MATH 0010 - Intro to Special Topics

In 2010, there were 388 billionaires in the world whose combined wealth exceeded that of half the earth’s population. Today, that number is under 25, and all indications are that it continues to decrease. The enormous concentration of wealth and the unchecked growth of inequality have emerged as crucial social issues of our time. To what extent can mathematics help shed light on this problem? In this interdisciplinary course, we will learn to think about wealth distribution in a quantitative fashion. We will learn the difference between wealth, money and income, and we will learn how these things are measured by central banks, governments and international institutions. We will survey historical thought on this subject from mathematical, economic and philosophical perspectives. We will ask questions such as,

• Can inequality be quantified? What properties should a mathematical measure of inequality have to capture our intuitive notion of the concept?
• Can idealized mathematical models, such as agent-based models, describe the current distribution of wealth with any accuracy?
• Are market economies naturally stable, or is continuous government intervention needed to keep them stable?
• What ethical tools exist to determine the morality of decisions that societies make about wealth distribution and wealth inequality?
• Should societies attempt to manage their levels of inequality? If so, what public policy tools do they have at their disposal for doing so?

If not, what, if anything, should be done about runaway concentration of wealth? What we learn along the way will raise deep mathematical, economic, and ethical questions about the way that human society has chosen to allocate limited resources amongst people and populations. Our emphasis will be on how mathematical thinking contributes to this critically important conversation.

Some description will be given of available databases for the study of wealth distribution, including that maintained by the Federal Reserve and the U.S. Census Bureau, as well as international data available, for example from the World’s Top Incomes Database.

This is an online/virtual synchronous course that follows the published schedule of course meetings and requires attendance at all sessions. Tufts virtual courses are designed to provide high-quality, flexible, and interactive courses to Tufts and visiting students. For more information about virtual course policies and expectations, please visit https://universitycollege.tufts.edu/online/online-learning.

Basic Enrollment Requirements: None.

Refund Policy: The refund policy for Courses at Tufts offerings is dependent on the type and the instruction mode of the offering: whether the course is in-person, virtual synchronous, virtual asynchronous, or a workshop or short course. Please refer to the section details to confirm the instruction mode and type of offering as well as any exceptions to the standard refund policy. The refund policies for each offering type and instruction mode are viewable here: https://universitycollege.tufts.edu/policies/refunds#Courses-at-Tufts-(Academic-Year--Summer-Session)

Remission Eligible: Yes; first day of term; all university policies apply.

This section is open to high school students who are rising 11th or 12th grade students. High School students will be prompted to submit an additional application after enrollment including: a high school transcript, letter of recommendation, parental permission, and other required consent forms.

Python is a general-purpose and is a popular choice as a first language because it is concise and easy to read, and it is also a good language to have in any programmer's stack as it can be used for everything from web development to software development and scientific applications. In this class, you will learn about both fundamental programming concepts and the Python programming language.

This is an online/virtual synchronous course that follows the published schedule of course meetings and requires attendance at all sessions. Tufts virtual courses are designed to provide high-quality, flexible, and interactive courses to Tufts and visiting students. For more information about virtual course policies and expectations, please visit https://universitycollege.tufts.edu/online/online-learning.

Basic Enrollment Requirements: None.

Refund Policy: The refund policy for Courses at Tufts offerings is dependent on the type and the instruction mode of the offering: whether the course is in-person, virtual synchronous, virtual asynchronous, or a workshop or short course. Please refer to the section details to confirm the instruction mode and type of offering as well as any exceptions to the standard refund policy. The refund policies for each offering type and instruction mode are viewable here: https://universitycollege.tufts.edu/policies/refunds#Courses-at-Tufts-(Academic-Year--Summer-Session)

Remission Eligible: Yes; first day of term; all university policies apply.

This section is open to high school students who are rising 11th or 12th grade students. Students who are rising 10th graders may opt to take one of Tufts' Pre-College Hallmark courses. High School students will be prompted to submit an additional application after enrollment including: a high school transcript, letter of recommendation, parental permission, and other required consent forms.