The Bachelor of Arts in Economics

Total Course Requirements for the Bachelor's Degree: 120 units

See Bachelor's Degree Requirements in the University Catalog for complete details on general degree requirements. A minimum of 39 units, including those required for the major, must be upper division.

A suggested Major Academic Plan (MAP) has been prepared to help students meet all graduation requirements within four years. You can view MAPs on the Major Academic Plans page or you can request a plan from your major advisor.

Courses in this program may complete more than one graduation requirement.

General Education Pathway Requirements: 48 units

See General Education in the University Catalog and the Class Schedule for the most current information on General Education Pathway Requirements and course offerings.

Diversity Course Requirements: 6 units

See Diversity Requirements in the University Catalog. Most courses taken to satisfy these requirements may also apply to General Education .

Upper-Division Writing Requirement:

Writing Across the Curriculum (Executive Memorandum 17-009) is a graduation requirement and may be demonstrated through satisfactory completion of four Writing (W) courses, two of which are designated by the major department. See Mathematics/Quantitative Reasoning and Writing Requirements in the University Catalog for more details on the four courses.  The first of the major designated Writing (W) courses is listed below.

SUBJ NUM	Title	Sustainable	Units	Semester Offered	Course Flags
ECON 340W	Work, Wealth, and Income Distribution (W)		3.0	FS	GE  W
Investigation of the nature and causes of income distribution in the United States. Consideration of the social and economic forces which generate income levels and determine patterns of economic mobility over time, interweaving theoretical, descriptive, quantitative, and normative aspects. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved Writing Course. This is an approved General Education course. (021270)
ECON 431W	Theory of Money (W)		3.0	FA	W
Prerequisite: ECON 302. A survey course of monetary theories. The role of money in general equilibrium and exchange theory. Money in the classical system. Keynes' theory of money. Monetarism. 3 hours seminar. This is an approved Writing Course. (002688)
ECON 466W	Environmental and Natural Resource Economics (W)		3.0	FA	W
Prerequisite: ECON 301. Economic theory and policy concerning optimization of resource use and pollution abatement. Incentive systems for generating optimum pollution abatement. Efficiency, safety, and sustainability standards as criteria defining the appropriate level of environmental preservation. Economically efficient rates of consumption for renewable and non-renewable resources. Case studies in resource exploitation assessing whether current use rates deviate from the optimum. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved Writing Course. (002696)

The second major-designated Writing course is the Graduation Writing Assessment Requirement (GW) (Executive Order 665). Students must earn a C- or higher to receive GW credit. The GE Written Communication (A2) requirement must be completed before a student is permitted to register for a GW course.

Grading Requirement:

All courses taken to fulfill major course requirements must be taken for a letter grade except those courses specified by the department as Credit/No Credit grading only.

Course Requirements for the Major: 51-54 units

Completion of the following courses, or their approved transfer equivalents, is required of all candidates for this degree.

Major Core Courses: 27-29 units

5 courses required:

1 course selected from:

1 course selected from:

1 course selected from:

1 course selected from:

OR (the following course may be substituted for the above)

Any upper-division ECON course that is not taken to satisfy any other requirement for the economics major.

Economics Area Electives: 12-13 units

Choose two of the following areas. Take two courses from each of the two areas selected.

International Economics Electives:

SUBJ NUM	Title	Sustainable	Units	Semester Offered	Course Flags
ECON 375	The Developing Countries		3.0	FA
Prerequisites: ECON 103. This course surveys theoretical approaches and policy options to the problems of development and underdevelopment in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Agricultural transformations, industrial development, balance of payments problems, the role of foreign aid, direct foreign investment, the economic role of international institutions such as the World Bank, and other related topics are included in this course. 3 hours lecture. (002673)
ECON 470	International Economics		3.0	FA
Prerequisites: ECON 301. Economic problems arising out of economic relations and interactions among nations. Current theory of international trade, capital flows, and finance. International economic institutions and their relationship to American foreign policy. 3 hours seminar. (002697)
ECON 475	Open-Economy Macroeconomics		3.0	SP
Prerequisite: ECON 302. The main objective of this course is to develop macroeconomics models that apply to the international economic phenomena. The first part of the course discusses the main theories which are combined into a unifying theoretical framework and applied to actual policy issues. The second part of the course covers relatively new topics in international macroeconomics such as stabilization policies, macroeconomics policy coordination, optimum currency areas, and proposed reforms in the international financial system. Honors students enrolled in this course are held to more rigorous standards and expectations in both readings and writing assignments. 3 hours discussion. (021226)

Environmental Economics and Public Policy Electives:

SUBJ NUM	Title	Sustainable	Units	Semester Offered	Course Flags
ECON 355	The Economics of Government Regulations		3.0	SP
Prerequisites: ECON 103. An overview of the economics of government regulation with emphasis on the formulation of regulatory policy, alternative methods of regulation, and the economic impacts of such policy. Topics may include environmental regulation, energy conservation policy, consumer protection, antitrust policy, and a critical evaluation of market-based regulatory policy. 3 hours lecture. (002668)
ECON 466W	Environmental and Natural Resource Economics (W)		3.0	FA	W
Prerequisite: ECON 301. Economic theory and policy concerning optimization of resource use and pollution abatement. Incentive systems for generating optimum pollution abatement. Efficiency, safety, and sustainability standards as criteria defining the appropriate level of environmental preservation. Economically efficient rates of consumption for renewable and non-renewable resources. Case studies in resource exploitation assessing whether current use rates deviate from the optimum. 3 hours lecture. This is an approved Writing Course. (002696)
ECON 476	Issues in Global Environment and Development		3.0	SP
Prerequisite: ECON 301. Explores the issues in poverty and economic development as they relate to climate change, gender, and international trade. 3 hours discussion. (021227)

Financial Economics Electives:

Quantitative Economics Electives:

Economics Upper Division Electives: 12 units

Choose any four 300-400 level elective Economics courses not used to satisfy the discipline electives requirement. At least one course must be a 400 level course.

Electives Requirement:

To complete the total units required for the bachelor's degree, select additional elective courses from the total University offerings. You should consult with an advisor regarding the selection of courses which will provide breadth to your University experience and possibly apply to a supportive second major or minor.

Double Majors

Please contact the Economics Department for advising regarding the use of economics courses to complete a second major.

Advising Requirement:

Advising is mandatory for all majors in this degree program. Consult your undergraduate advisor for specific information.

If you are considering economics graduate programs, additional math and statistics courses beyond the courses listed in the quantitative economics area are recommended.

Honors in the Major:

Honors in the Major is a program of independent work in your major. It requires 6 units of honors course work completed over two semesters.

The Honors in the Major program allows you to work closely with a faculty mentor in your area of interest on an original performance or research project. This year-long collaboration allows you to work in your field at a professional level and culminates in a public presentation of your work. Students sometimes take their projects beyond the University for submission in professional journals, presentation at conferences, or academic competition. Such experience is valuable for graduate school and professional life. Your honors work will be recognized at your graduation, on your permanent transcripts, and on your diploma. It is often accompanied by letters of commendation from your mentor in the department or the department chair.

Some common features of Honors in the Major program are:

• You must take 6 units of Honors in the Major course work. All 6 units are honors classes (marked by a suffix of H), and at least 3 of these units are independent study (399H, 499H, 599H) as specified by your department. You must complete each class with a minimum grade of B.
• You must have completed 9 units of upper-division course work or 21 overall units in your major before you can be admitted to Honors in the Major. Check the requirements for your major carefully, as there may be specific courses that must be included in these units.
• Your cumulative GPA should be at least 3.5 or within the top 5% of majors in your department.
• Your GPA in your major should be at least 3.5 or within the top 5% of majors in your department.
• Most students apply for or are invited to participate in Honors in the Major during the second semester of their junior year. Then they complete the 6 units of course work over the two semesters of their senior year.
• Your honors work culminates with a public presentation of your honors project.

While Honors in the Major is part of the Honors Program, each department administers its own program. Please contact your major department or major advisor to apply.

In addition to the common requirements for the Honors in the Major program given above, the Honors in Economics program includes the following:

1. The professor of ECON 499HW must recommend you.
2. You must submit an application for this program. Please contact the Economics Department.
3. Students who are admitted to the department's Honors in the Major program must complete 3 units of ECON 410, ECON 431W, ECON 435, ECON 462, ECON 466W, ECON 470, ECON 481, or ECON 483 with a grade of B or higher. Unless other arrangements are made, the professor instructing the above course becomes your faculty mentor for that semester. In this course, you will define a research problem or performance area and develop an Honors Research Project/Thesis proposal in preparation for work in ECON 499HW. Additional mentoring by the instructor assigned to ECON 499HW will take place during the spring semester only. Note that you will not need to take ECON 495W if you take ECON 499HW. Thus Honors in the Major does not increase the total units required for the Economics major.
4. You must maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0 in your senior year.