What is Economics? You might be surprised to learn that it is not all about money. It is much broader than that. Economics can help you answer many of life’s most interesting and pressing questions. This course provides a systematic study of human and firm behavior within the context of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services. Economics is really about making optimal decisions, so you will learn to apply economics concepts to make optimal decisions in your own life. Microeconomics focuses on choices made by individual consumers and firms, how those choices are made, and the impacts they have on society.
This course will introduce undergraduate students to the field of environmental economics, with a focus on how the tools of economics can be used to design and evaluate environmental policies. The course in divided into four units. In the first unit we focus on the intuition and mathematical formalization of the concepts of the invisible hand theory and market failure. In the second unit we introduce the theory of environmental policy design, focusing on goals of efficiency, cost-effectiveness, and equity. In the third unit we turn from theory to practice and study several real-world environmental issues and policies, ending with a discussion of climate change. In the fourth unit, students present their project on a specific area of environmental policy to the class. After taking this class, students will have expertise on the framework in which economic analysis can be applied to environmental issues. This course will prepare students for careers related to economics or economic policy or careers related to environmental policy. Students will engage in critical thinking to analyze policy options and evaluate trade-offs in policy design.