Master of Arts in Applied Economics
Economic analysis is no longer relegated to academicians and a small number of PhD-trained specialists. Instead, economics has become an increasingly ubiquitous as well as rapidly changing line of inquiry that requires people who are skilled in analyzing and interpreting economic data, and then using it to effect decisions about national and global markets and policy, involving everything from health care to monetary policy, from foreign aid to the environment, and from financial risk to real risk.
Advances in computing and the greater availability of timely data through the Internet have created an arena which demands skilled statistical analysis, guided by economic reasoning and modeling. This combination is in high demand by government agencies, congressional committees, international lending institutions, trade associations, private businesses, including those in the financial services sector, and private consulting firms.
Graduate Degree Program
The MA in Applied Economics is a 10-course, part-time degree program offered evenings at the Washington, DC Center of The Johns Hopkins University (near DuPont Circle). All undergraduate majors are welcome; not nearly all our students have majored in Economics. Admissions are rolling, and one can begin any Summer, Fall, or Spring semester.
The program develops skill in economic reasoning, and in formulating and estimating economic models through the use of econometrics and other quantitative techniques. This is accomplished by a rigorous and demanding curriculum, and a talented and dedicated staff of instructors. The foundation for intelligent economic reasoning is laid with Microeconomic and Macroeconomic Theory and Policy; in turn, Statistics and Econometrics lay the foundation for empirical analysis. Econometric skills are deepened by taking an advanced econometrics course, either Microeconometrics or Macroeconometrics. A large and diverse array of electives spans the subfields of economics, and provides additional experience in economic modeling and econometric estimation.
Illustrative Curricula
Students tailor their own individual course of study. The program's electives in Quantitative Methods can be "plugged in" to the curricula that students build. The following illustrates the great substantive flexibility of the program:
Public Policy - For contributing to any level of government policy formulation and policy making. Choose from among a rich variety of electives: Economics of Industry and Public Policy, two courses in Public Economics, Economics of Health Care, Environmental and Resource Economics,Economics of Labor, Law and Economics, and Political Economy. Cost-Benefit Analysis provides conceptual and quantitative tools essential for contemporary microeconomic policy formulation and evaluation. Students complete Microeconometrics to take full advantage of the program.
Business Economics - For those who plan to work as economists in the private sector, breadth of training is highly desirable, and our program provides it. Choose from among Monetary Economics, Topics in Macroeconomics, International Trade, International Finance, Public Economics: Taxation, Economics of Industry & Public Policy, and Financial Economics. The relevant quantitative tools are found in Macroeconometrics and Macroeconomic Forecasting. Salient business skills from Accounting, Marketing, and/or Organization can be acquired or deepened by taking up to six or eight credits [equivalent of up to two of our courses] at the nearby Carey Business School.
International Economics and Development - For gaining an analytical and quantitative perspective on global issues: Substantive courses include International Finance, International Trade, and Economic Development and Growth. Here too, Cost-Benefit Analysis provides essential conceptual and quantitative tools. Microeconometrics and/or Macroeconometrics further develop the corresponding quantitative skills. A student can round out the subject in-house, or specialize further by taking up to two electives at the nearby School of Advanced International Studies.
Environmental Economics - For contributing to efficient policy. Students take Environmental and Resource Economics, Cost-Benefit Analysis, and Microeconometrics and/or Macroeconometrics in the Applied Economics Program, and choose up to two electives [three, if one is a science course] from the AAP Environmental Sciences and Policy Program, in-house.
Health Economics - Bring to bear the tools of economics in this burgeoning field. Students take Economics of Health Care, Cost-Benefit Analysis, and Microeconometrics in the Applied Economics Program, and choose up to six or eight credits [equivalent of up to two of our courses] from an approved set of science, quantitative, and policy courses in the part-time Master of Public Health Program at the Bloomberg School, offered on-line.
Quantitative Methods - Any or all of our courses offering training in advanced econometrics and empirical methods - Microeconometrics, Macroeconometrics, Macroeconomic Forecasting, and Cost-Benefit Analysis - are sincerely recommended for consideration to non-degree seeking students and Degree Candidates alike. Prerequisites can be taken course-by-course, too. All of these courses will become available on-line from Fall, 2009.
For more information on the courses offered, visit Course Descriptions.