The course discusses the economic aspects of current issues in education, using both economic theory and econometric and institutional readings.

This class discusses the economic aspects of current issues in education, using both economic theory and econometric and institutional readings. Topics include discussion of basic human capital theory, the growing impact of education on earnings and earnings inequality, statistical issues in determining the true rate of return to education, the labor market for teachers, implications of the impact of computers on the demand for worker skills, the effectiveness of mid-career training for adult workers, the roles of school choice, charter schools, state standards and educational technology in improving K-12 education, and the issue of college financial aid.

The course discusses the economic aspects of current issues in education, using both economic theory and econometric and institutional readings.

The Economics of Food and Agricultural Markets is written for applied intermediate microeconomics courses. The book showcases the power of economic principles to explain and predict issues and current events in the food, agricultural, agribusiness, international trade, and natural resource sectors. The field of agricultural economics is relevant, important and interesting. The study of market structures, also called industrial organization, provides powerful, timely, and useful tools for any individual or group making personal choices, business decisions, or public policies in food and agriculture industries.

The Economics of Information provides an analysis of the underlying economics of information with management implications. It studies the effects of digitization and technology on industry, organizational structure, and business strategy, and examines pricing, bundling, and versioning of digital goods, including music, video, software, and communication services. In addition, the course considers the managerial implications of social networks, search, targeted advertising, personalization, privacy, network externalities, open source, and alliances.

This half-semester course studies the economics of the principal markets related to marine transportation, environment, and natural resources. Topics include structures of the markets and industries involved; competition; impacts of policies and regulations. The course analyzes the relationship among industries, markets, technologies, and national policies, and introduces the concepts of national income accounts, sustainability, and intergenerational equity and their relationship to current economic practice.

Presumably you've already made plans for surviving a zombie apocalypse, but have you thought through the important economic factors that might make the difference between surviving and losing your brain to one of the walking dead? In this video, Professor Anthony Davies of Duquesne University discusses how a zombie apocalypse would affect the price of gasoline, the supply of money, and the economy as a whole.

The text focuses throughout on evidence on the economy, from around the world, and from history. It is motivated by questions—how can we explain what we see? The method is to ask interesting questions first and then to introduce models that help to answer them. Standard tools such as constrained optimization are taught by showing how they give insight into real-world problems. Economics as a discipline is set in a social, political, and ethical context in which institutions matter.

CORE teaches students to be economists:

Start with a question, and look at the evidence.
Build a model that helps you understand what you see.
Critically evaluate the model: does it provide insight into the question, and explain the evidence?

Unit 1. The big questions about the economy
Units 2–3. Economic decision making
Units 4–6. Economic relationships and interactions
Units 7–10. Markets
Units 11–12. Market dynamics, how markets work and don’t work
Units 13–15. The aggregate economy in the short and medium run
Unit 16. The aggregate economy in the long run
Capstone units 17–22

Economy, Society, and Public Policy has been created specifically for students from social science, public policy, business and management, engineering, biology, and other disciplines, who are not economics majors.

Table of Contents:
1—Capitalism and democracy: Affluence, inequality, and the environment
2—Social interactions and economic outcomes
3—Public policy for fairness and efficiency
4—Work, wellbeing, and scarcity
5—Institutions, power, and inequality
6—The firm: Employees, managers, and owners
7—Firms and markets for goods and services
8—The labour market and the product market: Unemployment and inequality
9—The credit market: Borrowers, lenders, and the rate of interest
10—Banks, money, housing, and financial assets
11—Market successes and failures
12—Governments and markets in a democratic society

As markets or production bases, China and India are becoming important and integral players in the global economy. Foreign direct investment (FDI), portfolio investments and outsourcing businesses have increased dramatically in these two economies. Despite the rising importance of these two economies on the world stage, our knowledge and analysis of these two countries in an integrated manner has remained poor. The two are often lumped together by business analysts as "emerging markets," despite the substantial differences in their political systems, reform policies and business organizations. Academics, in contrast, have tended to treat two countries separately, preferring to specialize in issues and questions specific to one or the other country. The purpose of this course is to analyze these two countries within a coherent analytical framework. Our learning model is inductive, and heavily based on class discussions and participation. The group projects should aim at integrating analysis, knowledge and understanding of these two countries. We will also experiment with other forms of group projects, such as creating and working on business plans and those projects that integrate research from field trips with more traditional research, such as library research.

European gas and electricity markets have largely been liberalized. Due to the specific physical characteristics and public interest aspects of electricity and gas, and to the fact that the networks continue to be natural monopolies, these markets require careful design. In this class, it is analyzed what the market design variables are and how the ongoing process of market design depends on policy goals, starting conditions and physical, technical and institutional constraints. In addition, a number of current policy issues will be discussed, such as security of supply, the CO2 emissions market, the integration of European energy markets and privatization. Participation in a simulation game, in which long-term market dynamics are simulated, is mandatory.

This course examines the choices and constraints regarding sources and uses of energy by households, firms, and governments through a number of frameworks to describe and explain behavior at various levels of aggregation. Examples include a wide range of countries, scope, settings, and analytical approaches. This course is one of many OCW Energy Courses, and it is a core subject in MIT's undergraduate Energy Studies Minor. This Institute-wide program complements the deep expertise obtained in any major with a broad understanding of the interlinked realms of science, technology, and social sciences as they relate to energy and associated environmental challenges.

This course explores the theoretical and empirical perspectives on individual and industrial demand for energy, energy supply, energy markets, and public policies affecting energy markets. It discusses aspects of the oil, natural gas, electricity, and nuclear power sectors and examines energy tax, price regulation, deregulation, energy efficiency and policies for controlling emission.

EME 801 provides a broad introduction to global markets for crude oil and refined petroleum products, natural gas, and electric power. A major goal of the course is to help students understand how market design, market institutions, and regulatory structures affect firm-level decision-making in the energy industries and ultimately, how these decisions affect the functioning of energy markets and the prospects for alternative technologies.

A survey of how America has become the world's largest consumer of energy. Explores American history from the perspective of energy and its relationship to politics, diplomacy, the economy, science and technology, labor, culture, and the environment. Topics include muscle and water power in early America, coal and the Industrial Revolution, electrification, energy consumption in the home, oil and US foreign policy, automobiles and suburbanization, nuclear power, OPEC and the 70's energy crisis, global warming, and possible paths for the future.

Our world runs on energy - without it, things come to a screeching halt, as the recent hurricanes have shown. Ever stop to wonder what our energy future is? What are our options for energy, and what are the associated economic and climatic implications? In \Energy and the Environment\" we explore these questions, which together represent one of the great challenges of our time - providing energy for high quality of life and economic growth while avoiding dangerous climate change. This course takes an optimistic view of our prospects, and we'll see how shifting to renewable energy can lead to a viable future.

Entrepreneurial Finance examines the elements of entrepreneurial finance, focusing on technology-based start-up ventures and the early stages of company development. The course addresses key questions which challenge all entrepreneurs: how much money can and should be raised; when should it be raised and from whom; what is a reasonable valuation of the company; and how should funding, employment contracts and exit decisions be structured. It aims to prepare students for these decisions, both as entrepreneurs and venture capitalists. In addition, the course includes an in-depth analysis of the structure of the private equity industry.

Studio-based subject in applied environmental planning. Instruction in client projects dealing with aspects of sustainability assessment. Workshops cover tools for planning (risk mapping, sustainability assessment, impact prediction) and professional aspects of dealing with multiple publics. Students participate in one of several groups that work on a four-month client project. Subject emphasizes both the use of environmental planning tools in real-time and learning how to interface with agencies and NGOs. Faculty and practicing planners speak on the professional side of planning practice and agency culture, and conduct project review.

This course explores the proper role of government in the regulation of the environment. It will help students develop the tools to estimate the costs and benefits of environmental regulations. These tools will be used to evaluate a series of current policy questions, including: Should air and water pollution regulations be tightened or loosened? What are the costs of climate change in the U.S. and abroad? Is there a "Race to the Bottom" in environmental regulation? What is "sustainable development"? How do environmental problems differ in developing countries? Are we running out of oil and other natural resources? Should we be more energy efficient? To gain real world experience, the course is scheduled to include a visit to the MIT cogeneration plant. We will also do an in-class simulation of an air pollution emissions market.

Applied economists frequently use equilibrium displacement models (EDMs), also termed linear elasticity models, for policy analyses because they can be used to estimate changes in prices and quantities that result from exogenous economic or policy shocks. These models are also widely used to estimate changes in producer and consumer surplus caused by exogenous economic shocks and to quantify the short- and long-term impacts of a variety of economic and regulatory actions across multiple markets. For the first time, a textbook that contains all of the theory and applications of EDMs along with a set of spreadsheet files is available in one place.