You are in the official 1997-98 General Catalog
for California State University, Fresno.
Department of Economics
School of Social Sciences
JAMES M. CYPHER, Chair
Peters Business Building, Room 393
(559) 278-3916
B.A. in Economics
Minor in Economics
Minor in International Political Economy
Faculty
James M. Cypher, Chair
Robert J. Allison
Paul D. Bush
Scott D. Houser
Don R. Leet
Linda J. Shaffer
John A. Shaw Jr.
Go to Faculty and Administration Directory
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.
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.
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 at the university level. 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.
