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, math, 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.

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 program coordinator should be informed as soon as possible, since entry into oversubscribed seminars is first-come, first-served, with students in the Honors Program having absolute priority.

Honors Preparations

ECON 101 : Advanced Microeconomics (2 credits)

ECON 102 : Advanced Macroeconomics (2 credits)

ECON 122 : Financial Economics (2 credits)

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

ECON 141 : Public Economics (2 credits)

ECON 151 : International Economics (2 credits)

ECON 155 : Behavioral and Experimental Economics (2 credits)

ECON 162 :  Antitrust and Market Regulation (2 credits) 

ECON 175 : Health Economics (2 credits)

ECON 176 : Environmental Economics (2 credits)

ECON 181 : Economic Development (2 credits)

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 receive pre-approval from the department for any economics course taken for Swarthmore credit outside of the Tri-Co system, and, once the course has been completed, students must formally request approval of credit unless the course was designated for auto-credit at the pre-approval stage. To submit requests, students should follow the instructions offered by the Off Campus Study Office and the Registrar’s Office. 

 
Core requirements of the economics major - ECON 001, 011, 021, 031 - can only be fulfilled by taking off-campus courses if those courses deliver a full 1.0 Swarthmore credit. The department does not top off credits earned off campus. Subject to the chair’s approval, students may be able to transfer credit for introductory economics taken at other colleges or universities even if the credit is a one-semester introductory course in only microeconomics or macroeconomics; in such cases, the student will be advised to audit the other part of the introductory material at Swarthmore before taking higher-level economics courses. Problems transferring credit typically arise in connection with off-campus courses that are labeled as economics though they are in fact courses in law, history, or political science; the department does not accept such courses for economics credit. It is usually sufficient for partial credit transfer that the course be taught by a qualified economist and be largely analytical in content, as are nearly all courses in economics departments in American colleges and universities.  

 
Transferring credits for business courses: The College does not have a department or school of business, but it sometimes grants credit for business courses taken elsewhere. Such courses require pre-approval and final transfer credit approval following the instructions offered by the Off Campus Study Office and the Registrar’s Office. One course in financial accounting may be transferred for credit towards the economics major if the student has not taken Financial Accounting in the Tri-Co system. All other business courses are designated as business electives. Business-elective credits may be counted towards the 32 credits required for graduation, but they do not count towards an economics major. A student can receive no more than two business-elective credits in total. Students can receive business-elective credit, but not economics credit, for courses in finance taken outside of the Tri-Co system. No credit is given for night school classes at Wharton. No credit will be granted for courses with content that substantially reproduces the content of courses the student has already taken.

Teacher Certification

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 003. Behavioral Public Policy in the City
• ECON 008. Topics in Economic History
• ECON 009. Creativity and Economics
• ECON 011. Intermediate Microeconomics
• ECON 012. Game Theory and Strategic Behavior
• ECON 013. Economic Efficiency, Markets and Distributive Justice
• ECON 021. Intermediate Macroeconomics
• ECON 022. Financial Economics
• ECON 031. Introduction to Econometrics
• ECON 033. Financial Accounting
• ECON 035. Econometrics
• ECON 041. Public Economics
• ECON 042. Law and Economics
• ECON 043. Markets and Morality
• ECON 044. The American City
• ECON 045. Labor Economics
• ECON 046. The Facts and Economics of Education in America
• 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 074. Economics of the Family
• ECON 075. Health Economics
• ECON 076. Environmental Economics
• ECON 079. The Health of Nations
• ECON 081. Economic Development
• ECON 082. Political Economy of Africa
• ECON 083. East Asian Economies
• ECON 084. Latin American Economies
• ECON 099. Directed Reading
• ECON 091B. Research Seminar in Economics: Development Economics
• ECON 091C. Research Seminar in Economics: Public Policy