Department of Economics

440 ELLIOTT HALL (248) 370-3283
Fax: (248) 370-4275

Department Website: oakland.edu/econ

Chairperson: Anandi P. Sahu

Professor emeritus: Eleftherios N. Botsas

Professors: Addington Coppin, Sherman Folland, Oded Izraeli, Kevin J. Murphy, Anandi P. Sahu, Jonathan Silberman, Miron Stano

Associate professors: Nivedita Mukherji, Ram Orzach, Kasaundra Tomlin, Ronald L. Tracy

Assistant professors: Fuad Hasanov, Xie Zhu

Chief adviser: Anandi P. Sahu

The Department of Economics offers a variety of programs for undergraduate students interested in economics: a Bachelor of Arts with a major in economics, a Bachelor of Science with majors in economics and business economics (see the School of Business Administration portion of this catalog) and a Bachelor of Science with a major in actuarial science that is jointly offered with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics.

The economics curriculum teaches students the concepts and tools of economic analysis, while providing them with the breadth and flexibility of a broad general education degree. Students learn how economic analysis can be applied to major problems facing individuals, businesses, the nation and the world today. A major in economics prepares students for the workplace of the future, which will require workers who are flexible, adaptable to change and who can propose practical solutions to solve problems quickly.

Besides preparing students for a career in the public and private sector, an education in economics is excellent preparation for law school, graduate school in public administration or economics, or a Master of Business Administration (MBA) program. Economics is a flexible choice for students seeking a rigorous, well-respected and relevant major without specializing in a narrowly defined area.

The Bachelor of Arts degree with a major in economics allows a student to pursue a liberal arts education while providing a background that businesses considers appropriate for most entry-level management positions. The Bachelor of Science degree with a major in economics has additional requirements in business and economics while providing educational and career flexibility not offered by a degree in business. The minor in economics is useful for liberal arts majors with an interest in business and for business majors who want to demonstrate their solid grounding in economics, the foundation for a business degree. The Bachelor of Science with a major in actuarial science prepares students for jobs in actuarial science as well as provides them with the educational background necessary to pursue an advanced degree in economics, mathematics, statistics, or business administration.

Students who are interested in attending graduate school in economics should see the department chairperson or an economics faculty mentor at an early stage of their undergraduate program. Academic advisers in the School of Business Administration (for B.A. and B.S. degrees) and the College of Arts and Sciences (for B.A. degree) or the chairperson of the Department of Economics do general student advising.

Departmental Honors

Economics majors are eligible for departmental honors if their grade point average in all economics and other courses taken from the School of Business Administration is 3.33 or above.

Promising economics students may be invited to join Omicron Delta Epsilon, a national economics honor society.

Economics Major Electives

Choose six economics electives at the 300-level or above, one or more of which must be at the 400 level. No more than 3 credits of ECN 490  may be counted as electives. Students taking ECN 150  before ECN 200  or ECN 201 , and who subsequently become economics majors, should talk to the department chairperson.

Students may substitute one of the following courses for an economics elective: ACC 200 , ORG 330 , ORG 331 , MIS 300 , MKT 302 , POM 343 , or a social science course (PS 353 , SOC 301 ), or another course approved by the Department of Economics chairperson. Note: students must meet any course prerequisites before taking these courses.

Programs & Cores

Economics, B.A.  

Economics, B.S.  

Actuarial Science, B.S.   

Business Administration, Business Economics Major, B.S.  

Economics Minor  

Economics Secondary Teaching Minor  

Schedule of Classes

Specific offerings for each semester may be found in the Schedule of Classes: sail.oakland.edu.

The department offers selected courses from this catalog as warranted by student needs and availability of faculty. Specific offerings for each term may be found in the Schedule of Classes (see link below). Following is a general description of the economics courses offered.

ECN 150 : An introductory economics course for students not majoring in economics or business. After ECN 150 , students may take certain economics courses numbered less than 350. ECN 150  satisfies the university general education requirement in the social science knowledge exploration area.

ECN 160 : Explains and analyzes the comparative advantage, free trade, barriers to trade, and exchange rates. Composition of international trade is analyzed. GDP, growth, unemployment, inflation, poverty, and income distribution are discussed. Measures of each are shown for the U.S., other industrialized countries, as well as emerging and development countries. (Generally offered every semester.) Studies cannot get credit for both ECN 202  and ECN 160 .

(ECN 200 and ECN 202) and 201: Introductory courses for students who intend to major in economics or business or students who desire a more complete understanding of economics. The accelerated course, ECN 210 , combines the material of ECN 200  (or ECN 202 ) and 201 into a single semester, 6-credit course. Highly motivated and well-prepared students should consider taking ECN 210  instead of ECN 200  (or ECN 202 ) and 201. ECN 200  (or ECN 202 ) and ECN 210  satisfy the university general education requirement in the social science knowledge exploration area.

ECN 302-304: These intermediate economic analysis courses are designed for students who intend to major in economics or an area of business. Students may be admitted to these courses if they are pursuing a minor in economics and have met the prerequisites.

ECN 309-338: Economics electives numbered 309 through 338 are applications of economics that are open to students who have taken ECN 150 , ECN 200  or ECN 210 .

ECN 367-385: Economics electives numbered 367 through 385 are intermediate-level courses in the applications of economics intended for majors or minors in economics and business. These courses are open to students who have taken ECN 201  or ECN 210 .

ECN 405-490: Economics courses numbered 405 or higher are advanced courses. Enrollment in these courses is generally limited to students who have taken ECN 303 .

Detailed description of the following economics courses can be found in the School of Business Administration section of this catalog.