Economics 18

Economics on a Broad Canvas

 

Professor Louis Putterman                                            Class meetings: T, Th 10:30-11:50

Office: Room 206 Robinson Hall                                   Office hours: T, Th 2:00-2:50 and by

Office tel.: x33837                                                                                            appointment

E-mail: Louis_Putterman@Brown.Edu

Home page: http://www.econ.brown.edu/fac/Louis_Putterman/

 

This freshman seminar will provide an opportunity to discuss the relationships between economics and the economy, on the one hand, and history, society, human well-being, and social values, on the other. 

 

The jumping-off point for shared discussion will be the book Dollars and Change: Economic in Context written by the professor.  Each of the six topics discussed in a chapter of that book will be the subject for discussion during roughly two weeks of class meetings. 

 

Course requirements are (a) attending class and participating in discussions, (b) reading the book and some related material (found in the references at the end of each chapter and by your own investigation) and writing a five or six page paper on four of the six topics, and (c) writing a final twelve to fifteen page paper on a fifth topic, which may be one of the remaining two course topics or another topic agreed to by the professor.

 

The four shorter papers are due no more than three class meetings following the completion of the unit they concern.  For example, if we complete topic one at the end of the fourth class meeting and you select topic one as one of the four (out of six) topics on which you will write a five page paper, your paper will be due at the seventh class meeting. 

 

A proposal for the final paper is due on March 2.

 

Basis of grading: 15% for class participation, 15% for each five page paper, 25% for final paper.  There will be no final exam.

 

Topics

 

1. The history of the economy from pre-modern times to the present.

 

  1. Human pre-history and the economy.
  2. The economies of the classical civilizations.
  3. The middle ages.
  4. The industrial revolution.
  5. Recent economic change.

 

 

2. The history and methodology of economics as a discipline.

 

  1. Issues in the scope and method of economics as a discipline.
  2. Classical economics.
  3. Marxian, historical, and institutionalist economics.
  4. Neoclassical economics.
  5. Varieties of contemporary economics.

 

3. Economic systems and their comparison.

 

  1. Capitalism as an economic system.
  2. The Soviet-type centrally planned economy.
  3. Market socialism.
  4. Transition from planned and reformed socialism to capitalism.
  5. Worker self-management and economic democracy.

 

4. Economic problems and prospects of less-developed countries.

 

  1. Basic facts about levels of economic development and comparative growth in the developed and developing worlds.
  2. Economic development in the post-World War II era and the alternatives of primary product exports, import substitute industrialization, and manufactured export promotion.
  3. Explaining differences in growth rates.
  4. Prospects for the future.

 

5. Normative and positive economics of inequality and redistribution.

 

  1. The normative/positive distinction.
  2. Alternative notions of what is fair.
  3. Empirical measures of inequality.
  4. Methods of redistribution.
  5. Political-economy of redistribution.

 

6. The economy and the quality of life.

 

  1. The concept of externalities applied to the physical environment and to psychological and subjective dimensions of the quality of life.
  2. The economy, economics, and environmental sustainability.
  3. The economy, human priorities, and human well-being.

i. Family

ii. Workplace

iii. The impact of economic organization on culture (i.e., ideas, values, etc.)

  1. Economics, the economy, and well-being: conclusions.