MCCCD Program Description

Economics: A Social Issues Perspective

Course: SWU181

First Term: 2018 Fall

Lecture 3.0 Credit(s) 3.0 Period(s) 3.0 Load
Subject Type: Academic
Load Formula: S- Standard

Description: Introduction to economic principles through the lens of contemporary social issues for social work and related fields.

MCCCD Official Course Competencies
1. Compare and contrast micro and macro economic principles. (I, II, III, IV, V) 2. Explain and discuss micro and macro economic issues impacting oppressed and vulnerable populations. (I, III, IV, V) 3. Analyze the impact of positive and normative economics in the development of economic policies. (I, II, III, IV, V) 4. Apply various economic principles to social policy issues. (III, IV, V, VI) 5. Compare and contrast the complexities of many contemporary social problems and their economic costs. (I, II, III, IV, V, VI)
MCCCD Official Course Competencies must be coordinated with the content outline so that each major point in the outline serves one or more competencies. MCCCD faculty retains authority in determining the pedagogical approach, methodology, content sequencing, and assessment metrics for student work. Please see individual course syllabi for additional information, including specific course requirements.

MCCCD Official Course Outline
I. Social Economic Concepts A. Goods, Resources and Labor B. Capital and Human Capital C. Scarcity and Abundance D. Opportunity, Costs, Modeling and Rational Behavior II. Microeconomics and Macroeconomic Policy A. Positive and Normative Economics B. Efficiency, Equity, Access and Margin 1. The Law of Diminishing Returns 2. Marginal Utility 3. Economic Profit 4. Keynesian Perfect Competition 5. Supply and Demand 6. Elasticity 7. Pareto Efficiency C. Market Structure 1. Equilibrium Price 2. Laissez-Faire 3. Imperfect Competition 4. Monopoly, Price Setting and Sticker Price 5. Monopsony, Oligopoly and Market Failure D. Globally Free Markets for the Twenty-First Century III. Government Intervention A. Taxes, Borrowing and the National Debt 1. Fiscal Policy, Externality and the Public Good 2. Asymmetric Information, Cost-Benefit Analysis, and Cost-Effectiveness Analysis 3. Housing Assistance: Rent Seeking, and Rent Avoidance 4. Substitution Effect, Income Effect, and Derived Demand 5. Social Security 6. Bureaucracy B. Marginal Product, Marginal Tax Rate and Marginal Revenue Product IV. U.S. Poverty A. Theories of Poverty 1. Absolute Definition of Poverty vs. Relative Definition of Poverty 2. Efficiency-Equity and Trade Off 3. Workfare, Minimum Wage, Wage Subsidies and Economic Demography 4. Discrimination and Statistical Discrimination B. Unemployment 1. Frictional Unemployment 2. Cyclical Unemployment 3. Structural Unemployment 4. Discouraged Workers V. Social and Economic Issues A. Social Policy 1. Affirmative Action and Anti-Discrimination Legislation 2. Minimum Wage and a Living Wage 3. Immigration and Bilingual Education 4. Family and Job Training 5. Child Welfare and Aging B. Economic Policy 1. Rent Control 2. Free Trade 3. Health Care 4. Taxation and Welfare 5. Unemployment VI. Professional Issues A. Social and Economic Justice as it relates to Poverty B. Oppression and Discrimination C. Advocacy, Lobbying and Social Policy D. Professional Ethics

MCCCD Governing Board Approval Date: December 12, 2017

All information published is subject to change without notice. Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of information presented, but based on the dynamic nature of the curricular process, course and program information is subject to change in order to reflect the most current information available.