Economic growth is the engine of the business world, creating jobs, spurring investment, and forging global relationships across national boundaries. In order to excel as business journalists, students need to understand the economic context of the business world they seek to cover. They need to be knowledgeable about key economic policy issues and know where to find and how to assess economic data.

Topics such as business cycles, fiscal and monetary policy and globalization will be explored in depth. Students will also study economic indicators--what they are, how they reflect and influence economic activity, and how they are reported in the media. They will learn where to find economic reports from the government, think tanks and other sources and how to read those reports critically to ensure that various points of view (corporate, labor, investors) are represented in their reporting.

The goal is not to train students as economists, but to teach them enough about the terminology, concepts and policy issues to enable them to serve as reliable interpreters for the general public. The weekly classes will be balanced between teaching the economic content of the course and giving students the opportunity to practice reporting and writing on those topics.

Objectives:

• Interpret economic statistics reliably and with context
• Identify emerging economic trends
• Explain economic policy issues
• Analyze economic controversies fairly