Roger Nils Folsom, Ph.D.
Professor Emeritus

Ph.D. in Economics, Claremont Graduate School, 1974.
M.A. in Economics, Claremont Graduate School, 1964.
A.B. in History, Stanford University, 1959.

Research Interest

Economic Theory: Public Choice, Journal of Post Keynesian Economics, Economic Inquiry, Quarterly Review of Economics and Business, Advertising and the Food System (symposium proceedings chapter), Econometrica, American Economist, Western Economic Journal.
Economic Policy: National Social Science Journal, The Freeman, Defending a Free Society (book chapter), Cato Institute Policy Analysis, Western Tax Review, National Tax Journal, Public Finance, and Federal Accountant.

Published in the Following Journals

ECON 1A - Principles of Macroeconomics
ECON 1B - Principles of Microeconomics
ECON 102 - Macroeconomic Analysis
ECON 202 - Graduate Seminar in Macroeconomic Analysis
ECON 104 - Mathematical Method in Economics
ECON 204 - Seminar in Mathematical Economics
ECON 206 - Managerial Economics

Biography

I taught on the San Jose State economics faculty from fall 1976 to spring 1999, including principles of both macro and microeconomics (Economics 1a and 1b), intermediate and graduate macroeconomics (Economics 102 and 202), mathematical economics (Economics 104 and 204), and --- although not recently --- graduate managerial economics for the College of Business MBA program. Additional teaching interests include domestic money and banking, international macroeconomic relationships, microeconomic theory, and public finance (Federal government tax policy), but the department did not need me to teach in those areas.

Before coming to San Jose, I taught at the U.S. Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, where my teaching included many of the areas above, and also microeconomic analysis applied to national defense (military cost-benefit analysis). Before that, while studying economics at Claremont Graduate School, I taught principles of economics at Pomona College. My economics teaching career began at Sunny Hills High School in Fullerton, Southern California.

Although in 1999 I retired from teaching at San Jose, I have most definitely not retired from economics.

My primary long run research interest is economic dynamics: mathematical models that describe and analyze how markets adjust to disequilibrium (demand not equal to supply) --- particularly models that include both flow and stock quantity variables, and wealth effects. But the evidence is that I am easily distracted: my research has included thinking and writing about a variety of issues in economic theory and in economic policy. My current and recent work includes the effect of money supply changes of different types on federal government budget deficits and on the macro economy; the determinants of international exchange rates; the effect of government size now on the future growth of government and of the macro economy; and the efficient size of government.

My earlier work examines international trade deficits and surpluses, the effect of uncertainty on the demand for money and other financial assets, dual equations of exchange (for introductory analyses of macroeconomic issues such as inflation and deflation, recessions, depressions, and economic growth), advertising as a barrier to entry, military conscription, voter behavior and public school spending, efficient tort liability rules, capital gains taxation, properties of mathematical functions used to estimate the costs of job accidents, polynomial matrices, conditions for the asymptotic stability of forward and backward difference and differential equations, the growth models of Domar and Harrod, some properties of the textbook macroeconomic consumption function, and government budgeting.

Most of this work was done in collaboration with, or at least significant help from, others.