Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis
Department of Economics
E406: Senior Seminar: Perspectives on Economics
# 1878
Prof. Martin C. Spechler
SL050
Cavanaugh 522, 997-6538
TR 1:30-2:45
Office hours: TR 12:30-1:30
Fall, 2010
or by appointment:
mspechle@iupui.edu
The purpose of this “capstone” seminar is to give students an appreciation of the
methodologies economists use to explore important problems, as contrasted with those
used by other social science disciplines, and to improve their speaking and writing.
E406 is required of economics majors in the School of Liberal Arts. It is assumed that
students have completed E201 and 202, E270, E321-2, and at least one applied course
before enrolling in this senior seminar.
This course will satisfy these IUPUI Principles of Undergraduate Learning:
(1) Express ideas and facts to others effectively in a variety of written formats, (2)
Evaluate the logic, validity, and relevance of data, and (3) Demonstrate substantial
knowledge and understanding of at least one field of study.
Requirements: Regular attendance at group and individual sessions, short
presentations, an exam on the introductory readings, and a longer research paper on a
topic to be agreed on due December 16.
Grading: As practiced in most intermediate and advanced Economics courses,
grading will be about half A’s or B’s, the rest C’s or below. Grades will be calculated on
the basis of class preparation and participation (30%), midterm exam on readings (30%),
and the paper (40%). No one should expect an A or B without regular attendance and
informed participation.
Warning! Plagiarism is the unacknowledged quotation of others’ work. Your
paper may be checked for this electronically. Plagiarism is a serious academic violation
and will be penalized with an “F” for the entire course.
Overall Schedule:
August 24-Oct. 21: Discussion of eight debates among economists and others.
Oct. 19-fall break, no class
Oct. 26: Hour exam in class.
Oct. 28: Guided tour of library resources for paper.
Nov. 2-4: Group meetings to discuss possible paper topics
Nov. 8-24: Individual conferences on topics, to be scheduled. (no group meetings)
November 25: Thanksgiving—no classes
Nov. 30-Dec. 9: Paper presentations to group.
December 16: Papers due at my office by 5 p.m.. 15-20 pages. Penalties for late papers
will be ½ grade per day through December 21, after which no papers will be accepted for
a fall grade. Incompletes must be arranged in advance with the instructor. If there are no
reasonable grounds for an incomplete (I), penalties will be assessed in the final grade.
ASSIGNMENTS
Week 0: Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel. (Norton pb, 1981, available in Student
Bookstore), pp. 15-25, 354-401, 405-25 (at least). Differences between geographical and
economic history approach to the rise of Western market economies. (Thursday:
discussion of pp. 405-25 only)
Week 1 (Aug. 31): Financial Markets. Burton Malkiel, “The Efficient Market
Hypothesis and Its Critics,” and Robert J. Shiller, “From Efficient Markets Theory to
Behavioral Finance,” in Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 17, no. 1 (Winter, 2003,
pp. 59-104). [Oncourse] (Student discussant: Radoulev)
Week 2 (Sept. 7). Africa—Tuesday, discussion of Diamond, pp. 376-401. Reading: Paul
Collier and Jan Willem Gunning, “Why Has Africa Grown Slowly?” Journal of
Economic Perspectives, vol. 13, no. 3 (Summer, 1999), pp. 3ff. [Oncourse] (Discussants:
Ogundele, Chinyoka). Guest lecture on Thursday.
.
Week 3. (Sept. 14)Monetary transmission. Articles by Frederic Mishkin, John B. Taylor,
Ben Bernanke and Mark Gertler, and Alan Meltzer, Journal of Economic Perspectives,
vol. 9, no. 4 (Fall, 1995), pp. 3-72. [Oncourse] (Student discussant: Niyyar)
Week 4. (Sept. 21)Globalization and trade. Articles by Dani Rodrik and M. Obstfeld in
The Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 12 no. 4 (Winter, 1998), pp. 3-. [Oncourse]
Journal of Economic Perspectives, Winter, 2002, by Richard Cooper, “Global
Imbalances: Globalization, Demography, and Sustainability,” Journal of Economic
Perspectives, vol. 2008, no. 3 (Student discussant: O’Connor)
Week 5. (Sept. 28) Fiscal policy. Articles by John Taylor, “Reassessing Discretionary
Fiscal Policy,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 14, no. 3 (Summer 2000), pp. 2136, and by Gregory Mankiw, vol. 20, no. 4 (2006), pp. 29-46. [Oncourse], (Student
discussant: Conner)
Week 6. (Oct. 5) Sports economics. Tuesday: Guest lecture by Robert Sandy. Readings:
Lawrence M. Kahn, “The Sports Business as a Labor Market Laboratory,” and John
Siegfried and Andrew Zimbalist, “The Economics of Sports Facilities and Their
Communities,” The Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 14, no.3 (Summer, 2000), pp.
75-114. [Oncourse] (Student discussant: Atkin) .
Week 7: (Oct. 12) Social Security. Peter Diamond and Peter Orszag, “Saving Social
Security,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 19, (Spring, 2002), pp. 11-32; and
Medicare: David Cutler, “Walking the Tightrope in Medicare Reform,” and Victor Fuchs,
“Medicare Reform: The Larger Picture,” in Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol.14,
no. 2 (Spring, 2000), pp. 45-70. [Oncourse] (Student discussants: Shultz, Ahmed)
Week 8. Fall break: no class Tuesday, Oct. 19. Thursday, Oct. 21, Discussion: Family
economics. Articles by Marianne Bertrand and Antoinette Schoar, “The Role of Family
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in Family Firms,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 20, no 2 (Winter, 2005), pp.
73-96; and Shelly Lundberg and Robert Pollak, “The American Family and Family
Economics,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, vol. 21, no. 2 (spring, 2007), pp. 3-26.
(Student discussants: Taylor, McDermed )
Week 9. Hour exam Tuesday, Oct. 26, in class. Thursday: trip to Library.
Week 10: (Nov. 2 and 4) Discussion of possible paper topics in class.
Weeks 11-13. (Nov. 8-24) Individual conferences on outlines, as scheduled. No group
classes.
Week 14-15. (Nov. 30-Dec. 9) Individual presentations to class, 10-15 minutes each..
December 16—papers due by 5 p.m.
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