Paul Sommers
Paige-Wright Professor of Economics
- Office
- Munroe Hall 308
- Tel
- (802) 443-5325
- psommers@middlebury.edu
- Office Hours
- On leave
Paul M. Sommers is the Paige-Wright Professor of Economics at Middlebury College. He received his Ph.D. from the University of California at San Diego (1976).
Professor Sommers has written on economic growth, economic demography, public finance issues, and the economics of sports. He is the editor of Welfare Reform in America: Perspectives and Prospects (Kluwer-Nijhoff) and Diamonds Are Forever: The Business of Baseball (The Brookings Institution). He is also the author of the Instructor’s Manual for Edwin Mansfield’s Microeconomics: Theory and Applications.
For the last 43 years Professor Sommers has taught courses in economic statistics, (introductory and intermediate-level) microeconomic theory, and a senior seminar on the economics of professional sports. He is recipient of an Outstanding Teacher Award at the University of California at San Diego (1981) and he shared first prize in a national essay contest on welfare reform sponsored by the Institute of Socioeconomic Studies (1985). He is a member of the American Economic Association and the Atlantic Economic Society. He has contributed roughly 230 articles to professional journals, many of which are co-authored with (about 260) former Middlebury College students.
Courses Taught
ECON 0111
Economic Statistics
Course Description
Economic Statistics (formerly ECON 0210)
An introduction to the discipline of statistics as a science of understanding and analyzing
data with an emphasis on applications to economics. Key topics include descriptive statistics, probability distributions, sampling, random variables, the Central Limit Theorem, estimation, hypothesis testing, p-values, and linear regression. Students will be introduced to a statistical programming language. A weekly one-hour lab is part of this course in addition to three hours of class meetings per week. (Formerly ECON 0210) (Not open to students who have taken ECON 0210, MATH 0116, MATH 0310, or PSYC 0201.) 3 hrs. lect., 1 hr. lab
Terms Taught
Requirements
ECON 0155
Intro Microeconomics
Course Description
Introductory Microeconomics
An introduction to the analysis of such microeconomic problems as price formation (the forces behind demand and supply), market structures from competitive to oligopolistic, distribution of income, and public policy options bearing on these problems. 3 hrs. lect.
Terms Taught
Requirements
ECON 0210
Economic Statistics
Course Description
Economic Statistics
Basic methods and concepts of statistical inference with an emphasis on economic applications. Topics include probability distributions, random variables, simple linear regression, estimation, hypothesis testing, and contingency table analysis. A weekly one-hour lab is part of this course in addition to three hours of class meetings per week. Credit is not given for ECON 0210 if the student has taken MATH 0116, or MATH 0310, or PSYC 0201 previously or concurrently. (ECON 0150 or ECON 0155) 3 hrs. lect., 1 hr. lab
Terms Taught
Requirements
ECON 0485
The Economics of Sports
Course Description
The Economics of Sports
This is a survey course of topics illustrating how microeconomic principles apply to the sports industry. Topics covered will include the industrial organization of the sports industry (notably, issues of competitive balance and the implications of monopoly power), the public finance of sports (notably, the impact teams have on host municipalities), and labor issues related to sports (including player worth and discrimination). The prerequisites for this course are meant to ensure that students can both understand fundamental economic concepts and present the results of econometric research as they apply to the sports industry. (ECON 0111 (formerly ECON 0210) and ECON 0211 and ECON 0255) 3 hrs. sem.
Terms Taught
ECON 0500
Upcoming
Individual Special Project
Course Description
Individual Special Project
If you choose to pursue an area that we do not offer or go in depth in an area already covered, we recommend the Individual Special Project option. These ECON 0500 proposals MUST be passed by the entire department and are to be submitted to the chair by the first Friday of fall and spring semester, respectively. The proposals should contain a specific description of the course contents, its goals, and the mechanisms by which goals are to be realized. It should also include a bibliography. According to the College Handbook, ECON 0500 projects are a privilege open to those students with advanced preparation and superior records in their fields. A student needs to have a 3.5 or higher G.P.A. in Economics courses taken at Middlebury in order to pursue an Individual Special Project. ECON 0500 does not count towards the major or minor requirements.
Terms Taught
IPEC 0700
Upcoming
Intl.Pol.&Economics SR. Thesis
Course Description
Senior Thesis
(Approval Required)
Terms Taught