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Economics



Economics at James Madison University is a strong and successful department with a talented and diverse faculty. JMU economics graduates have distinguished themselves in a variety of careers. In addition to its major programs, the economics department supports the College of Business and programs across campus with top-quality instruction.

If you have questions, please contact the department head, Dr. Ehsan Ahmed, at (540) 568-3215 or ahmedex@jmu.edu

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Quick facts about the Economics BBA

Quick facts about the Economics BA and BS

                         

Dr. Ehsan Ahmed, Economics department head (left), presents the Academic Excellence in Economics award to Blake Bowman (right), and the Economics Outstanding Senior Award to Matthew Crusco (middle) during the College of Business award ceremony held on May 3, 2013.

                          

JMU's Barkley Rosser (left) welcomes American University's Robert Blecker for the closing seminar in the Economics Spring Seminar Series for a presentation on "Trade Liberalization and the Balance of Payments Constraint with Intermediate Imports: The Case of Mexico Revisited."

 

 

                         

JMU's Barkley Rosser (right) welcomes Daniel Berkowitz from the University of Pittsburgh for his guest presentation in the Economics Seminar Series, "The Real and Financial Implications of Property Rights Enforcement: Evidence from a Chinese Natural Experiment."

 

 

                             

 

Robert Subrick, left, and Barkley Rosser, right, welcome Sahar Akhtar from the University of Virginia for her Economics Seminar presentation on "A Right to Migrate and Way of Life Freedom." 

 

                          

JMU's Angela Smith is welcomed by Barkley Rosser for the first event in the Economics Seminar Series for spring.  Smith presented her paper on "Belief Elicitation with a Simple Lottery Choice Menu." 

 

                      

Robert Subrick, left, and Barkley Rosser, right, welcome George Mason University's Tyler Cowen for his presentation on “The Great Stagnation,” the last of the Fall Seminar Series.

                                           

 

Barkley Rosser (right) welcomes JMU's Suraj Jacob for this Fall Seminar Series talk on "History, Democracy, and Regional Development: Some Cases from South India."

 

                      

The Fall 2012 Economics Seminar Series kicked off with Robert Putnam of Harvard University speaking about trends in religiosity in his JIN Lecture in Political Economy entitled, "Religion and Social Capital in American Life."

 

               

The JMU Center for Economic Education hosted area high school teachers for an economics institute in July. Pictured here are the teachers, along with instructors William C. Wood and Lynne Stover from the Center. The teachers are preparing for a new required class in economics and personal finance that all Virginia high school graduates must complete, starting with the class of 2015 -- this year's 10th graders. Find out more at http://www.jmu.edu/cob/CoB2/CoB_News.shtml#cee

 

                    

More than 350 students from schools across the Shenandoah Valley attended the 15th annual GEM Fair, an entrepreneurship fair sponsored by the JMU Center for Economic Education and Shenandoah Valley Economic Education, Inc. GEM stands for “Global Entrepreneurship Marketplace,” reflecting the international simulation conducted each year at the GEM Fair.

Participating students have worked with teachers to create in-class mini-economies, each with its own currency. For the GEM Fair, students convert their money into holdings of the fair’s official currency, the Gem. Awards are given for innovative products, outstanding marketing and money design. Young Entrepreneurs of the Year are also selected.

Shenandoah Valley Economic Education is a nonprofit organization that promotes economic literacy in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia. JMU economic education is a sponsored program of SVEE.

 

                           

Dr. Ehsan Ahmed recognizes Anna Sanchez da Costa Faria at the annual graduation awards ceremony in Zane Showker Hall on May 4, 2012.  Ms. Faria was named the Outstanding Senior in Economics.

 

                            

Dr. Ehsan Ahmed recognizes Jeno Pizarro (center) and Andrew Kirk (right) at the annual graduation awards ceremony in Zane Showker Hall on May 4, 2012.  Both students were recipients of the Faculty Award for Academic Excellence in Economics.

 

                             

JMU's Robert Subrick (left) is welcomed by JMU's Barkley Rosser for the final seminar in the Spring 2012 Economics Seminar Series.  Subrick spoke on "Weber vs. Smith:  The Role of Religion in Economic Development."

 

                              

JMU's Barkley Rosser, right, welcomes Herbert Gintis of Santa Fe Institute for the JIN Lecture in Political Economy.  Gintis spoke on the subject, "The Evolution of Morality."

 

                              

JMU's Barkley Rosser (left) welcomes John S. Earle of George Mason University for his economics seminar presentation on "Comparative Institutional Analysis, Economics vs. Sociology, and Wage Contracts."

 

                              

JMU's Panayotis Giannakouros, left, is welcomed by Barkley Rosser, also of JMU, for his talk on "Mathematics for Post-Crises Economics," part of the Economics Spring Seminar Series.

 

                              

Emily Skarbek, of San Jose University, is welcomed by JMU's Barkley Rosser before her Economics Seminar presentation on "The Chicago Fire:  The Political Economy of Polycentric Disaster Relief."

 

                               

JMU's Bob Subrick, left, and Barkley Rosser, right, welcome Peter Leeson of George Mason University for his talk on, "The Invisible Hook: The Hidden Economics of Pirates."  Leeson's talk was the second of the Spring Economics Seminar Series.

                                

Anne Krueger, distinguished scholar and past president of the American Economic Association, is welcomed by JMU's Robert Subrick for her presentation on "The Need for Strengthened Multilateral Institutions in the Global Financial Crises," the last in the Fall Seminar Series.  Krueger's appearance was part of the JIN Lecture Series.

 

                                

Lawrence H. White, left, of George Mason University, is welcomed by JMU's Robert Subrick.  White's Fall Seminar Series talk was on the subject, "From Pleasant Deficit Spending to Unpleasant Sovereign Debt Crises."

 

                                 

Peter Grajzl, left, of Washington and Lee University, is welcomed by JMU's Robert Subrick for his Fall Seminar Series presentation, "Information Sharing and the Volume of Private Credit in Transition."

 

                              

Andrew Young of West Virginia University (left) is welcomed by JMU's Bob Subrick for a guest appearance at the Fall 2011 Economics Seminar Series.  Young spoke on his draft paper, "It's a Small World After All:  Internet Access, Emotional Contagion and Institutional Quality."

 

                                                

 

 

JMU's J. Robert Subrick, right, welcomes David Skarbek of Duke University for his talk on "Governance and Prison Gangs," the first of the 2011 Fall Economics seminar Series. 

 

 

                                

More than 400 elementary and middle school students convened at the JMU Convocation Center on May 27, 2011 for the annual Global Entrepreneurship Marketplace (GEM) Fair, which is sponsored by the JMU Center for Economic Education and Shenandoah Valley Economic Education, Inc.  The students made products in classroom societies and brought the products to JMU for the fair, a simulation of international trade.

                                   

 

JMU's Barkley Rosser welcomes Laura Razzolini from Virginia Commonwealth University for her talk on "Impure Altruism in Dictators' Giving," the final event in this spring's Economic Seminar Series.

 

                                    

 

JMU's Barkley Rosser welcomes Sandra Peart of the University of Richmond for her seminar presentation, "If Germs Could Spawn Research:  Reflections on Sympathy Between Subjects and Researchers."

 

                                

JMU's Barkley Rosser, right, welcomes Nevin Cavusoglu, also of JMU, to the spring Seminar Series for her talk on "A LISREL Growth Model on Direct and Indirect Effects Using Cross-Country Data."

                                 

 

JMU's Barkley Rosser, left, and Robert Subrick, right, welcome Dierdre N. McCloskey for the JIN Lecture in Political Economy.  McCloskey spoke on the subject, "Why Economics, Left or Right, Cannot Explain the Modern World."

 

                               

 

 

 

JMU's Barkley Rosser (left) welcomes Suraj Jacob of Justice Studies at JMU for his presentation on "Welfare Policy Regimes and Development:  A Natural Experiment from South India."  Rosser had kicked off the Spring 2011 Seminar Series on February 2 with his presentation, "Tales from the Editor's Crypt:  Accusations of Plagiarism, True, Uncertain and False."

 

 

                               

JMU's Barkley Rosser, left, welcomes Andre Neveu, also of JMU, for the final economics seminar in the Fall 2010 series.  Neveu spoke on "Fiscal Policy in a Heterogeneous Agent Macro Model."

 

                                

William S. Neilson, left, of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville, is welcomed as a guest speaker by JMU's Barkley Rosser.  Neilson spoke on his research paper, "The Effects of Group Membership in a Strategic Environment."

 

                                  

JMU's Barkley Rosser welcomes Christopher Coyne, left, of George Mason University, who spoke on "The Fatal Conceit of Foreign Intervention."

 

                                            

Dr. Ehsan Ahmed was the recipient of JMU's College of Business Community Service Award for 2010.

 

                               

JMU's Barkley Rosser welcomes M. Ali Khan, right, of Johns Hopkins University, who spoke on "The Theory of Perfect Competition Historically Contemplated."

 

                                

JMU's Barkley Rosser, left, joins Ehsan Ahmed in a presentation on "Financial Development and Bubbles:  The Case of the Karachi Stock Exchange of Pakistan" for the Fall 2010 economics   speakers series.

 

                                  

JMU's Barkley Rosser, right, welcomes noted "Black Swan" author, Nassim Taleb, to JMU for the second JIN Lecture in Political Economy.

 

                                

JMU's J. Robert Subrick, left, and Barkley Rosser, right, welcome Richard E. Wagner as the final economics seminar speaker for Spring 2010.  Wagner spoke on "A Macro Economy as an Emergent Ecology of Plans."

 

                                       Timur Kuran

Timur Kuran of Duke University, second from left, who spoke on "Islam and Underdevelopment: Legal Roots of Economic Stagnation in the Middle East," is pictured with JMU's Barkley Rosser (on left), Richard Fink, and JMU's Robert Subrick (on right).   

             

                                       

 

 

JMU's Barkley Rosser, right, welcomes David Stockman from the University of Delaware for his presentation on "Euler Equation Branching and Chaotic Dynamics."

 

 

 

   

 

Oleg Korenock of Virginia Commonwealth University, left, is welcomed by JMU's Barkley Rosser to the Economics 2010 Spring Seminar Series.  Korenock spoke on "Normal Price Shocks in Monopolistacally Competitive Markets:  An Experimental Analysis."

 

 

                Steven C. Smith (left)

 

 Steven C. Smith of George Washington University, left, is welcomed by JMU's Barkley Rosser to the Fall 2009 economics seminar series. Smith spoke on an innovative program to relieve "ultra poverty" in Bangladesh.

 

 

 

David Kreutzer 10-14-09

 

David Kreutzer, formerly a member of the JMU economics faculty and now senior policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation, prepares to speak on "The Economic Impact of Climate Legislation: Postage Stamps or Car Payments?" Kreutzer's appearance was part of the Fall 2009 speaker series in economics.
J.Barkley Rosser Kicks off Fall 2009 seminar series
J. Barkley Rosser, Jr. of James Madison University kicked off the Fall 2009 seminar series with his paper, "Nonlinear Dynamics of Urban and Regional Systems."

Prof. William Wood

JMU economics professor William Wood teaches upper-level
students about the use of mathematical methods to predict and forecast
economic data.

 

Horn, Jerome, J. Barkley Rosser

 

(left to right) Bob Horn and Bob Jerome are welcomed to the
Spring 2009 seminar series by J. Barkley Rosser.

 

Vladislav Kassiyev & Howard Wilhelm

 

Longtime JMU Economics Department Head Howard Wilhelm congratulates
Vladislav Kassiyev, 2009 winner of the Howard M. and Jane S. Wilhelm
Scholarship in Economics. Additional pictures of award recipients for 2009. 

 

Livermon receives award

 

Top, Economics department head, Ehsan Ahmed, right, congratulates Jefferson F. Livermon III, recipient of the Outstanding Senior in Economics award and, below, Matthew S. Spencer, recipient of the Faculty Award for Academic Excellence in Economics.

 

Spencer receives award

 

Peter Boettke seminar speaker

 

Barkley Rosser welcomes George Mason University's Peter Boettke to the JMU economics seminar series.

 

Seminar speaker Vernon Smith

 

Vernon L. Smith gets a JMU Economics t-shirt after delivering a lecture in the economics seminar series. Smith was named 2002 Nobel laureate in economics.

 

Barkley Rosser & Thomas Schelling

 

Barkley Rosser welcomes Thomas Schelling of the University of Maryland to JMU's economics seminar series. Schelling was named 2005 Nobel laureate in economics.

 

Sarah Midkiff helping with Gem Fair Spring 2009

 

JMU student assistant Sarah Midkiff helps with the annual GEM Fair sponsored by the Center for Economic Education.

 

GEM Fair Spring 2009

 

Hundreds of students from Shenandoah Valley schools convene
for the annual Global Enterpreneurship Marketplace Fair (GEM Fair) sponsored by the JMU Center for Economic Education.

 



JEBO Conference Hosts World's Leading Experts in Economic Complexity

The Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization (JEBO), an internationally recognized economics journal, and the JMU College of Business hosted a conference, “Transdisciplinary Perspectives on Economic Complexity” on May 16-17, 2008. The conference assembled experts in the areas of mathematics, physics and economics from Japan, Sweden, the Netherlands, France, Italy and other European countries. Read more about the JEBO conference.

 

 

 

Barkley Rosser and Marina Rosser introduce speakers and topics at the JEBO conference held at JMU in May. Both are professors of economics at JMU's College of Business.

 

J. Barkley Rosser and Marina Rosser introduce speakers and topics at the JEBO conference held at JMU in May 2008. Both are professors of economics at JMU's College of Business.