MS & MA Programs

Core Course | Open to Year I
This course provides an exposition of the analytical foundations of the classical (“surplus”) and neoclassical (“marginalist”) traditions in the theory of value and distribution. Given its dominance in contemporary economics, the latter tradition is emphasized in this course. The historical development of the marginalist theory of value is considered, as are critiques that focus on issues regarding its internal coherence and methodological difficulties. The remainder of the course examines the measurement of economic well‐being and deprivation, including the substantive issues related to the determinants of the standard of living. Topics include Lorenz curves, social welfare functions, inequality indices, and poverty indices.

Fall Semester
4 Credits

Core Course | Open to Year I
The primary objective of macroeconomic analysis is to explain the phenomena of aggregate movements in output, employment, and the price level. This course examines the intellectual influences that have shaped the development of macroeconomic theory and policy since the beginning of the 20th century. Students acquire the skills needed to: 1) identify the main theoretical and methodological differences among competing approaches; 2) discuss the empirical evidence supporting each approach; and 3) explain why particular policy instruments are considered appropriate (or inappropriate) for achieving macroeconomic stability. Prerequisite: Intermediate Macro.

Fall Semester
4 Credits

Core Course | Open to Year I
Econometrics is a set of statistical models used to explore the links among variables and make forecasts. As such, it is used, among other things: to test if economic theories are congruent with given sets of data; to verify the stability of links among variables over time; to make short‐term predictions, say on stock market prices; and to build dynamic models for policy use.

Different statistical models are used for different types of data, including microeconomic surveys, time series, and panel data where different individuals are observed over time. The core of econometrics is the regression model, which can be applied to all type of datasets.
The course briefly reviews the basics of statistical inference (estimators and their properties; hypothesis testing), covering the multiple regression model, then moving to the analysis of time series (ARIMA models), with particular emphasis on stationarity, and concludes by exploring more complex dynamic models (VARs, error correction models, cointegration approaches).

Fall Semester
4 Credits

MA Core Course | Open to Year I and Year II
This course covers the major theories and methods comprising (Original) Institutional Economics beginning with Thorstein Veblen and extending to contemporary developments and applications. This includes theories of distribution, consumption and production.  The historical evolution of the theories and their application to contemporary institutions is an organizing principle for the course. The connection to and compatibility with post-Keynesian instability theory and modern money theory is integrated as a component especially as applied to Veblenian theory. Pragmatic method, models, and logic are also an integral part of the course.

Fall Semester
4 Credits

Core Course | Open to Year I
An investigation of monetary and theory and policy. We will examine both the mainstream and heterodox approaches to each. We will include a detailed examination of Modern Money Theory, which combines various strands of heterodoxy while also including contributions from historical, legal, and anthropological research.

Spring Semester
4 Credits

Core Course | Open to Year I
The stock‐flow consistent (SFC) approach to macroeconomics emphasizes the importance of accounting consistency among the various stocks and flows of an economy for macroeconomic analysis. This framework allows a coherent and integrated approach to both the production and financial side of the economy, with the latter having an essential role for the macroeconomic outcome and not just being a “veil.” Such an approach is necessary if we want to understand the functioning of the modern capitalist economies and major macroeconomic events, such as the recent financial and economic crisis or the stagnation of the last few years.

This course aims to expose students to the main principles of SFC macroeconomics. Several theoretical models of increasing complexity will be studied and will be simulated with the use of statistical software (Eviews, R). It will also be shown how this methodology can be used for macroeconomic policy purposes. In particular we will examine the SFC macro model of the Levy Economics Institute, used to produce the various Strategic Analyses and policy reports. The course will start with an in‐depth examination of the related data sources, including national income accounts, flow of funds accounts, and accounts of international trade and capital flows.

The second half of this course aims to expose students to the key types and sources of data used for economic analysis and to provide insights into key technical areas of applied economic analysis at both the macro and micro levels with a special focus on the modeling techniques used in Levy Economics Institute research programs. At the micro level, we will cover a variety of data sources; household surveys, including labor force, income and expenditure, wealth and time use surveys. The associated methods examined include econometrics of cross‐sectional data, distributional analysis and policy simulation. Finally, we survey statistical matching techniques including those used to create the synthetic datasets used in the LIMEW and LIMTIP. 

The core data sources to be covered at the macro level include national income accounts; flow of funds accounts; and, accounts of international trade and capital flows. We will also discuss the main principles of the Stock‐Flow Consistent (SFC) Methodology and how this methodology can be used for macroeconomic policy purposes. In particular we will examine the SFC macro model of the Levy Institute, used to produce the various Strategic Analyses and policy reports.

Pre‐requisite: ECON 529
Spring Semester
4 Credits

Core Course | Open to Year II
Students will develop and finalize their research topic. Each student will engage in directed literature research, prepare the literature survey chapter, and present a narrative thesis proposal, including a research agenda to be agreed upon with their supervisor, as well as the literature review and an assessment of how the research project will contribute to the final thesis. By the end of the semester students will present a summary of this work to the faculty.

2 Credits

Select two other electives.

Core Course | Open to Year I
This course provides an exposition of the analytical foundations of the classical (“surplus”) and neoclassical (“marginalist”) traditions in the theory of value and distribution. Given its dominance in contemporary economics, the latter tradition is emphasized in this course. The historical development of the marginalist theory of value is considered, as are critiques that focus on issues regarding its internal coherence and methodological difficulties. The remainder of the course examines the measurement of economic well‐being and deprivation, including the substantive issues related to the determinants of the standard of living. Topics include Lorenz curves, social welfare functions, inequality indices, and poverty indices.

Fall Semester
4 Credits

Core Course | Open to Year I
The primary objective of macroeconomic analysis is to explain the phenomena of aggregate movements in output, employment, and the price level. This course examines the intellectual influences that have shaped the development of macroeconomic theory and policy since the beginning of the 20th century. Students acquire the skills needed to: 1) identify the main theoretical and methodological differences among competing approaches; 2) discuss the empirical evidence supporting each approach; and 3) explain why particular policy instruments are considered appropriate (or inappropriate) for achieving macroeconomic stability. Prerequisite: Intermediate Macro.

Fall Semester
4 Credits

Core Course | Open to Year I
Econometrics is a set of statistical models used to explore the links among variables and make forecasts. As such, it is used, among other things: to test if economic theories are congruent with given sets of data; to verify the stability of links among variables over time; to make short‐term predictions, say on stock market prices; and to build dynamic models for policy use.

Different statistical models are used for different types of data, including microeconomic surveys, time series, and panel data where different individuals are observed over time. The core of econometrics is the regression model, which can be applied to all type of datasets.
The course briefly reviews the basics of statistical inference (estimators and their properties; hypothesis testing), covering the multiple regression model, then moving to the analysis of time series (ARIMA models), with particular emphasis on stationarity, and concludes by exploring more complex dynamic models (VARs, error correction models, cointegration approaches).

Fall Semester
4 Credits

Select one elective course.

Core Course | Open to Year I
An investigation of monetary and theory and policy. We will examine both the mainstream and heterodox approaches to each. We will include a detailed examination of Modern Money Theory, which combines various strands of heterodoxy while also including contributions from historical, legal, and anthropological research.

Spring Semester
4 Credits

Core Course | Open to Year I
The stock‐flow consistent (SFC) approach to macroeconomics emphasizes the importance of accounting consistency among the various stocks and flows of an economy for macroeconomic analysis. This framework allows a coherent and integrated approach to both the production and financial side of the economy, with the latter having an essential role for the macroeconomic outcome and not just being a “veil.” Such an approach is necessary if we want to understand the functioning of the modern capitalist economies and major macroeconomic events, such as the recent financial and economic crisis or the stagnation of the last few years.

This course aims to expose students to the main principles of SFC macroeconomics. Several theoretical models of increasing complexity will be studied and will be simulated with the use of statistical software (Eviews, R). It will also be shown how this methodology can be used for macroeconomic policy purposes. In particular we will examine the SFC macro model of the Levy Economics Institute, used to produce the various Strategic Analyses and policy reports. The course will start with an in‐depth examination of the related data sources, including national income accounts, flow of funds accounts, and accounts of international trade and capital flows.

The second half of this course aims to expose students to the key types and sources of data used for economic analysis and to provide insights into key technical areas of applied economic analysis at both the macro and micro levels with a special focus on the modeling techniques used in Levy Economics Institute research programs. At the micro level, we will cover a variety of data sources; household surveys, including labor force, income and expenditure, wealth and time use surveys. The associated methods examined include econometrics of cross‐sectional data, distributional analysis and policy simulation. Finally, we survey statistical matching techniques including those used to create the synthetic datasets used in the LIMEW and LIMTIP. 

The core data sources to be covered at the macro level include national income accounts; flow of funds accounts; and, accounts of international trade and capital flows. We will also discuss the main principles of the Stock‐Flow Consistent (SFC) Methodology and how this methodology can be used for macroeconomic policy purposes. In particular we will examine the SFC macro model of the Levy Institute, used to produce the various Strategic Analyses and policy reports.

Pre‐requisite: ECON 529
Spring Semester
4 Credits

Select two other electives.

Core Course | Open to Year II
Students will develop and finalize their research topic. Each student will engage in directed literature research, prepare the literature survey chapter, and present a narrative thesis proposal, including a research agenda to be agreed upon with their supervisor, as well as the literature review and an assessment of how the research project will contribute to the final thesis. By the end of the semester students will present a summary of this work to the faculty.

2 Credits

Core Course | Open to Year II
This course focuses on the analysis of contemporary economic problems, viewed from a macroeconomic perspective. It begins with an overview of long‐term structural patterns in developed economies, including the intrinsic nature of growth, the historical dynamics of unemployment, and the recurrence of structural economic crises over long intervals. Different approaches are systematically developed to address the fundamental issues in economic analysis. The final half of the course will develop a stock‐flow accounting framework and demonstrate its connection to the “three balances approach” that underlies the Levy Institute’s Macromodel.

Prerequisite: ECON 502
Fall Semester
4 Credits

Core Course | Open to Year II
This course examines the role of the state in modern capitalist economies. Students are introduced to alternative theories of state and government intervention. Mainstream approaches are discussed and contrasted with alternative approaches that emphasize social, historical, and institutional factors. Taxation is examined within the standard theory of value and distribution as well as within the classical and Kaleckian approaches; public expenditures, including the provision of education and health care, are analyzed. Topics in the theory of redistribution and the welfare state form the final portion of the course. Readings include a mix of classic works, authoritative surveys, and recent work on specialized topics.

Prerequisite: ECON 501
Fall Semester
4 Credits

Select two electives.

MS Core/MA Elective Course | Open to Year II/MA
The seminar will analyze non-conventional perspectives of theoretical and policy issues ranging from fiscal and monetary policy to development, inequality, and poverty. Invited speakers will discuss policy-oriented topics related to the Levy Economics Institute’s core research areas.

Fall Semester
4 Credits

Core Course | Open to Year II
Students will continue work from Research Workshop I by working directly with their supervisors throughout the semester to produce a research thesis consisting of 60–80 pages, depending on the content.

Spring Semester
2 Credits

Select two electives.