Teaching

University of South Florida

- Principles of Microeconomics: This course is an introduction to the fundamentals of microeconomics. Microeconomics studies individual consumer and firm behavior and how their decisions affect market outcomes. Some topics include supply and demand, the theory of the firm, and consumer behavior. The course will also introduce economic methodology including creating arguments, empirical verification, and policy decision-making. Upon completion of the course you should have a basic understanding of the choices facing consumers andfirms, and the workings of different market structures

Syllabus: PDF

- Principles of Macroeconomics: In this course, students have the opportunity to understand and analyze how the nation's economy works. We will examine measures of economic performance such as GDP, unemployment and inflation rates, and economic growth, as well as actions to improve economic performance in the use of fiscal, monetary, and structural policies. The policies used and the definition of "improve" are both influenced by the political ideologies of elected officials – this course will give you an appreciation of the nature of those influences.

Syllabus: PDF

- Development Economics: This course aims to acquaint students with traditional topics in development economics. The following topics will be covered: poverty, inequality, poverty traps, food and nutrition, population growth and fertility, land, risk and insurance, credit markets, micro-finance, savings, health and healthcare, education, child labor, and conflict.

Syllabus: PDF

- Economics of Inequality, Poverty, and Discrimination: In this course, we will focus our attention on the problem of inequality, poverty, and discrimination, and how these problems can be affected by different policies. The course will provide the students with the theories behind income and wealth inequality, as with some measures used in the literature to quantify it. At the end of the course, the student should be able to discuss the causes and conse- quences of inequality and the policies that are more commonly adopted to address this problem.

Syllabus: PDF

- Economics of Latin America: In this course, we seek to understand the economic backwardness of Latin American countries from a historical perspective. We discuss the industrialization policies undertaken in the last decades, such as the Imports Substitution Industrialization, and the followed period of debt crisis, monetary instability, and hyperinflation. Additionally, we study the role of state and trade liberalization, focusing on the recent privatization process as well as the role of agriculture on the development of the region. Lastly, we focus on the consequences of the development pattern experienced by Latin American countries on some contemporaneous issues, such as the rise and fall of income inequality.

Syllabus: PDF

- Labor Economics: The main goal of the course is to provide the students with information about how the labor market works. The course will address topics of labor supply and labor demand (Why some people choose to work while others don’t? Why some firms want to hire more people, and others don’t?). Some other topics will also be approached, such as minimum wages, markets for risky jobs, labor force participation, labor market discrimination, and earning distribution.

Syllabus: PDF

- Comparative Economics Systems: The main objective of the course is to understand different ways economies can be organized, and how this organization reflects on economic behavior and performance. The course is divided into two main parts. The first part is an introduction to different economic systems, including definition and measurements, covering the theory of economic systems, more precisely market-centered, state-centered, and community-centered economic systems. In the second and final part of the course, we will learn about the individual's countries experiences.

Syllabus: PDF

- Basic Economics: The course provides the students with some of the most basic concepts and tools in Economics, which will help them to understand the behavior of households, firms, and government. The course includes topics on crime, poverty, education, international trade, unemployment, and others.

Syllabus: PDF