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Course Updates for the 2024-2025 Academic Year

Changes to ECON 100 ABC Series

Beginning in the 2024-25 academic year, the order of topics covered in the Econ 100ABC - Intermediate Microeconomics sequence has changed. The overall list of topics remains the same, but some topics previously covered in ECON 100C will now be covered in A and B, while more mathematically advanced topics will be moved to the new ECON 100C class. 

 

The new sequence descriptions, as well as the old descriptions, for reference and comparison, are provided below. The new sequence course descriptions are not yet reflected in the official UCSD catalog, but will be by Summer 2025.

 

  • ECON 100A (New): Economic analysis of household choices for the demand of goods and services. Analysis of firms’ production and costs and the supply of output. Analysis of perfectly competitive markets and introduction to general equilibrium. Prerequisites: ECON 1 and MATH 10C or 20C or 31BH.

 

  • ECON 100A (Old): Economic analysis of household determination of the demand for goods and services, consumption/saving decisions, and the supply of labor. Prerequisites: ECON 1 and MATH 10C or 20C or 31BH.

 

  • ECON 100B (New): Game theory and analysis of the effects of imperfect market structure, strategy and information economics, public goods, and externalities. Prerequisites: ECON 100A.

 

  • ECON 100B (Old): Analysis of firms’ production and costs, the supply of output, and demand factors of production. Analysis of perfectly competitive markets. Prerequisite: Econ 100A.

 

  • ECON 100C (New): Advanced analysis of production, costs, the supply of output, and demand for factors of production. Advanced analysis of the demand for goods and services. Applications to consumption and saving decisions, strategic behavior, and the supply of labor. General equilibrium and welfare. Prerequisites: ECON 100B.

 

  • ECON 100C (Old): Analysis of the effects of imperfect market structure, strategy, and imperfect information. Prerequisite: Econ 100B.

 

To facilitate this transition, the change is being implemented gradually throughout the year, first by changing Econ 100A in the Fall, then Econ 100B in the Winter, and finally Econ 100C in the Spring as shown here:

 

Quarter

100A

100B

100C

Fall 2024

New

Old

Old

Winter 2025

New

New

Old

Spring 2025

New

New

New

 

If you have taken Econ 100A according to the old structure, we strongly recommend that you take Econ 100B and Econ 100C also in the old format. Similarly, if you have taken Econ 100B according to the old structure, we strongly recommend that you take Econ 100C in the old format. If you are unable to do so, the classes will still count towards major credits.


If you have any questions or concerns please reach out to our Econ advisors on VAC.

New Class: ECON 186 - Careers in Economics and Business

We are excited to announce the offering of a new class, Econ 186 - Careers in Economics and Business, starting this Fall 2024. Econ 186 is uniquely designed to provide students with key knowledge and practical skills used in the real world that complement traditional academic skills to maximize interview, communication, and presentation skills and strengthen resume building. The class explores career paths in the business profession in various aspects to broaden students' knowledge of career opportunities and it reviews the current business environment, financial markets, economy, unemployment, banking crises, market updates, and all related business topics.

Steve Ross.pngAbout the Econ 186 instructor: Steve Ross has been a Wall Street Executive for over 30 years. Steve was an Executive Committee Member and Partner at Nicholas Applegate where he managed over $5 Billion in equity assets from 1994-2004. Steve then spent 8 years as a Director at BlackRock and has spent the past 10 years as a Managing Director at Bank of America Private Bank where he oversees the investment team and over $2 Billion in assets in San Diego. Steve has taught at UCLA for the past 15 years and was previously the Executive in Residence for the College of Business at SDSU for 6 years where the course was initially designed in 2005.

The class counts for 2 units, has Econ 1 and Econ 3 as prerequisites, and can be taken as P/NP only. We plan on offering the class every quarter of the regular academic year (Fall, Winter, and Spring).

Note: Econ 186 cannot be used to satisfy the upper-division elective requirements in our majors (EN25, EN26, EN28, EN30, and EN31).

Spring 2025

New Course ECON 125 - The Science of Population

Explores how to measure and understand the forces that shape human population and its interaction with social, economic, and natural environments. Topics include the growth rate and structure of population, as well as mortality, fertility, migration, and their drivers. Emphasizes analysis of demographic data using statistical programming. Applications focus on differences between the past and present, between rich and poor countries, and between racial and ethnic groups within the United States. Prerequisites: PSYC 60 or MATH 183 or MATH 181A or MATH 11 or ECON 120A or MATH 186 or ECE 109 or MAE 108.

 

New Prerequisites: ECON 142 Behavioral Economics

ECON 142 will be offered in Spring 2025, and it will be taught by Prof. Isabel Trevino. This course provides an introduction to popular topics in behavioral economics, from prosocial behavior to biases in information processing, with applications to behavioral finance.


In Spring 2025 only, ECON 109 OR ECON 100C will be accepted for the prerequisite requirements. If you would like to enroll in ECON 142, please submit an EASy request and allow 3-5 business days for processing.

New Prerequisites: ECON 173B Corporate Finance

ECON 173B will be offered in Spring 2025, taught by Prof. Steve Levkoff. This course introduces the firm’s capital budgeting decision, including methods for evaluation and ranking of investment projects, the firm’s choice of capital structure, dividend policy decisions, corporate taxes, mergers and acquisitions. You may review the most recent syllabus here.


In Spring 2025 only, the prerequisites for ECON 173B will be as follows: ECON 4/MGT 4 or MGT 45 and ECON 100A and ECON 120B. If you would like to enroll in ECON 173B, please submit an EASy request and allow 3-5 business days for processing.

ECON 132T

Econ 132 is normally prerequisite for Econ 132T, the Department is allowing Econ 132 students to concurrently enroll in Econ 132T for SP25 only. Econ 132 students who are interested in also taking Econ 132T this SP quarter should submit an EASy request for Econ 132T. The course description can be found below.

Please also note that Econ 132T is a two-unit course. As such, it will NOT fulfill major requirements unless combined specifically with the courses listed here: https://economics.ucsd.edu/undergraduate-program/major-minor-requirements/faqs.html#Can-I-combine-H-and-T-courses-t

If you have any questions, please send a "Question" to "Economics" via VAC.

ECON 132T Course Description:

This 2-unit course is open to those who are concurrently taking Econ 132 (Energy
Economics) in the Spring 2025 quarter or who have taken this class in a prior quarter.
Econ 132T meets during the Spring Quarter of 2025 on Thursday from 2 to 3:20pm in
SSB 107.

This class provides a small group setting in which students explore the deeper
implications of massive changes to the energy infrastructure and long standing policies
in the United States and the World that are currently happening. Students will make
presentations in class and work on a group project.

The instructor, Professor Richard Carson, is one of the world’s most cited environmental
and energy economists. He previously served as President of the Association of
Environmental and Natural Resource Economists and is an elected Fellow of the
American Association for the Advancement of Sciences for his work on climate change
and environmental valuation.