| CODE | ECN2320 | ||||||
| TITLE | History of Economic Thought | ||||||
| UM LEVEL | 02 - Years 2, 3 in Modular Undergraduate Course | ||||||
| MQF LEVEL | Not Applicable | ||||||
| ECTS CREDITS | 4 | ||||||
| DEPARTMENT | Economics | ||||||
| DESCRIPTION | This study-unit is designed to provide an introduction to the contributions of major economic thinkers of the West. Students will examine the origins of ideas that continue to support the framework of economic theory. In addition, the study-unit will highlight reasons for controversies which have arisen among economists as the discipline evolved. Economic theories can into being in an eco-system and a particular context and it is therefore important for students to be aware of how and why economists developed their theories in response to the changing environment they operated in. Students will consider various ideas as their originators first presented them; and they will also follow the impact of those ideas as they were applied and developed by others. As part of this endeavor, students will explore the historical circumstances under which theories arose. The relationship between the thinker and his subject of inquiry is a dominant theme of the study-unit. Study-unit Aims • Evolution of pre-Classical economics – feudal system, mercantilism, emergence of capitalist system; • The Classical Period – Adam Smith, Utility, Population, Ricardo, John Stuart Mill and the beginning of economic policy; • Challenges to Economic Orthodoxy – Karl Marx, Marxism; • The Neoclassical era – Cournot, Alfred Marshall, Walras, Pareto, Microeconomic foundations, welfare economics; • Twentieth Century Paradigms – Keynes, Monetarism, Rational Expectations, Competition Economics, the Austrian School, Public Choice and Regulation; • Economics Today – Development Paradigms, Financial Markets and Regulation, Economic Governance. Learning Outcomes 1. Knowledge & Understanding: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to know: The history of economic thought; The inter-linkage between reality and theory; The theories put forward by the main economic thinkers. 2. Skills: By the end of the study-unit the student will be able to think critically and analyse the current economic environment in the light of existing theories. Main Text/s and any supplementary readings • Mueller, Public Choice, Cambridge • Drazen, Political Economy in Macroeconomics, Princeton • Dixit, The Making of Economic Policy, MIT Press • Persson & Tabellini, Political Economics: Explaining Economic Policy, MIT Press |
||||||
| STUDY-UNIT TYPE | Lecture | ||||||
| METHOD OF ASSESSMENT |
|
||||||
| LECTURER/S | Philip Von Brockdorff |
||||||
|
The University makes every effort to ensure that the published Courses Plans, Programmes of Study and Study-Unit information are complete and up-to-date at the time of publication. The University reserves the right to make changes in case errors are detected after publication.
The availability of optional units may be subject to timetabling constraints. Units not attracting a sufficient number of registrations may be withdrawn without notice. It should be noted that all the information in the description above applies to study-units available during the academic year 2025/6. It may be subject to change in subsequent years. |
|||||||