Economics
Micro/Macro Economics
The goal of this course is for the student to acquire an understanding of the economy from both a microeconomic and macroeconomic perspective. This knowledge will enable the student to make effective business decisions in the workplace. With regard to microeconomics, we will discuss the basic principles of economics, supply and demand, price elasticity of demand, perfect competition, and monopoly. With regard to macroeconomics we will discuss how to measure aggregate economic activity, money, and briefly analyze fiscal and monetary policies.
Middle East Studies: Economy
The goal of this course is for the student to acquire an understanding of the Israeli economy and a general awareness of economic issues in Arab Middle Eastern countries, Iran and Turkey. We will begin with a review of the economic development of the economy in the land of Israel from 1820 to the present, and then discuss the current issues in the Israeli economy. Afterwards, we will discuss the Palestinian economy, its growth and its relationship to the Israeli economy. We then will briefly review recent developments in the Jordanian, Syrian, Lebanese, Egyptian, Saudi Arabian, United Arab Emirates, Iranian and Turkish economies
International Economics
The goal of this course is for the student to acquire an understanding of the international economy. We will begin with the macroeconomic side of international economics: the balances of payments, and the movement of exchange rates. Some of the questions we will discuss are whether large trade deficits are problematic, what factors influence the movement of nominal interest rates, and how does inflation affect the competitiveness of a country’s exports. Afterwards we will examine the microeconomics aspects of international economics: the Ricardian model of international trade, international trade with imperfect competition and government intervention in international trade. Some of the issues that we will discuss in this section of the course are the benefits of international trade, the factors that determine which goods a country exports or imports, the influence of firms’ size and history in international trade, strategic trade policy and who benefits and who loses from government intervention in international trade.
