TEACHING

Philosophy and Practice

COURSE: ECONOMICS OF CRIME

Are "common criminals" actually rational economic actors? Which criminal justice policies most efficiently mitigate the social costs associated with criminal activity? What is the social intent of incarcerating someone and are we effective in achieving that goal? This seminar explores the rational basis for understanding criminal behavior and the growing body of evidence that both relies on and supports such a viewpoint. Rather than framing the behavior of individuals involved in crime as fundamentally different from our own, we consider how environmental, economic, and legal constraints and incentives can lead to criminal activity that is individually rational. We examine empirical evidence of the effectiveness of law enforcement, correctional, and social policies, then use those insights to further understand the role of rational choice in criminal behavior, along with its limitations.

COURSE: LAW AND ECONOMICS

This course provides a broad overview of how economic thought relates to legal statutes and institutions. Broad legal topics include property law, contract law, tort law, and criminal law. One pervasive theme of the course is the idea that most criminal misconduct can be justified (insofar as being individually rational) and understood using the basic microeconomic principles of rational choice. Another will be to recognize the limiting assumptions inherent to economic thought as it pertains to this topic and consider the consequent implications for determining what constitutes a fair and just legal system.

COURSE: PUBLIC ECONOMICS

The central goal of this class is to develop a set of tools for analyzing the role that government plays in the economy and the lives of its citizens. Is government intervention in the markets inherently detrimental? Why not? We will evaluate the rationale for government intervention in a market economy and study the impact of government expenditure programs and taxation systems on the welfare and behavior of the citizenry.

PHILOSOPHY

It is a fundamental responsibility of those who seek knowledge to share that knowledge. I see the classroom as having a specific function within this overall objective. It is not a venue for sharing the facts, assumptions, or outcomes of economic thought, which can be listed and defined in text. The great challenge of the classroom is to impart deeper understanding of the fundamental concepts by which those facts are derived; the rationale and implications of the assumptions given; or the import and limitations of the given outcomes.

PRACTICE

Jonathan has broad experience teaching across the spectrum of upper and lower division undergraduate economics courses. At Bates, he instructs courses in Microeconomics, Law and Economics, and Public Economics. He also has four years of experience assisting in the instruction of graduate level core micro theory. Below is a sample of evaluation comments from three different type of classes taught by Jonathan: the first as the course instructor, second as teaching assistant for graduate micro theory, and the last as teaching assistant for an undergraduate principles class.