This course focuses on how the market system allocates goods and also addresses the limitations of the market system and the consequent role of the government in managing the economy. Attention is paid to historical and philosophical issues. The format is lecture-discussion. Attention is given not only to learning the basic tools of the economic trade, but also to making sense of the real world. Occasionally, other members of the Economics Department present guest lectures in their respective areas of expertise.
Students write one short paper analyzing a current economic problem.
Shane M. Greenstein, assistant professor of economics, came to the U. of I. immediately after earning his Ph.D. from Stanford University in 1989. His primary interest is in industrial economics, and most of his research concerns the computer and telecommunications industries and the economics of high technology.