UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN INDIANA        
DEPARTMENT OF ECONOMICS AND FINANCE         
ECON 241  -  GLOBAL ECONOMIC ISSUES
DR. CASHEL-CORDO   SUMMER 2008
 

TEXT:     None  -  All the reading material for the course is located on the Internet. 
WEBSITE:  http://business.usi.edu/cashel 
 

COURSE OBJECTIVES:  As its name suggests, this course will deal with a variety of issues regarding the global economy.  But what is the global economy?  It is the means by which national economies interact.  The form of this interaction includes, but is not limited to, the trade in goods and service, the flow of financial assets, and the migration of labor.  There are tremendous benefits when a national economy interacts with the rest of the world, but often, there can be costs.  While consumers may have greater choices and cheaper prices for the goods they consume, workers may find their jobs going abroad.  Inflows of financial capital can finance investment which leads to strong economic growth, but it can also reverse direction, creating a financial panic and economic devastation.  Global economic issues have at their core one or more of these types of interactions.  The goal of this course is for the student to learn and be able to apply economic analysis of these linkages between national economies in the study of current economic issues.  Frequently pundits and politicians offer their opinions with respect to current economic issues in the popular press.  Often, these opinions play to the public's emotions rather than their intellect.  The course will provide the economic tools to critically evaluate these opinions.  Knowing economic tools, however, is not sufficient to executing this task.  The student must also become knowledgeable of the global economy's structure and be familiar with the variety of countries that make it up.   

Conceptually, the course consists of three parts: economic tool building; familiarizing the student with the "landscape" by surveying world geography defined in the broadest of terms; and, applying economic tools in the analysis of present day global issues.  At the end of the course the student should be knowledgeable with world political and economic geography, principles of economics, and be able to apply economic reasoning to understanding the events and issues defining the global economy. 

UNIVERSITY CORE CURRICULUM COURSE - CATEGORY C5:  This course serves in the fulfillment of the University Core Curriculum in the C5-Category, Global Communities.  The objectives of this category, as described in the UCC guidebook, are: 

Students should be familiar with the various ways in which countries have been and are linked together.  They should learn about variations in culture among and within countries and how people belonging to different cultures view and respond to global issues differently.  Students should also know about changing patterns in the ways countries interact and their impacts on people located in different parts of the world.  In studying these linkages, significant attention will be paid to cultures outside the United States and, in the case of Europe, to non-traditional European cultures.

ASSIGNMENT  -  The student is to keep a journal of news events pertaining to global (outside the US) economic (trade, currency, international finance, etc.) issues.   Each entry should consist of a bibliographic reference and a short two to three paragraph description of the article.  In your description explain why you believe your chosen article qualifies as a global economic issue.  Follow this link for a listing of reputable online newspapers.  The journal will be turned in for review as listed on the reading list below.  The student should have three articles per week in their journal.  Journals will be graded on the basis of both quantity (not to exceed 3 per week) and content of entries.  Follow this link for examples   of well done journal submissions (opens in Word document format)..

GRADING: Student performance is calculated using the following instruments.  Each instrument is given a percentage weight towards the final grade in the course.  Grades are assigned on the basis of a grade distribution, in essence curved, where the average grade is in the C range. 

QUIZZES:  Short quizzes will be given Tuesday and Friday.  The lowest quiz score will be dropped. 

EXAMS:  There will be two midterm exams and a final exam.   
 

                                                                                               
STUDYING METHODS:  At the beginning of each lecture the floor will be opened to questions.  This gives you the opportunity to review material from the previous lecture that you may have found confusing.  I strongly encourage you to copy your class notes into a second notebook as soon as possible after class.  You should add material that you remember from class but were unable to write down at the time.  It is also useful to meticulously draw all the graphs with a ruler making sure you understand the underlying concepts.  This will reinforce what you have learned and also make clear what you do not understand.  You will then be able to ask questions in the next class period or during office hours. 

ATTENDANCE POLICY:  While attendance is not mandatory it is highly recommended since students will be evaluated on both lecture and reading materials.  Class participation is strongly encouraged.

ACADEMIC HONESTY:  Academic dishonesty, in particular plagiarism (submitting another person's work, in whole or in part, as your own), or cheating on quizzes or exams will not be tolerated.  Students will be subject to disciplinary action as outlined in the Student Rights and Responsibilities section of the 2007-2009USI Bulletin.  If found guilty the student will receive an "F" grade in the course and may be dismissed from the University.

DISABILITY SERVICES:  USI students with disabilities can receive services through the University Counseling Center.  More information is available from the Counseling Center, OC 1051 or phone 464-1867.

READINGS:  We will attempt to sequentially follow the following reading list.  The semester is divided into 5 weeks and readings are assigned on that basis.   By coming to class regularly students will be able to determine exactly which readings are to be covered in the next class.   Any deviation in reading assignments will be announced at the appropriate time in class.  The student is required to read the appropriate chapters and any other assigned readings PRIOR to it being covered in class.  IT IS EXTREMELY IMPORTANT FOR THE STUDENT TO FULFILL THEIR RESPONSIBILITIES WITH REGARDS TO THE READINGS.  If time does not permit the completion of the entire set of topics the instructor will choose among those topics remaining to be covered.  The course files are in pdf or MSWord format.  You will need to have Adobe Acrobat in order to open these files.