Federal Reserve Challenge In this course we will study the tools of monetary policy to achieve the Federal Reserve’s dual mandate of maximum employment and stable prices.  We will use macroeconomic theory, data, and cutting-edge research to analyze current economic conditions.  The class will formulate a monetary policy recommendation for the U.S. central bank, emulating the Federal Open Market Committee, and five members of the class will present this recommendation in the annual Fed Challenge Competition at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston.  For a final project, each student will design their own mock monetary policy briefing and present it to the class.

Globalization and US Inequality Does globalization increase inequality in the United States?  In this course we will study how trade, automation, immigration, and financial integration relate to the distribution of income, wealth, and employment in the US over the last century.  In the first part of the course we will study theoretical frameworks to shed light on this question.  In the second part, we will turn to the data and read peer-reviewed articles, discussing evidence for and against globalization increasing US inequality.  Lastly, we will debate policy prescriptions, to address these issues.

Introductory Macroeconomics  An introduction to macroeconomics: a consideration of macroeconomic problems such as unemployment and inflation. Theories and policy proposals of Keynesian and classical economists are contrasted. Topics considered include: banking, financial institutions, monetary policy, taxation, government spending, fiscal policy, tradeoffs between inflation and unemployment in both the short run and the long run, and wage-price spirals.

Senior Research Workshop II In this second semester of the senior research workshop sequence, the focus is on the execution of the research plan developed in ECON 0701.  Most instruction is now one-on-one but the workshop will still meet as a group to discuss and practice the presentation of results in various formats (seminars, poster sessions, et cetera) to the rest of the workshop and others in the college and broader communities. Feedback and critiques from such presentations will be incorporated into the project, which will culminate in a research paper in the style of an economics journal article.

Senior Research Workshop I In this first semester, students will design and begin their projects. Emphasis will be on designing a novel research question (while making the case for its importance) and an appropriate strategy for answering it. This requires immersion in the academic literature on the topic. General research principles and tools will be taught in class, as a group, while those specific to individual projects will be covered in one-on-one meetings. By the end of the term, students will outline their plan for completing the project, including demonstrating that it is a feasible research question for which the necessary information (e.g., data or source materials) is available or can be generated by the student (e.g., lab or other experiment).

Erin Wolcott

Reviews and ratings for Erin Wolcott at Middlebury College.Erin Wolcott teaches Federal Reserve Challenge, Globalization & US Inequality, Intro Macroeconomics and more.  Explore top rated instructors and find the best for you.Is Erin Wolcott good ? Find out on MiddCourses.

I really liked professor Wolcott! I thought the class was useful and she made many of the concepts very real. My only complaint is the the homework and practice exams were nothing like the real ones. I aced all the homeworks and practice exams and got a 71 on our second midterm. I had a very incorrect impression about how I understood the content.

This course was a good introduction to economics. Professor Wolcott was a great teacher and made the course both interesting and relevant to the real world. I do think she would be better to take in a higher level econ where her expertise translates into the material better, but still this class was one of my more favorite of the major. 

The class was very useful and a necessary step. Wolcott is definitely knowledgable but when she explains things, she tends to leave necessary things out. The exams were fine and the reading wasn't that necessary as she went over everything you need to know in class. 