INTRODUCING
THE
MASTER OF ARTS IN ECONOMICS
GLOBAL COMMERCE & FINANCE DEGREE PROGRAM
available starting Fall Semester 2009
Click here to download brochure
A DEGREE FOR AN INTERDEPENDENT WORLD
The worldwide financial crisis that began in 2008 provides dramatic evidence of the need for better financial management. The global finance concentration within Claremont Graduate University¹s MA program in economics is designed to help leaders in business or policy positions develop and apply the skills needed to avert crises and to manage them when they occur. It emphasizes not only financial, but also political issues central to the work of today’s business executive.
More than typical MBA programs, it offers each student exposure to multi-faceted, cutting-edge methods and integrated approaches to effective decision-making.
MULTI-FACETED CUTTING EDGE METHODS
This program offers excellent preparation for successful careers in business and financial institutions, consulting, and in governments, international organizations and NGOs, since it focuses on the key interrelationships among commerce, finance, and public policy.
The Master of Arts in Economics—Global Commerce and Finance (36 units) offered by the Department of Economics, School of Politics and Economics (SPE) at Claremont Graduate University offers more analytical rigor and emphasis on the interdependence among the economic and political environments and business and financial decision�]making than the typical MBA. The goal is to equip students to become organizational leaders who can assess economic, social, political, and commercial issues from a variety of complementary perspectives. This professional master’s degree draws on the contributions of SPE faculty in applied economics and financial analysis, predictive modeling, political economy, the new institutional economics, and behavioral and neuroeconomics and finance to give our students the advantage of seeing cutting�]edge methods applied to real world problems.
INTEGRATED APPROACHES FOR EFFECTIVE DECISION-MAKING
A key dimension of future business competition and the effectiveness of governmental, international and non�]profit organizations will be the ability to gather and analyze key information effectively and use it to make the right decisions. Such analytic factors go far beyond the use of the latest technology for information processing and mathematical modeling. These are important, but as the recent financial crises have demonstrated, they are not a substitute for asking the right questions. This requires a broader framework of understanding. Helping students master the key elements of this broader framework lies at the heart of our program in global commerce and finance.
We stress understanding of the key interrelationships among national and global level economic, political and financial interactions and their integration into the process of effective decision�]making. The goal is not to produce narrow experts in one specialty, but to provide the basic tools and insights in order to help our graduates interact productively with the experts and provide leadership for the organizations in which they work.
Both business and social issues are typically viewed through a variety of different lenses or mental models, that the effective leader is one who can converse across these different perspectives. Our focus on effective decision making runs throughout the curriculum and includes not only technical analysis, but also common biases and how to avoid them.
Students who do not already have a strong background in quantitative methods are required to begin the program in the first summer session in order to complete the two course sequence in quantitative methods before the fall semester begins. Elective courses for the program are also available during the summer.
CORE CURRICULUM
SPE351: The Global Political Economy
ECON350: Global Money & Finance
SPE471: Strategic Modeling for Politics, Economics & Business Decisions
SPE324: Economics of Management & Organizations
ECON337: Behavioral Finance & Risk Management
SPE385: Quantitative Methods
SPE386: Quantitative Methods II
Choose two (2) electives from the following courses:
SPE410 Foundations of Political Economy
ECON342 Asian Economic Development
ECON359 Finance & Development
SPE318 Seminar in Policy Analysis
ECON348 International Trade & Development
If you are interested in applying to this program, please contact Jeanine Kraybill, Recruiter at (909) 607-9101, or by email at spe@cgu.edu. You may also click on this link to request program information.
