (EC 301 or EC 251H)

Economic and social researchers have been puzzled by the patterns of economic growth and development in Africa. For instance, despite the continent’s abundant wealth in natural resources, sub-Saharan Africa counts more poor countries than any other continent in the world. This course seeks to examine the economic conditions of African economies, with a particular focus on sub-Saharan Africa. This course also serves as an introduction to the tools and theories of development economics. The themes covered include: impact of slave trade and colonization on Africa’s development, growth and structural transformation; poverty and inequality; financing Africa’s development (domestic saving, foreign direct investments, aid); capital flight; human capital investment; immigration and brain-drain; conflicts and policies for post-conflict recovery; gender and development; agricultural transformation and development; etc. 

EC413: Economic Analysis of Asia

Spring 2023

Pre-requisites: (EC 202 or EC 252H) and (EC 301 or EC 251H) and Completion of Tier I Writing Requirement.

This course examines economic developments in Asia, with a particular emphasis on the countries of the Pacific Rim which includes China, Japan, the Newly Industrialized countries of Hong Kong, Singapore, South Korea, and Taiwan, as well as the nations of Southeast Asia belonging to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) such as Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam. Students will be asked to research a topic on India’s economic development. We will not formally cover the rest of South Asia (Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, etc.) or Central Asia (the ‘stan’ countries). 

ISS305: Evaluating Evidence: Becoming a Smart Research Consumer

Spring 2023

Critical thinking about social issues: principles of irrational behaviors; use and misuse of statistics. 

Pre-requisites: ISS 210 or ISS 215 or ISS 220 or ISS 225 or ISS 230 or ISS 235 or MC 201

 Statistical and methodological principles from the perspective of a critical consumer of social science research results. Recognizing non-empirical assertions, necessary bases for inferring relationships and causal relationships, common threats to research validity, and pertinent biases in human judgment.

This Integrative Social Science course teaches students how to be better consumers of social science research results, recognizing statistical intentional and unintentional mistakes or misinformation and developing critical thinking about these issues.

This course’s goal is to help students be better consumers of empirical evidence of social science research. Among the topics that will be covered are the following: distinguishing between questions that can and cannot be addressed empirically; recognizing when sufficient information has been provided to establish predictive and causal relationships; common ways of using statistics and graphs to inform or to misinform; typical flaws in survey research. Students will not undertake empirical research projects--this will not be a laboratory course. Students will examine, analyze, and evaluate formal and informal reports of research (from everyday conversation, from newspapers, from magazines, from journals, etc.).