You are in the official 1996-97 General Catalog
for California State University, Fresno.
Economics
Economics
School of Social Sciences
Department of Economics
DON R. LEET, Chair
Peters Business Building, Room 393
(559) 278-3916
Department of Economics
DON R. LEET, Chair
Peters Business Building, Room 393
(559) 278-3916
Minor in Economics
Minor in International Political Economy
Economics is the social science that studies the way in which societies
are organized to produce the goods and services that sustain and enhance
the life processes of the community. As a fundamental scientific discipline,
economics employs systematic analysis in the study of the production and
distribution of income within and among nations. Since all social policy
issues in modern societies have an economic dimension, the study of economics
offers the student an opportunity to investigate the most important and
exciting problems of political economy facing the world today.
Such topics as inflation, unemployment, collective bargaining, banking,
international trade, and development have long been within the province
of economics. More recently, the economic way of thinking has been extended
to other areas. Economic theories have been used to explain crime rates,
birth rates, class conflict, pollution, marriage decisions, migration, and
many other topics involving human behavior. Not all economists would agree
with these theories, but ongoing debate helps to make economics a lively
and challenging discipline.
Economics majors acquire skills in critical and analytical thinking that
contribute to an individual's intellectual independence and self-confidence
in the problem-solving processes. In addition, economics majors confront
the necessity of developing a broad view of the options facing mankind in
organizing the production and distribution of income. The literature of
economics presents widely diverse systems of political economic philosophy.
The Department of Economics offers a well-developed and balanced curriculum
encompassing the major schools of modern economic thought, including the
neoclassical, Marxian, and American institutionalist schools.
The program in economics is designed to give the student maximum flexibility
in the choice of courses offered for the economics major. A typical economics
major might take courses in intermediate macroeconomic theory and statistics
while also learning about global corporations in the third world, or Marxist
economics, or pursue an independent study project on the foundations of
supply-side economics. The economics major is designed to permit the student
to pursue a broad liberal arts undergraduate degree, integrating the study
of economics with other social sciences, humanities, natural sciences, and
business administration.
Faculty
The faculty of the department is staffed by professors whose primary professional
commitment is to undergraduate education. Every member participates in the
full range of teaching assignments from moderate sized sections of economics
principles to small, upper-division classes (averaging 16 students). They
offer a wide variety of courses ranging from the traditional core of intermediate
micro and macroeconomic theory to problem-oriented courses, such as the
economics of ecology, population, and government regulation. The background
of the faculty, like its program offerings, represents a broad spectrum
of intellectual tastes and professional specialties.
Career Outlook
Graduates of the department pursue a variety of challenging careers in industry,
finance, education, and government. The economics B.A. degree is an excellent
foundation for graduate study in public administration and business. The
undergraduate major in economics has also proved to be an ideal prelaw major.
The faculty provides counseling on legal careers to students interested
in this career option. A number of distinguished attorneys are graduates
of the department. Careers for professional economists fall into the following patterns:
- Business roughly one-third of all economists are employed by private firms both large and small, although big corporations, banks, and insurance companies tend to employ larger staffs of economists.
- Government approximately one out of five professional economists works for a local, state, or federal government agency. The federal government recognizes the importance of an economics degree at the undergraduate level by allowing members of the economics honor society (Omicron Delta Epsilon) to enter government service at the GS-7 level rather than at the GS-5 level for general college graduates.
- Education about 45 percent of all economists are involved in teaching the discipline, but employment at this level has become more difficult as overall university enrollments have declined. However, there is a reawakening of interest in teaching economics in the secondary and even primary grades as more states across the nation are beginning to mandate economics in the public schools curriculum.
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