Business & Technology Courses
The courses listed below are not all offered each semester. They are offered on a rotating basis and by faculty availability. Please check the Class Search for classes being offered in the current semesters.
A special note about online courses for prospective distance learning students who will not reside in Texas: The United States Department of Education(USDOE) published regulations in the Federal Register (Chapter 34, § 600.9(c)) that require all institutions of higher education to seek authorization in every state (and territory) in which they operate, physically or virtually, in order to maintain eligibility for federal financial aid. TCU’s authorization status can be viewed by state at http://www.cte.tcu.edu/distance-learning/distance-learning-state-authorization/. We can ONLY accept students from states where we are registered (showing in purple on the state-authorization map).
The ignorance surrounding economic issues in our country is frightening. One regularly sees misstatements in the press regarding such important concepts as Social Security, the national debt and deficit, unemployment, the business cycle, the stock market, and inflation. The goal of this course is to explain these and other economic phenomena in clear terms that the non-economist can easily understand.
Computer simulation models will be used to learn important economic concepts and to analyze current economic problems. Students will assume the role of economic policymakers and as such will initiate policy changes and examine their effects on various aspects of the economy, such as the national output level, the inflation rate, the unemployment rate, and the distribution of income. No prior computer experience is necessary.
Basic concepts and tools used by economists and applications of those tools to analyze contemporary economic and social issues will be discussed. Included among the issues will be drug prohibition, tax reform, Social Security, the minimum wage, and environmental protection.
This is a non-technical introduction to what a computer is, how it functions, and how they are used in today's society.
An introduction to the theoretical evolution of the international economy as a subdiscipline within the field of international relations. The course discusses the classical economists, Marxist theory and neo-Keynesian theories of growth and capital accumulation and distribution, then focuses on first, second and third world perspectives on the international political economy. Also studied are the roles of multinational corporations, the International Monetary Fund, the politics of international trade, the role of foreign aid, the third world debt crisis, the impact of the technological revolution, the emergence of a multi-polar world, and the ramifications of Japanese and German economic resurgence for “the new world order.”
The evolution of the American business system is examined with emphasis on four basic themes: the impact of technological and managerial change, the interaction between business and society, the position of the businessman and businesswoman in society, and the constantly-changing relationships between business and government. Special attention is devoted to the contemporary business scene.
This course explains the factors affecting domestic economic growth, the business cycle, the stock market, social security financing, federal debt financing, and third world development. It does so by focusing on a common theme throughout: the role of capital (physical and financial). As an economics course, emphasis is on policy questions rather than investment or business planning.
One of the least understood features of our economy is the nature of capital (physical and financial). Yet, it plays a vital role in creating present employment and future productive capacity, and it grabs headlines through stock market fluctuations and international financial crises. This course both arms the student to differentiate among the confusing variety of uses of the term capital and explains what it can and cannot do in terms of world and domestic economic growth, social security financing, federal debt financing, and third world development.
The study of economics involves the learning of abstract theories about the workings of the economic system and the study of various policy tools that may be used to guide the economy toward specified targets. The course will focus on the historical development of the theories developed to explain our major economic issues, on the controversies surrounding these theories, and on the different policy conclusions that arise from the different theories. The major economic issues on which the course will focus include inflation, unemployment, business cycles, economic growth and development, international trade deficits and surpluses, federal government budget deficits and surpluses, income distribution, and globalization.