Economics, BA

Program Description:

“Economics” comes from the Greek oikos, meaning “house,” and nemein, meaning “to manage.” Economics is the social science that studies how people manage their resources. In modern economies this includes an individual deciding on how to use her time; a family managing its budget; a small business controlling its cost; a cultural organization planning its priorities; a city balancing a tight budget with demands for services; a large company working to control the cost of health insurance for its employees; a national government fighting unemployment, poverty, or inflation; and the world community reducing air emissions of mercury and climate-altering greenhouse gases.

Economics is the foundation of all the applied business disciplines, including accounting, finance, marketing, and management. Students can major in economics in either Liberal Arts (B.A. degree) or Business (B.S. degree). The economics program equips students to pursue careers in business and government, prepares them for graduate study in economics, business, or law. Graduates of the program have achieved success as analysts, managers, and leaders in a wide variety of business, public sector, and nonprofit enterprises. Our graduates are employed as professional economists in such areas as urban economics, workforce and training analysis, business forecasting, school finance consulting, health care systems analysis, budget analysis, market consulting, government procurement, government cost analysis, stock and bond brokerage, insurance, and banking. Some graduates are entrepreneurs with their own companies, and others continue their education in the department’s Master of Science in Social and Applied Economics program.

Members of the faculty serve as academic advisors for our majors. Candidates for a Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in economics are required to take a minimum of 33 credit hours in the Department of Economics. Basic courses are supplemented by economics electives. A grade of C or higher must be earned in EC 2040 and EC 2050 prior to registering for 3000-level courses.

Faculty:

Professors Blair, Fichtenbaum, Osborne, Sav, Traynor (chair)

Associate Professors Farmer, Hopkins, Naidu, Todorova

Assistant Professors Shin

Program Requirements:

I. Wright State Core: 39 Hours

Element One: 6 Hours

Element Two: 4 Hours

Required:

MTH 2280 - Business Calculus Credit Hour(s): 4

Element Three: 6 Hours

Element Four: 3 Hours

Element Five: 6 Hours

Required:

EC 2040 - Principles of Microeconomics Credit Hour(s): 3 or
EC 2050 - Principles of Macroeconomics Credit Hour(s): 3

Element Six: 8 Hours

Additional Core Courses: 6 Hours

Required: Select either

EC 2040 - Principles of Microeconomics Credit Hour(s): 3 or
EC 2050 - Principles of Macroeconomics Credit Hour(s): 3
(one course: 3 hrs) not taken for Element Five

II. Departmental Requirements: 33 Hours

EC 3010 - Economics of Global Money Markets Credit Hour(s): 3
EC 3150 - Intermediate Microeconomics Credit Hour(s): 3
EC 3170 - Intermediate Macroeconomics Credit Hour(s): 3
EC 3190 - Institutional Economics Credit Hour(s): 3
EC Electives Credit Hour(s): 21

III. Related Requirements: 15 Hours

MTH 1280 - College Algebra Credit Hour(s): 4
MS 2040 - Introduction to Business Statistics Credit Hour(s): 3
MS 2050 - Quantitative Business Modeling Credit Hour(s): 3 (College Requirement Quantitative Thinking substitution)
Two 3000 or 4000 level courses in one area: PLS, PSY, SOC, GEO, ATH, HST, URS Credit Hour(s): 6

IV. College Requirements: 15 Hours

Foreign Language

Through 2020 level (1010, 1020, 2010, 2020) of one language: 12 Hours

Spanish, French, German, Greek, Latin, Chinese, Russian, Italian, Japanese, American Sign Language or other.

Methods of Inquiry

Quantitative Thinking: 3 Hours

One Course (counted in section III)

Qualitative Thinking: 3 Hours

One Course from:

PHL 2150 - Inductive Logic Credit Hour(s): 3
PHL 2230 - Symbolic Logic I Credit Hour(s): 3
PHL 3230 - Symbolic Logic II Credit Hour(s): 3
PHL 4710 - Philosophy of Physical Science Credit Hour(s): 3
PHL 4720 - Philosophy of Social Science Credit Hour(s): 3

V. Electives: 22 Hours

Total: 124 Hours

Graduation Planning Strategy

The Graduation Planning Strategy (GPS) has been created to illustrate one option to complete degree requirements within a particular time frame. Students are encouraged to meet with their academic advisor to adjust this plan based on credit already earned, individual needs or curricular changes that may not be reflected in this year’s catalog.