Economic Systems

Key Faculty: Garrick Louis, William Scherer

Area Description: The paradigm of consumption-driven economic systems can produce unsustainable levels of resource consumption along with intractable environmental and social externalities. Technological innovation may defer the threat of scarcity but does not eliminate the need for policy innovation to address these shortcomings in the very long term. Additionally, the assumptions of profit maximization and personal accumulative wealth may be incompatible with the norms of certain societies. The adoption of traditional approaches to economic development would not be appropriate in this context. The Economic Systems concentration area in Systems Engineering focuses on regional economic development tied to principles of sustainability. It combines basic economic concepts, such as specialization, trade and utility with profiles of a region (demographic, natural resources, infrastructure, culture) and principles of lifecycle analysis. These are used to construct models of regional economic systems that are tailored to the local context for sustainable development.
Potential Courses: partial listing, see Key Faculty for details
SYS 612Dynamic Systems
SYS 644Economics of Engineering Systems
SYS 650Risk Analysis
SYS 670Environmental Systems Analysis
SYS 702Case Studies in Systems Engineering
SYS 721Research Methods in Systems Engineering
SYS 781Advanced Topics in Systems Engineering
CE 634Geographic Information Systems
STAT 513/598Applied Multivariate Statistics/Lab
ANTH 522Economic Anthropology
ECON 701/3Microeconomic Theory I,II
ECON 702/4Macroeconomic Theory I,II
ECON 771/2Econometrics I,II
ECON 817Industrial Organization I
ECON 821International Trade Theory
ECON 822International Finance
ECON 831Public Economics I
ECON 833Theory of Financial Markets
ECON 851Topics in Growth Theory
ECON 852Economics of Underdeveloped Area
GFAP 765Economic Concepts & Public Policy
GFCP 567Comparative Science & Technology Policy
GFIR 538International Political Economy
PHIL 752Contemporary Ethics
RELG 573Theory of Culture
GBUS 805Entrepreneurship: An Introduction
GBUS 806Sustainable Business
GBUS 808Cross-Cultural Communication & Business
GBUS 831Environmental Management
PLAN 550Natural Systems & Environmental Planning
PLAN 551Sustainable Communities
PLAN 553Environmental Policy & Planning
PLAN 554Environmental Values & Ethics
PLAN 555Environmental Impact Assessment
PLAN 565Strategic Development Planning
PLAN 607Urban Theory & Public Policy
EVSC 560Land Use Policies
EVEC 525Ecological Issues in Global Change
Example Concentration Areas

A student interested in any area has the ability to customize his course selection to fit his concentration. Possible concentrations within Economic Systems include:

Environmental Economic Systems

SYS 670
ECON 701
ECON 702
ECON 851
ANTH 522
GFAP 765

Economic Systems for Development
ANTH 522
SYS 670
CE 634
ECON 831
ECON 852
GBUS 831

Job Opportunities

Possible opportunities include public economic development agencies (federal, state, and local), philanthropic organizations, international development agencies (UN, World Bank), commercial banks, mortgage companies, and economic think tanks.