Economics

The Academic Program

The economics curriculum is structured so that students achieve the following goals:

1. Learn and apply models and tools for analyzing economic processes, decisions, and institutions;
2. Analyze and evaluate public policy; and
3. Think critically about the outcomes of public and private economic institutions and systems domestically and globally.

The Economics Department offers a course major, honors major, and honors minor. A course minor is not offered.

Major

Course Major

To graduate as a course major, a student must:

1. Have at least eight credits in economics.
2. Meet the theory and statistics requirements.
   Note: Course students should take these courses before the second semester of their senior year to be prepared for the comprehensive examination. Note also that some seminars and courses have ECON 011, 021, and/or 031 as prerequisites.
3. In the senior year, pass the comprehensive examination given early in the spring semester.

Honors Major

Typically, a student who wants to major in the Honors Program first applies for the program through the Sophomore Plan. In the Sophomore Plan, the student should indicate the intention to apply for the Honors Program and should list all preparations that the student plans to take as part of that program. The student would usually take at least one preparation in the junior year. Approval of a student’s Honors Program must be granted by the department. Changes of major and/or honors status can be made at any time by picking up forms and instructions in the Registrar’s Office.

Honors Minor

Application Process Notes for the Major

Normally, any student planning to major in economics, whether in the Course or Honors Program, applies for the major by submitting a Sophomore Plan in the spring of the Sophomore year. (Except for students who have been granted advanced standing, applicants should have completed at least two economics courses at Swarthmore.) A student who will be away that semester should submit the paper before leaving at the end of the fall semester. In the Sophomore Plan, students should state their reasons for wanting to major in economics along with any associated considerations, and they should indicate the courses and seminars essential to their plan of study. Through the paper, students are preregistered for seminars offered over the following two years; thus, students are strongly urged to select their seminars carefully. Moreover, if a student decides to change seminars, the department’s administrative assistant should be informed as soon as possible, since entry into oversubscribed seminars is first-come, first-served, with seniors in the Honors Program having absolute priority.

Honors Preparations

ECON 101: Advanced Microeconomics (2 credits)

Prerequisites: ECON 011 and multivariable calculus (MATH 033, 034, or 035).
Enrollment is restricted to juniors and seniors.

ECON 102: Advanced Macroeconomics (2 credits)

Prerequisites: ECON 011 and ECON 021, and multivariable calculus: MATH 033, 034, or 035 (or MATH 025 or 026 with permission of the instructor).
Recommended: MATH 043 or 044.

ECON 122: Financial Economics (2 credits)

Prerequisites: ECON 011, ECON 031 or ECON 035, and MATH 025 or higher calculus.

ECON 135: Advanced Econometrics (1 credit) and ECON 035: Econometrics (1 credit)

Prerequisites: ECON 035 and linear algebra (Math 027, 028, or 028S).

ECON 141: Public Economics (2 credits)

Prerequisite: ECON 011 and ECON 031 (or its equivalent).

ECON 151: International Economics (2 credits)

Prerequisites: ECON 011 and ECON 021.

ECON 155: Behavioral and Experimental Economics (2 credits)

Prerequisites: ECON 011 and ECON 031 (or its equivalent).

ECON 162: Regulating Markets: How and Why the US Government Intervenes (2 credits)

Prerequisites: ECON 011 and ECON 031 (or its equivalent).

ECON 175: Health Economics (2 credits)

Prerequisites: ECON 011 and ECON 031 (or its equivalent).

ECON 176: Environmental Economics (2 credits)

Prerequisites: ECON 011 and ECON 031 (or its equivalent) and single-variable calculus (MATH 025 or higher).

ECON 181: Economic Development (2 credits)

Prerequisites: ECON 011, ECON 021, and either ECON 031, STAT 011, or STAT 021.

Interdisciplinary Majors and Minors including Economics

Certain economics courses can be counted toward programs in Black Studies, Asian Studies, Environmental studies, Latin American and Latino Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies, and Gender and Sexuality Studies.

Advanced Placement/International Baccalaureate Credit

Economics before Swarthmore: The Economics Department offers a one-semester Introduction to Economics course (ECON 001) that is the prerequisite for all further study in economics.

The department does not give credit for work done in economics in secondary schools and it does not give credit for Advanced Placement exams. All students planning to study economics are required to begin with ECON 001 unless granted a waiver by the department. To receive a waiver, students must have a score of 5 on both the Microeconomics and Macroeconomics AP exams (or a 6 or 7 on the Economics Higher Level Exam of the International Baccalaureate, or an A on the British A Levels). This waiver does not count as a course credit. Students who receive the waiver cannot enroll in ECON 011 or 021 before taking at least one other economics course.

Work done at a college or university while attending secondary school is eligible for credit subject to the chairperson’s normal discretion in giving credit for such work, but only if the work is credited on an official college or university transcript. With respect to satisfying the prerequisite requirements for other economics courses: either semester of a two-semester introductory course alone counts as the equivalent of ECON 001 but if only one of two introductory semesters is taken, the material covered in the other half must be accessed by auditing (subject to the instructor’s approval) the relevant parts of ECON 001 or by taking the appropriate intermediate theory course (ECON 011 or ECON 021).

Transfer Credit

Transferring economics credits: Students must consult the department chair before taking a non-Swarthmore course for credit. In turn, when formally requesting a credit transfer, students should always bring evidence-syllabus, papers, and examinations-concerning the content of the course. Problems transferring credit typically arise in connection with courses offered in programs abroad that are labeled as economics though they are in fact courses in law, history, or political science; the department does not accept such credits as being within the domain of economics. It is usually sufficient for partial credit transfer if the course is taught by a qualified economist and is largely analytical in content, as are nearly all courses in economics departments in American colleges and universities.

Transferring credit for introductory economics: Subject to the department’s approval, students may transfer credit for introductory economics taken at other colleges or universities, whether taken in the context of a one or a two semester introductory course.

Transferring credits for business courses: Students must consult the department chair before taking a non-Swarthmore course for business credit.  Students should bring all relevant business course materials as well as a completed copy of the Economics Department Credit Transfer form when seeking credit for business courses completed away from Swarthmore.  Students can only apply one course in Accounting toward their 8 course requirement in economics. Business courses taken at the University of Pennsylvania or other universities beyond this cannot be counted toward the eight courses required for an economics major. They can be included as part of the 32 courses required for graduation. Students, however, can receive credit for no more than two such courses. The only exception to this rule is for students who take the equivalent of ECON 033 (Financial Accounting) at another school; the course is not counted against the two allowed business credits, and can be counted as part of the 8 credits needed for the economics major. No credit is given for night school classes at Wharton.

Swarthmore students can get business credit, but not economics credit, for finance courses taken outside of the tri-College system.  If, however, a student has taken Financial Economics at Swarthmore (ECON 022 or 122), or a similar course elsewhere, no credit will be granted for additional, substantially overlapping, finance courses.

Teacher Certification

For economics majors, the College offers teacher certification in social studies or citizenship through a program approved by the state of Pennsylvania. For further information about specific requirements for Economics students, please refer to the Educational Studies  section of the Bulletin.

Additional Matters

Recommended course sequence: Take ECON 001 in the first year. Take ECON 011, 021, and 031 in the sophomore and junior years and certainly before the beginning of the senior year. For students contemplating graduate study in economics, take one or more of: ECON 101, ECON 102, and ECON 135, as well as the Mathematics and Statistics courses discussed at the beginning of this document.

Ranking for entry into seminars: Entry into oversubscribed seminars is first-come, first-served for students in the Honors Program, with priority given to seniors, then to juniors. Any places remaining are allocated on the basis of first-come, first-served for students in the Course Program.

Double major in Economics and Engineering: Double majors may count Operations Research (cross-listed as ECON 032 and ENGR 057) for both majors. It will appear as ENGR 057 on the student’s transcript if it is taken to satisfy engineering or both requirements.

Semester or year away: The Economics Department will facilitate study abroad or elsewhere in the United States. Correspondingly, it has designed a major that can, without difficulty, be completed in no more than four semesters. Moreover, the department is quite liberal in approving transfer credits for courses offered by economics departments elsewhere. Students should, however, be aware of the following considerations: to graduate with an economics major from Swarthmore, a student must have taken at least two economics courses at Swarthmore and must pass the department’s comprehensive exam.

Economics Courses

• ECON 001. Introduction to Economics
• ECON 002. First-Year Seminar: Greed
• ECON 002A. First-Year Seminar: Emerging Market Economies: The BRICS 1900-2020
• ECON 002B. First-Year Seminar: Technological Change and the Economy
• ECON 002C. First-Year Seminar: Health and Health Care: Public Policies and Private Practices.
• ECON 005. Savage Inaccuracies: The Facts and Economics of Education in America
• ECON 011. Intermediate Microeconomics
• ECON 012. Game Theory and Strategic Behavior
• ECON 015. Economic Poverty and Inequality
• ECON 021. Intermediate Macroeconomics
• ECON 022. Financial Economics
• ECON 031. Introduction to Econometrics
• ECON 032. Operations Research
• ECON 033. Financial Accounting
• ECON 035. Econometrics
• ECON 041. Public Economics
• ECON 042. Law and Economics
• ECON 044. Urban Economics
• ECON 051. International Trade and Finance
• ECON 054. Global Capitalism Since 1920
• ECON 055. Behavioral Economics
• ECON 061. Industrial Organization
• ECON 073. Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in Economics
• ECON 075. Health Economics
• ECON 076. Environmental Economics
• ECON 081. Economic Development
• ECON 082. Political Economy of Africa
• ECON 083. East Asian Economies
• ECON 099. Directed Reading