Department of Economics

The American University Department of Economics supports a pluralist approach to economics that embraces mainstream and heterodox perspectives and emphasizes policy applications. We believe that theoretical understanding, empirical investigation, and policy analysis are enriched by study of the evolution of economic ideas and economic institutions.

Our mission is to provide undergraduate and graduate education, and faculty research, that enrich economic analysis and policy by implementing pluralist analytical approaches grounded in historical and empirical context. Offering graduate and undergraduate degrees, minors, and certificates in a heterodox atmosphere in addition to the Program on Gender Analysis and Info-Metrics Institute.

Graduate degrees:
MS Econ (6 tracks)
Online MS (2 tracks: Applied Economics & Data Science)
PhD Economics
Undergraduate degrees:
BA Economics
BS Economics
BS Mathematics & Economics

Recent Publications

Jon D. Wisman, Why We Must Work: Economic Freedom, Fulfilling Work, and Workplace Democracy (Palgrave Macmillan, 2026).

Boris Gershman and Ameesh Upadhyay. "Fragmentation or Inequality: Ethnic Divisions and Conflict in Sub-Saharan Africa." Journal of Comparative Economics, 2026, forthcoming.

Boris Gershman. "Witchcraft Beliefs and Subjective Well-Being." In Economics, Religion and Public Policy. Edited by Vladimir Maltsev and Nirvikar Singh. World Scientific, 2026.

"The Legacy of Carmen Diana Deere: Gender, Households, and Market Integration—An Introduction," Mieke Meurs and Günseli Berik. Journal of Agrarian Change (2026), 26(1).

Mathy, Gabriel, and Stephen Sun. "Did Henry Ford Cause the Recession of 1926–1927? A Test of the Granular Hypothesis." Southern Economic Journal 92, no. 2 (2025): 587-605.

Gomez-Gonzalez, Patricia, and Gabriel Mathy. "The world’s first global safe asset: British public debt, 1718-1913." Explorations in Economic History 97 (2025): 101679.

Mathy, Gabriel, and Yongchen Zhao. "Could Diffusion Indexes Have Forecasted the Great Depression?." Journal of Forecasting 44, no. 2 (2025): 320-338.

“Care for Older Persons in Brazil,” Mieke Meurs, Rafaela Rodrigues and Cristina Vieceli. Sociedad y Economía (2025), vol. 56.

“The consumption side of trade shocks: Inequality dynamics and luxury imports,” Vinicius Curti Cicero & Laura Heras-Recuero. Journal of Development Economics (2026), vol. 179, 103663.

"Equity prices, market power, and optimal corporate tax policy," Ignacio González, Juan A. Montecino, Joseph E. Stiglitz. European Economic Review (2025), vol. 176, 105039.

"Are jobless recoveries history? Okun’s law, insufficient stimulus, and slow recoveries." Mathy, Gabriel. Review of Keynesian Economics 12, no. 4 (2024): 435-452.

"Could Diffusion Indexes Have Forecasted the Great Depression?" Mathy, Gabriel, and Yongchen Zhao. Journal of Forecasting 44, no. 2 (2025): 320-338.

“Public Opinion, Racial Bias, and Labor Market Outcomes in the USA," Kaveh Majlesi, Silvia Prina and Paul Sullivan. Nature Human Behavior, 8, June 2024, pp. 1493–1505.

"Structural Change, Elite Capitalism, and the Emergence of Labour Emancipation," Quamrul Ashraf, Francesco Cinnirella, Oded Galor, Boris Gershman & Erik Hornung. Review of Economic Studies, 92 (2), March 2025, pp. 808–836

"Unit cost expectations: Firms’ perspectives on inflation," Brent Meyer & Xuguang Simon Sheng. European Economic Review (2025), vol. 174, 104955, pp. 1-22.

See more at

News & Events

The Global Majority E-Journal, Volume 17, Number 1 (June 2026) is now available.

The special themed section of International Journal of Care and Caring guest edited by Professors Mieke Meurs and Mahmud Yesuf, “Care economies in context: exploring the structures and key gaps in care economies in the Global South” is published! In addition to the editors’ introduction, the special themed section includes 4 articles by AU Global Scholars and their co-authors. The Global Scholars visited the Program on Gender Analysis in Economics (PGAE) with generous support from the Women’s Rights Program of the Open Society Foundation.

On February 20, 2026, American University signed a partnership with the University of World Economy and Diplomacy (UWED) in Uzbekistan to launch a 1+1 Dual Master’s Degree in Economics.

PhD alumna Sarah Oliver published her dissertation chapter on international trade in services in the Journal of International Economics (2026).

Congratulations to Amy Burnett Cross (CAS/ECON/PhD '25) on receiving honorable mention in the prestigious Upjohn Institute dissertation competition. Amy's dissertation shows how U.S. military recruitment policy shaped women's participation in the civilian labor market.

We are delighted to announce that Professor Xuguang Simon Sheng has been appointed Co-Editor-in-Chief of the International Review of Economics & Finance (IREF). IREF publishes high-quality theoretical and empirical work. Learn more about the journal’s Aims & Scope.

IMPA in the News

Trump's Cuts to Science Funding Could Hurt U.S. Economy, Study Shows IMPA research finding that just a 25 percent cut in federal support for research and development will lead to a 3.8 percent long run decline in the US economy was the basis for this week in a New York Times article on the long-run impact of current cuts in grant funding to universities across the country. Learn more by reading the full IMPA report.

The report follows on the heels of IMPA’s 2025 spring colloquium on “Tax Policy, Inequality, and the Future of the American Economy,” which highlighted the potential impact of current tax reform proposals on inequality. IMPA has issued several reports relevant to the upcoming tax debate.

IMPA Co-Directors published an op-ed “Corporations Help Economy but Need to Pay Fair Share of Taxes."