Economics

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■ Economics

Phone: 703-993-1130
Web: economics.gmu.edu

Faculty

Distinguished professor emeriti: Buchanan, Smith, Tullock

Professors: Bennett, Boettke, Boudreaux, Congleton, Cowen, Crain, Heiner, Houser (chair), Klein, Levy, McCabe, Nye, Richardson, Roberts, Rowley, Stratmann, Wagner, Williams

Associate professors: Caplan, Hanson, Meyer, Ramirez, Reid, Tabarrok, Thorbecke, Wiest

Assistant professors: Al-Ubaydli, Johnson, Jones, Leeson

Instructor: Rustici

Professors emeriti: Chung (emeritus), Phillips (emeritus), Snavely (emeritus), Vaughn (emerita)

Course Work

The Economics Department offers all course work designated ECON in the Courses chapter of the catalog.

Undergraduate Programs

The department offers a bachelor of arts and a bachelor of science degree in economics. The bachelor of science degree program is designed for students who desire a more technical program with a stronger emphasis on economic and quantitative analysis. It is especially appropriate for students who anticipate a career as an economic analyst in government, consulting, trade associations, or other private sector positions that emphasize economic research and analysis. The requirements are also appropriate for students planning postgraduate education in economics or more quantitative business administration programs.

The bachelor of arts degree program is designed primarily for students with a stronger interest in the liberal arts. It is appropriate for those who prefer a less quantitative degree program and may be especially appropriate for students planning to attend law school or graduate programs in business or public administration.

Minors

The department offers a minor in economics and a minor in economic systems design. Both are available to students in any major.

Bachelor’s/Accelerated Master’s Program

The department offers highly qualified undergraduates the opportunity to apply to an accelerated master’s degree program in economics. If accepted, students will be able to earn both an undergraduate and a graduate degree after satisfactory completion of 144 credits, sometimes within five years.

Graduate Programs

The department offers a master’s and a doctoral degree in economics. The department is noted for its emphasis on comparataive institutional analysis and its focus on the relations among economic, political, and legal institutions. This is reflected in the specializations associated with the department: experimental economics, Austrian economics, public choice, constitutional politicial economy, law and economics, and new institutional economics.

The department offers a graduate certificate in economic systems design, which provides a well defined course of study for students who want to advance or update their knowledge in this fast-moving field.

Funding

The department offers teaching and research assistantships and fellowships, which are awarded on a competitive basis. Other sources of funding such as grants, loans, and employment on campus are also available. Students awarded assistantships must register for a minimum of six credits a semester and show satisfactory progress toward their degree.