ECON 101, Economics of Social Issues, is normally only offered in the spring semesters. The class is open to all majors, has no prerequisites and fills the requirement for AUCC category 3C. Social and Behavioral Sciences. The Department of Economics has added a special section of ECON 101 to the Fall 2020 semester focusing on the broad impact of COVID-19.

Economics is a broad social science discipline that brings together diverse tools for understanding the choices we make about how we provision for ourselves and our families and communities, and the consequences for the critical social issues of equity, efficiency, and sustainability. The COVID-19 crisis is a complex social phenomenon with many dimensions that can be usefully studied through an economic lens.  Does it make economic sense to have a lockdown in the face of a spreading pandemic?  What is the optimal timing and duration of such a policy?  How do such policies differentially impact people from different races, gender or class?  Should college kids be treated the same as older adults?   How should incomplete data on infection and mortality rates be interpreted as we seek to understand the true risk of the virus?  What is the correct macroeconomic response when the economy runs off a cliff?  What are the environmental effects of recent economic changes, and how might policy be used to steer us away from business-as-usual levels of pollution?  This fall, Econ 101 will be reimagined, bringing together eight professors from across the CSU Economics Department to explore these questions and more.  Join us!

ECON 101, Economics of Social Issues: The Economics of COVID-19

MWF 3-3:50 PM, CLARK A207 (CRN: 69124)