Economic Growth

Catalog description

What sustains economic growth in the long run? This question was the focus of Adam Smith’s 1776 masterpiece “The Wealth of Nations”. Nobel laureate Robert Lucas famously said that “Once one starts to think about [questions of economic growth], it is hard to think about anything else.” The purpose of this course is to explain and explore the modern theories of economic growth. We will use theoretical and empirical models and publicly available data to study the role of key components of economics growth such as: capital accumulation, including all new investments in land, physical equipment, and human resources through improvements in health, education, and job skills; population growth; technological progress; openness to trade and capital flow; institutions, culture, and geography; and environmental sustainability. Satisfies a Social-Scientific Thought requirement. Prerequisites & Notes Economics 203