But you have speed far greater. You can climb



Professor Ravi BhandariSpring 2015Email:rbhandar@stmarys-ca.eduOH: TuTh 1-2pm Dryden Hall Econ 102: History of Economic ThoughtI assume readers are willing to learn something new and therefore to think for themselves. By Karl Marx (1864)…trying to make ends meet, You are slave to the money then you die…Bittersweet Symphony, The VervePractical men, who believe themselves to be quite exempt from any intellectual influences, are usually the slaves of some defunct economist. Madmen in authority, who hear voices in the air, are distilling their frenzy from some academic scribbler of a few years back.John Maynard Keynes (1934)A study of the history of ideas is a necessary preliminary to the emancipation of the mind.John Maynard Keynes (1936)Teachers or students who attempt to act upon the theory that the most recenttreatise is all they need will soon discover that they are making things unnecessarily difficult for themselves. Unless that recent treatise itself presents a minimum of historical aspects, no amount of correctness, originality, rigor, or elegance will prevent a sense of lacking direction and meaning from spreading among the students…By Joseph Schumpeter in History of Economic Analysis (1954)If there is no history, there is no story. And no time, no word. For then there is nothing for a word to be about, a word Being frozen Time only. . . By Robert Penn Warren, from Now and ThenNo speed of wind or water rushing by But you have speed far greater. You can climb Back up a stream of radiance to the sky, And back through history up the stream of time. And you were given this swiftness, not for haste Nor chiefly that you may go where you will, But in the rush of everything to waste That you may have the power of standing still-- Off any still or moving thing you say. By Robert Frost, The Master SpeedCourse OverviewThe course will be divided into 3 parts--one each for the 3 major figures we will be studying. Treating the history of thought in this way--as a procession of great books or great thinkers--has some limitations; it neglects many important figures and it neglects the reality that there are important social and political forces which determine what is "proper" economic thought. Nonetheless, I am convinced that our approach is the best place to begin, given the enormous possibilities such a subject material spanning over two-hundred years poses. Whatever else is true of the history of ideas, you cannot truly deal with it until you are familiar with these canonical and foundational texts. The three thinkers we have chosen are actually central to the mainstream of economics today (even if by explicit omission or in reaction to) and should provide you an appreciation of what economics is all about, how we got to where we are, and what possibilities lie ahead.To be clear, this is intensive in reading, writing, and seminar-style discussion. This is not a strict seminar though, in the sense that (1) I will lecture on occasion to pull main ideas together and transition to the next great thinker; and (2) the reading is not restricted to primary readings of the Big Three, but you will be exposed to simultaneously some of the most influential interpretations through secondary readings. For most of you, this is likely the first time you have endeavored on such an active intellectual journey based on critical thinking and a significant amount of writing in the discipline of economics. In these respects, the course by nature is very demanding, lots of tough reading, and lots of critical thinking and writing (and rewriting!). In fact, this course builds on English 5, a prerequisite, just as Econ 3, 4, and 106 (and preferably Econ 105) drawing connections between strategies you have learned thus far and the particular economic methods of research and writing within the discipline of economics. All of the learning in the course culminates in a final research paper of 15-20 pages comparing and contrasting the Big Three on a specific topic of which you can choose (see later section “Paper Topics”).Course Motivation and GoalsThis course is designed as a last semester course in the major of economics or as a last semester course for sociology, political science, or history. It is especially designed for those students looking for the direction and meaning of the economics they have already studied. To do so though, you need the power to stand still. In the post-modern world this idea will perhaps seem paradoxical to you. Why should I learn to stand still? I want to finish my requirements and move on in my life!The purpose of the course, however, is not to teach you immobility; rather its purpose is to give you the power to stand still. If you are an economics major I want to provide you with the ability and desire to critically examine the ideas you are learning to use. If you are not an economics major I want to give you the ability to understand what modern economics is about and the controversies it entails. In either case, I want to help you to understand where the ideas of economics come from, how they are used, and what they can and cannot do. You should leave the course with a better understanding of what types of social problems economists have tried to address, how the models they use have changed, and what types of disagreements exist among different schools of thought and across historical eras. If the course is successful, your new understanding of economics will give you the power to stand still. That is, it will give you the knowledge and perspective to be able to stand back and think clearly about what economic analysis is, and more importantly, what it is not.What you do with this power is entirely up to you. Some of you may find the history of ideas fascinating and enjoy the course strictly from this perspective. Others may use the course as a means of finding out why and how economics differs from philosophy, political science and sociology. Others will use the course to become better practicing economists. Still others will begin to engage with changing ideas over time, and attempt to discover what kind of economist you are and what are the strengths and weaknesses of such thinking.In fact, all Nobel Prize winners share a deep skepticism toward conventional wisdom, and all struggled to be truly open-minded, almost to the point of being na?ve, towards new ideas. Needless to say, almost all have a strong background in the history of economic thought; the type of perspective you gain from studying the history of thought should give you a better ability to develop and apply economic ideas. Specifically, the aim of this course is to provide an understanding of the origins of key economic ideas and an appreciation of the evolution of economics over the last two and one-half centuries, from Adam Smith to Karl Marx to John Maynard Keynes, and to attempt an understanding of some of the forces shaping that evolution. The aim is not to study the economics of yesterday for its own sake but to deepen knowledge of the economics of today. Hopefully, you will acquire a sense of the process by which the subject of economics became what it is today, and by doing so, gain a deeper sense of what you believe and why you hold such beliefs. Importantly, acquiring a historical sense of economics will help you see the kind of economist you are, a position which you will be able to defend intellectually. Along with the familiarity with that process comes the advantage of a sense of perspective about your other courses--where the ideas that are taught there came from, why they were ignored for decades, what the arguments against them were, and what alternative techniques were their rivals. One of the hoped for by-products of the course is to impart a sense of the history of ideas as a Darwinian struggle of survival in the intellectual market of ideas. But whether you agree with George Stigler that economics is a science and the market for ideas is efficient making history irrelevant (and therefore no need to read “dead economists”) is a question for you to decide. Students without knowledge of doctrinal history are likely to consider the modern techniques that are taught in other economic courses to be a scientifically derived truth. If only that were true! There are, of course, reasons why these techniques evolved and others did not. Theory and application courses usually don't have time to examine those reasons, and the alternatives that didn't make it. We do. We will also discuss the conditions that determine the resilience of a school of thought in the marketplace of ideas. And some theories make it that were proven to be wrong or clearly not the best at that time (i.e. why standard neoclassical theory dominates the economics discourse despite three of the most serious and devastation challenges and criticisms posed to our accepted wisdom, arising from these thinkers). We'll consider that, too. It is the intent of this course for you to be able to answer these over-arching and thematic questions by the end of the semester: What do you know? How do you know it? What do you believe? Why do you believe it? COMMON LEARNING OUTCOMES:At the completion of this course, students will:Explore and analyze the historical and theoretical foundations of economic theory.Understand the relevance of the ideas of early economists to modern economic theory and issues.Gain a new appreciation and respect for intellectual differences within economics.CORE LEARNING OUTCOMES:Written and Oral Communication1.Recognize and compose readable prose, as characterized by clear and careful organization, coherent paragraphs and well-constructed sentences that employ the conventions of Standard Written English and appropriate diction2.Recognize and formulate effective written and oral communication, giving appropriate consideration to audience, context and format3.Analyze arguments so as to construct ones that are well supported, are well reasoned, and are controlled by a thesis or exploratory question 4.Use the process of writing to enhance intellectual discovery and unravel complexities of thoughtInformation Evaluation and Research Practices1.Develop search strategies and use library catalogs and databases to find relevant material 2.Critically evaluate sources 3.Integrate and cite evidence appropriately 4.Understand the concept of intellectual property and practice academic honestyReadings in Classical Political EconomyBut obviously this course cannot cover the whole of the history of economics - it is far too broad a subject for that to be feasible. While a brief evolution of economic thought is traced from Cantillon and the Physiocrats (18th century) to modern neoclassical microeconomics and New Classical Macroeconomics--topics include Classical Political Economy and its descendants, the marginalist revolution (Jevons, Walra, and Menger); Marshall and the Cambridge tradition; the Keynesian revolution and major trends in post-war economic thinking such as mainstream economics and the neoclassical synthesis, the major dissidents, development and new institutional economics, econometrics and monetarism--the course will focus on clearly the three most important figures in the history of economic thinking--Adam Smith, Karl Marx, and John Maynard Keynes. They each represent radically different ways of thinking about the economy, and each has had a major influence on the way people think, both inside as well as outside the economics profession. The course will be equally divided into three parts, one part for each thinker. Time permitting; we will look at the development of macroeconomics, surveying pre-Keynesian views and tracing the rise and fall of Keynesian economics to famous modern day economists. We will examine the primary works of these three prominent theorists within the broad tradition of political economy. The overarching goal is to familiarize you with the strengths and weaknesses of their contributions to social science, and to provide you with a strong understanding of the project of social analysis that they shared. All three thinkers and their respective theories cross the boundaries of what is known as economics today, and were truly multidisciplinary despite their significant theoretical differences---all stem from 19th century classical political economy, which lives on today ironically as a sub-field of economics and not visa versa. Classical political economy has been, in fact, an intellectual tradition that has influenced all of the contemporary social sciences, and indeed some of the humanities, though it’s most direct modern descendant is the discipline of economics. Its common thread is a concern with the questions of growth and distribution: what explains changes in the amount of goods and services that a nation produces over time, and what explains the distribution of those goods and services to different people. As we will see, political economy brings to bear a much broader range of tools and intellectual resources than does contemporary neoclassical economics, despite its well-known strengths. All three of the people we will read were broadly educated, wrote with ease across disciplinary boundaries, and asked the big questions, they were the quintessential political economist. It is no surprise that all three also have a tremendous amount to say about current events, from the Asian Crash of 1997 to the unfolding Great Recession of 2008 coupled with a new round of Eronization of finance capital, the lion’s share of corporate America. All three have great insight to the current state of globalization, hence the renewed interest in these ‘alternative’ theories. We will read extensively from the works of each of the three political economists in order to understand their contributions to social theory and to place those contributions in the context of their overall visions of how human societies work. Much of this reading will be difficult, whether because of archaic language, complex ideas, or both. Thus the first task at hand will be to deal with reading and work out what the text means to everyone’s satisfaction. The original works or primary sources are essential reading. Many of the most important insights of past economists have been forgotten or poorly interpreted by their successors, while some of their greatest errors continue uncorrected.It gets worse. Most practicing economists learnt their economics like you have done, from textbooks. These books would have, for example, told them that Keynes developed IS-LM analysis. In fact, Keynes did nothing of the sort: John Hicks developed IS-LM analysis in 1936, in a review of Keynes' General Theory. This wouldn't matter if IS-LM analysis accurately captured what Keynes was all about, but it does not. In fact, John Hicks himself realized this himself in 1980, and effectively repudiated IS-LM analysis. But the textbooks continued to treat IS-LM as the essence of Keynes' theory, and practicing economists used this as the basis of their theoretical developments, thus building their new economic theories on unsound foundations.Clearly, economic theories are not conceived in a vacuum: they are a product of the time and place in which they were first developed, and there is as a result a lot of Philosophy, Sociology, and Politics, bound up in economic thought. From this perspective, there is good reason to study the evolution of economic thought over time. Textbooks tend to omit the social context in which economic theories are developed: for instance, "Keynesian" economics tends to be taught as a means to control the level of employment, when, in fact, it was developed in the middle of the greatest economic catastrophe ever to befall the Western world, the Great Depression; "Marxism" tends to be judged on the basis of the failures of the Soviet Union, when the chief architect of Marxism died 30 years before the Soviet Union came into existence.Standard textbook-based economic courses in economics also tend to omit the often strong theoretical differences between different theories, instead implying that each later economist has built on and extended the work of his/her predecessors. Thus the "Non-Accelerating Inflation Rate of Unemployment" (NAIRU) is portrayed as an elaboration of Phillips's original work on the dynamics of unemployment in the 1950s. However NAIRU and Phillips's original work represent quite different views of the economy: NAIRU argues that the rate of unemployment can't be influenced by economic policy, whereas Phillips developed the "Phillips curve" to support his modeling of the way in which government controls could stabilize an unstable economy. You will therefore get a better grasp of economics by studying the way in which these theories have developed over time.For these reasons, you are far better off studying the history of economic thought explicitly, by doing a subject like ours. Here you will read not just what a textbook's interpretation of Keynes' work, but you will also read exactly what Keynes did say. Frequently, this will be astoundingly different to the rendition of these great economists' work given in the textbooks, and the conventional wisdom of popular understanding today.REQUIRED TEXTS:Robert Heilbroner. Worldly Philosophers. 2012.Robert Heilbroner. Essential Adam Smith. 2011.Karl Marx. Kapital Volume I. 1868David Harvey. Reading Capital. 2010.John Maynard Keynes. General Theory. 1936.Susan M. Hubbuch. Writing Research Papers Across the Curriulum. 2009.Since the primary readings are advanced, we simultaneously will read Heilbroner's Worldy Philosophers and the Introduction to Political Economy published by Dollars and Sense (see ). Other well-known texts include Spiegal's The Growth of Economic Thought and Landreth and Colander's History of Economic Thought. Besides Heilbroner’s Worldly Philosophers (one of the most famous books in social science), the best alternative but intermediate level (for those who have had Econ 105 and/or Econ 106) text that clearly summarizes the pure economic differences between Adam Smith and Karl Marx is Maurice Dobb’s classic Theories of Value and Distribution Since Adam Smith, Vol. I and II. Luckily, the best book in my opinion to ever come out on Marx’s Capital is due in the bookstore in early March in time for our discussion of Marxian economics. Reading Capital by David Harvey (2010) also has lectures that are freely downloadable at . I highly recommend them and will be very helpful in finding quotes and passages to use for seminar discussion and your papers. He is considered one of the world’s leading experts in understanding Capital (1868). We will also be reading applied Marxian economic perspectives to our current crisis from two intellectual giants, one by the same author which just came out recently, and a perfect complement to Reading Capital, namely The Enigma of Capital (Harvey: 2011) as well as Samir Amin’s latest Ending the Crisis of Capitalism or Ending Capitalism (2011). To be sure there are more intellectual differences within Marxian economics than between Marxian economics and Keynesian Economics or even Smithian/neoclassical economics.Requirements/GradingThe requirements are challenging compared to other economics courses that are based on textbooks, problem sets, and exams (where there are clear and unique answers). You will develop critical thinking and writing skills, hallmarks of a liberal arts college, and this is a perfect medium to do so given the abundant supply of ideas, often contradictory, in the history of economics as economics is even today. If you are not an avid reader with above average college-level reading ability or lack a sincere interest in improving your writing in the discipline of economics, then this is probably not a good course for you. It’s easiest to learn by doing. In this class, doing means communicating; ideas become meaningful when one makes a sincere effort to discuss them with the rest of the class. This is the purpose of many class discussions. I will try to keep my lectures to every 3-4 classes to summarize major points, readings, and pull together the seminar discussions. During class seminars, I will take a back seat and act as a guide to help everyone engage in the discussion and students stay with the reading. Class time will be fun and interesting if everyone gets involved in these discussions, and can engage in an informed conversation over specific issues. This requires doing the primary reading on time and carefully, and most importantly, being prepared to talk about it in class and ask interesting questions of your fellow classmates. Of course, good participation also requires that one listen and be respectful to others as well, even when they may hold very different interpretations and views than your own. Note: if you did not do the assigned reading and seminar write-up for the class, you are expected not to come. Doing it is the price of admission. This is strictly enforced. No exceptions.This course is not only intensive in reading but also equally intensive, substantial, and significant in writing. Writing includes weekly seminar write-ups, a 5-7 page midterm paper on Adam Smith and a final 15-20 page research paper on the Big Three. Needless to say, a substantive portion of the your final grade is determined by your overall writing including researching, drafting, and incorporating ideas in your seminar-write ups and peer reviewed comments all into one final paper. This is an advanced senior course and the expectations for independent thinking, solid research and good writing are ambitiously high. For all of your writing, I expect you to carefully read Appendix 2 & Appendix 3 on guidelines on how to write for this class which are largely based on Hubbuch’s Writing Research Papers Across the Curriulum (2009). This book will serve as your main reference on writing as needed throughout the semester, especially for issues that arise and are not explicitly contained in the appendices. Students who take initiative and responsibility to improve their writing drawing upon these resources will be well rewarded. Writing is inextricably related to thinking, and to be a good writer, you need to become a good thinker too. But learning how to express yourself more effectively through writing will also improve our ability to think critically and independently. One page seminar write-up due every Thursday (except for when papers are due)When reading original text, I expect you to always look for the writer's main point and try to get a feel for the approach taken by that author. Remember the author does not know what great and new theoretical development is just right around the corner! This does not require a study of every word. Pause and read in detail when you find some point that seems interesting, relevant, or looks like a good topic to elicit comments for your research paper, and for you to build on. Successful students in the past have used their seminar write-ups significantly in developing their midterm and final papers, even if their topic changes considerably. In all of your seminar write-ups, be sure to use a relevant quote and proper citations from the primary reading in each write-up. Through this process you will quickly develop important rhetoric skills -- including style, format, disciplinary standard, citation, terminology, organization, and tone -- that are characteristic of academic and professional writing within economics and will in part determine your grade. This skill will clearly have positive spillovers in both your midterm and final papers.Midterm paperThrough writing your midterm paper you will learn the process of writing and rewriting -- drafting, editing and revising -- to increase your literacy in economics and to continually improve the relationship between content and clarity.?When you apply your learning by rewriting you will learn how to integrate and reconnect ideas. This assignment will include drafting, editing and revising, incorporating at least three other students’ peer reviews of your paper (please see course calendar for details). Make sure to read and re-read Appendix 2 and 3 for detailed description on successful writing within economics.Final research paperThis paper is a scaffolding of all of your previous writings, allowing you to evolve step by step as a writer. Your final paper should builds on both your midterm paper and various seminar write-ups. Since your first paper is exclusively on Adam Smith, it is interesting to see how your initial argument on Smith changes in light of two devastating critiques by Karl Marx and John Maynard Keynes. You are also required to conduct library research through ascertaining at least one professional article on your chosen topic from one of the following leading academic journals in the field, all of which are available to you through your Saint Mary’s College library online databases. They are the History of Political Economy and The Journal of the History of Economic Thought; (in the UK) it is the Economic Journal. Some major journals devoted to methodology are The Journal of Economic Methodology, Economics and Philosophy, the Journal of Economic Issues, and the History of Economics Review. It would serve you well to glance through these journals which can be obtained from the ABI database from the SMC library homepage to get an idea about the scholars in the field are writing about and what questions they find unresolved. An “A” paper requires solid use of secondary sources in addition to the primary text.The course structure and grading are strikingly similar to that of a typical seminar course here at SMC, 40% for class participation in seminar-style discussion and 60% for the two papers (20% for the first and 40% for the final research/seminar paper). The 40% participation grade will be further broken down into two parts: oral discussion is 50% and 50% is the average grade of the seminar write-ups). Two notes are in order regarding the grading. First, your papers will be graded in part by considering characteristics of writing within the discipline of economics including proper citation, format, terminology, organization, audience, purpose, and tone (see Appendix 2). Second, regular class attendance is an important obligation and an essential condition for successful academic progress. Excessive absence may seriously jeopardize the satisfactory completion of this seminar-style course. Each absence after the first two is 3% off the final grade with a maximum of 6 beyond which is grounds for failure.Expectations of You and MeI see my primary responsibility to lead, guide, and motivate a group of committed and dedicated students in the learning process, and to determine the extent to which students have mastered the material covered in this course. I am committed to this task. By signing up for this course, I expect you to be an active learner and to fully participate in classroom discussions. You are expected to be committed to learning the subject matter, but most importantly, and in order to learn this subject matter, you are expected to maintain an open mind throughout this course. It is best to think of yourself as being called and sequestered as a juror to critically evaluate all evidence without any predetermined bias before rendering your decision in your final research paper (i.e. students often have strong opinions and views about Marx and communism when Marx never even wrote about communism). If you are not committed to this process, your understanding of the material will greatly suffer, and inevitably your grade. Keeping an open intellectual mind always turns out to be the greatest challenge students face in this class given the exclusivity of neoclassical economics in both the prior education and the profound influence of neoclassical economics on everyday mentality and psychology and general understanding of the world. In this class, it is assumed you are ready to take the blue pill and uncover the truth (s) about the economics of capitalism that are concealed in neoclassical economics. Many argue ala Marx and Keynes that neoclassical economics fetish on free markets conceals far more than it reveals about the inner workings of our global economy.My expectations for you in this class are high. I expect you to contribute to the class discussions, to finish your reading before class, and take notes weekly on questions, puzzles, or issues of interest while developing your thoughts in an ongoing process throughout the semester. I also expect you to enjoy yourself. It is important that you stop, reflect on what you have learned, and think seriously about what ideas are and how we use them. Also, this class offers a unique opportunity to connect this class with your other classes and see how it all relates. If you use the time and space of this course to gain a deeper understanding of current ideas you will also have been successful in my eyes. Topics to choose from can be found in this syllabus. The objective of your papers are to integrate all the required reading, developing a thesis statement, and carefully citing passages from the primary sources to defend your argument. Class participation will be judged on the extent to which you have a critical understanding of the respective theory and topic and the ability to explain it clearly. You should also be able to give a good summary and critique of the assigned reading/topic with specific references to passages and quotes from the text. By the end of the course, you will be required to defend one of the three thinkers on one of the following topics listed below. The format is student-led seminar-style discussion. I will lecture from time to time when appropriate to summarize some major points and provide the historical and social context to move from one author to another. Choosing a Paper TopicYou can choose from the topics below unless permission is obtained. Regardless of what topic you choose below, the essay will be assessed on its ability to bring the views of all three authors into focus and highlight the theoretical differences between different schools of thought in economics. Both things are important. Essays which simply provide a schematic description of the different views of the three authors will merit no more than a C. The essential quality of this final essay is that it demonstrates your ability to step back (to have the power to stand still) and compare the thought of authors, and to do that comparison not simply on details, but at a more fundamental level.This assignment is difficult at first. It will require careful thought, and going back to the work of each in an effort to pull out what is fundamental in it. That's its purpose, and that is where much of your learning takes place. You must choose among one of these five questions to write about. Aim for an essay of about 15-20 pages body complete with correct citations, references, footnotes, and thesis statement (in the first paragraph) drawing upon Appendices 2 & 3, and the required book on writing by Hubbuch, Writing Across the Curriculum (2009): Compare one author’s notion of economic development, economic growth, investment, the role of government, the labor market, the role of exploitation, or inequality with that of the other thinker. Explain similarities and differences regarding the sources of efficiency and the necessary social institutions.The related concepts of "economic crisis" or the "stationary state" and the "business cycle" are handled very differently in (a) classical political economy as represented by Smith; (b) Marx; and (c) Keynes. Discuss these differences. What does this illuminate about the more fundamental differences in their approaches? Compare one author’s theory of distribution with that of the others. Consider both the nature of the class structure posited, and what explains distribution of income among those classes. What fundamental differences in approach to economic analysis or understanding of society do these differences point to?What is the author’s understanding of capitalism? Set forth and explain the main points of his understanding of a modern capitalist economy, and contrast them with the economic theories of another. What is the role of mathematics and econometrics in each respective theory (for those who are taking or have taken Economics 142)? If you choose this last topic on the role of econometrics, you must have received or are receiving a minimum of a B- in Econ 142 and are required to respond to the following famous quote by Lord Kelvin in 1883:‘When you cannot measure it, when you cannot express it in numbers, your knowledge is of a meager and unsatisfactory kind. It may be the beginning of knowledge, but you have scarcely in your thoughts advanced to the state of science.’While your discussion during the final two weeks will be assessed on the clarity with which you grasp an important aspect of the author’s argument and on your ability to offer an critique of that argument based on the other two points of view, the final research/seminar paper will be assessed on its ability to bring the views of all three authors INTO FOCUS ON ONE ISSUE, and the overall depth of your reasoning. Which author and intellectual perspective is most convincing and why? Course Calendar and Reading ScheduleFeb 11Introductory Lecture, Read Preface & Ch. 1 IPE (Introduction to Political Economy) + Preface & Chapter 1 WP (Worldly Philosophers) + Syllabus Feb 13, 18Adam Smith DiscussionRead Heilbroner’s Worldly Philosophers (WP) pps. 1-42Read Heilbroner’s The Essential Adam Smith, (EAS) pps. 1-56Read: Heilbroner’s 1979 Article in HOPE (this is the leading professional journal in the history of economic thought and stands for History of Political Economy) which I will email to you on February 13.Read Relevant Section in IPE Feb 20 --TMS in EAS, pps. 57-147 & Wealth of Nations, Book III, Ch. 1 & 4 Feb 25 --WON, Book I, Ch. 1-6 Feb 27 --WON, Book I, Ch. 7-9 March 4 --WON, Book I, Ch. 10 (part 1), 11 (parts 1-2) March 6 --WON, Book II, Ch. 1-5 March 11--WON, Book IV, Ch. 1-2, 7 (part 2) March 13--WON, Book V, Ch. 1 (parts 2-4) + “Adam Smith’s Invisible Hand” which can be found @ March 18--WON, Book V, Ch. 2 (parts 1-2)MARCH 18: DRAFT MIDTERM DUE WITH PEER FEEDBACKYou are graded also on the quality of your comments on three other students’ papers in addition to how well you have incorporated those reviews into your final revision due the following week. Please put your minimum two to three paragraph critical comments on the back of each of the three other students’ papers.T. R. Malthus (Lecture on the World Food Crisis) March 20---Relevant Section in WP & IPE + “Adam Smith’s Teleology” which can be found @ Ricardo (Lecture on Ricardo and Classical Economics) March 25---Read Relevant Section in WP & IPE + CET (Chapter 2)MIDTERM PAPER ON SMITH DUE: March 25 Karl Marx: A Challenge to the Classical Vision: Conflict, Instability and Exploitation(Read the relevant sections from Marx for Beginners which is recommended and David Harvey’s Reading Capital which is required throughout our readings of Marx) March 27--Preface, Parts 1-2, WP, pps. 75-249, IPE & Reading Capital (RC) April 1 --Kapital, Part 3, Ch. 7-9, 10 (sections 1-4) & RC April 3--Kapital, Part 4, Ch. 12-14, 15 (section 1) & RC (on your own) April 8--Kapital, Part 6, Ch. 19 & RC (on your own) April 10 --Kapital, Part 7, Ch. 23-24 (section 1), 25 (sections 1-4) & RC April 22 --Kapital, Ch. 26, 32 & RCAlfred Marshall and Leon Walras (Lecture only)April 24 --Relevant Section in WP & IPE John-Maynard Keynes: The Synthesis Time permitting, we will also introduce Keynes by watching Nouriel Roubini’s award winning lecture at LSE in addition to several excellent “you tubes” of Joseph Stiglitz, arguably the two leading Keynesians today. Amartya Sen is arguably one of the leading exponents of Adam Smith today to get a contrast, just as Rick Wolff who has excellent lectures on Capital at his website which is truly a remarkable resource for not only Marx, but the course in general.Next two weeks: You are required to read The General Theory, especially those chapters that relate to your paper topic. But you will have to at least give a cursory examination of the book to find out which chapters those are. Classes for these two weeks will be devoted to seminar discussions explicating Keynes’ arguments on the role of markets, equilibrium unemployment, government, uncertainty, and importantly, the role of subjective expectations in shaping economic decisions. April 29 -- Introduction to the Keynesian Revolution, WP, pps. 249-327, and Relevant Section in IPE + CET (Chapter 3) May 1 -- The General Theory, Chs. 1-3, 5 May 6 -- The General Theory, Chs. 11-13May 8 -- The General Theory, Chs. 17-19 + CET (Chapter 6)May 12 -- The General Theory, Chs. 23-24 + CET (Chapter 7)---Library Research Due: 1 Page Write-Up from a Peer-Reviewed Article on Your Final Paper Topic May 14-- Ending the Crisis of Capitalism or Ending Capitalism? May 18-- Class Debate: Smith vs. Marx vs. Keynes (Defend One)Relevant Sections in WP and IPE (extra class for Review and Discussion, TBA) + Lecture on Keynes to the Present and the 2008 Global Financial Crisis. + CET (Chapters 6 & 7)Important Dates to Mark Your CalendarMARCH 21: Midterm Paper DueMAY 22: Final Research Paper DueWriting Support Services All students are invited to drop in or make appointments for one-on-one sessions with Writing Advisers. Students may request weekly or biweekly sessions with the same peer student Adviser. ?The Center for Writing Across the Curriculum (CWAC) is in Dante 202 and is open 5-8 p.m. Sunday and 2-8 p.m. Monday through Thursday. The phone number is 925.631.4684. The web site is . ?Free Writing Advising at the Center for Writing Across the Curriculum:Through collaborative engagement, Advisers guide their peers toward expressing ideas clearly and revising their own papers with an eye toward audience and purpose. Writers should bring their assignments, texts, and related material.Writers visit the Center to brainstorm ideas, revise drafts, or work on specific aspects of writing, such as grammar, citation, thesis development, organization, critical reading, or research methods. Discussions may involve any type of writing, including poetry, science lab reports, argument-driven research, or professional application letters.Ask a librarian! ?Need library sources but don't know where to start? Searching for a book, article, or data to support your argument? Not sure how to cite a source in your bibliography? Ask a librarian!?Research help is available in person at the Reference Desk, by phone at 925-631-4624, and during reference hours you can even text a librarian at 925-235-4762 or chat with us live via the Library's website. Check the Library’s Ask Us page for details. ()Extended assistance by appointment is also available with our SEBA representative in the library, Sharon Radcliff.Student Disability Services StatementStudent Disability Services extends reasonable and appropriate accommodations that take into account the context of the course and its essential elements for individuals with qualifying disabilities. Students with disabilities are encouraged to contact the Student Disability Services Office at (925) 631-4358 to set up a confidential appointment to discuss accommodation guidelines and available services. Additional information regarding the services available may be found at the following address on the Saint Mary’s website: Academic Honor CodeThis should go without saying, but let us say it anyway: Be honest. Present as your own work only your own work. Your integrity is far more important than your grade. Practice integrity in your actions and you will build it in yourself. Specifically, use your own words and ideas, or cite your source clearly to avoid plagiarism.? I am reasonable about this, as long as you are making a good effort at citing your sources, and a mere phrase here and there will not necessarily set off alarm bells.? Remember, you don't have to go overboard and cite the same source over and over within the same paragraph, as long as it is apparent that you are giving appropriate credit where credit is due.? But lifting somebody else’s work, stealing their words and work without proper attribution, is plagiarism.? Getting material off the internet, copying sentences out of a book without quotation marks, or even buying a paper from a "research service" is dangerous and stupid, notwithstanding the fact that you are cheating yourself of your education. Every now and then I catch somebody cheating.? Punishments for academic dishonesty will follow the guidelines as outlined in your student handbook and can be found online under the SMC website (click on academic honor code). You must read and agree to the SMC academic honor code as a precondition for this course. Also, you are required to turn in your paper to . I will go over this in detail in class since for some of you it may be your first time.Frequently, I will encourage you to work together. It is especially useful for students who have had poor instruction in writing to get someone else to look over their written work and point out errors and unclear phrasing. Doing so is perfectly acceptable, even when the assignment is for a grade. But don't let someone else write your work for you, and make clear to your reader what is your own, what is joint effort, and what is others’. When in doubt, ask me.It is important to recognize that taking part in seminar-style discussions is part of an implicit contract and social agreement between you, your classmates, the course, and the instructor to always treat each other with respect, regardless of how vehemently you may disagree with either a fellow student or with me. Disrespectful classroom behavior is a direct violation of the Lasallian principles and moral integrity on which our college is founded and will NOT be tolerated either during lecture, discussion, or office hours. In order to have a deep learning experience, we simply need to have a very open and safe learning environment, and personal attacks on anyone regardless of their views is not to be taken lightly. Examples of intellectual and/or personal disrespectful behavior where we will enforce zero tolerance for include:challenging every sentence without listening to another person, or referring to the textnot being satisfied with an answer unless it is in full agreement with your own personal or political views, unable to agree to disagreedominating the conversation at the expense of others who then may feel uncomfortable to speak outattacking exclusively the conclusions or implications of any particular reading without giving the author the benefit of doubt or HOW the argument was made.making faces, showing expressions of anger or dislike such as grinding teeth, clinching ones fists, rolling one’s eyes, etc. preventing the aims and goals of the course and disrupting the learning of others in a substantial wayIn addition, as a Lasallian and Catholic school, I hold all of you responsible to police each other in maintaining the highest educational standards and codes of conduct in the class which must always involve mutual respect, tolerance, and civility to each and every member of the class and community at large. No matter how much you may disagree with the required readings, there is never a justification for being disrespectful to others at any time, in class or outside. One of the inevitable positive externalities that arise from such a course as described above is that to be successful, you must also learn how to “agree to disagree.”Saint Mary’s College expects every member of its community to abide by the Academic Honor Code. According to the Code, “Academic dishonesty is a serious violation of College policy because, among other things, it undermines the bonds of trust and honesty between members of the community.” Violations of the Code include but are not limited to acts of plagiarism. For more information, please consult the Undergraduate Student Handbook at 1: Summary and Chronology of Key Eras in Economic ThoughtMercantilist (1500 - 1750): Principal problem-- increase of resources available for military/financial mobilization by the nascent nation state. Policy levers -- bounties on exports and restrictions on imports that together lead to an overvalued exchange rate and a low commodity value of gold and silver within the territory. A nation is "wealthy" if it can quickly get it hands on enough precious metals to pay for an army abroad. Commercial (1700 - 1850; Smith 1723-1790, Wealth of Nations, 1776): Principal problem -- maintaining and enhancing the prosperity of the bourgeoisie. Policy levers -- elimination of monopolies; perhaps a low price of grain (as in Ricardo's "Essay on Profits." Concern with equilibrium level of prices; identification of equilibrium with nature. A nation is "wealthy" if its economy is growing, if the property of its bourgeoisie is secure, and if government policies that explicitly hinder enterprise or tax commerce to support an archaic military nobility are eliminated. Industrial (1850-1940; Marx 1818-1893, Capital Volume I, 1867): Principal problem-- harnessing invention and technological progress to increase production. Policy levers --antitrust policy to try to restrict the monopolies that come about because of the exploitation of economies-of-scale that arise under modern machine technologies. Concern with the regulation of "natural" monopoly; with the government's role in providing "infrastructure"; and with the taming of union and socialist movements. Fear that powerful industrialists -- John D. Rockefeller and Andrew Carnegie -- will push prices well above average costs using monopoly power. A nation is wealth if plutocrats' power is restricted and if government provides the transportation and public service infrastructure necessary for industrial cities. Keynesian (1930-1980; General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, 1936): Principal problem -- keeping inherent and dynamic fluctuations of investment generated by the business cycle from creating mass unemployment. Policy levers -- fiscal and monetary policies to maintain aggregate demand; some degree of investment planning; incomes policy to improve output-inflation tradeoff; "natural" rate of unemployment. A nation is "wealthy" if unemployment can be kept low enough so that it does not swing elections. Post-Industrial (1975-present): Principal problems -- inconsistency between an economic system that assumes price can and should equal marginal cost with the approaching dominance of knowledge and communication industries where marginal cost is effectively zero, and thus some degree of exercise of monopoly power is omnipresent; upgrading educational level of labor force fast enough to stop massive deterioration in the distribution of income. Policy levers --active labor market policies; attempts to establish an appropriate regime of intellectual property rights; government support of education and research establishment. A nation is "wealthy" if its high-technology sectors are dynamic and growing.Appendix 2: “The Novice” on How to Write: A key to becoming a successful writer in Economics 102Most of the novice’s difficulties start with the simple fact that the paper he writes on is mute. Because it never talks back to him, and because he’s concentrating so hard on generating ideas, he readily forgets -- unlike the veteran -- that another human being will eventually be trying to make sense of what he’s saying. The result? His natural tendency as a writer is to think primarily of himself -- hence to write primarily for himself. Here, in a nutshell, lies the ultimate reason for most bad writing. He isn’t aware of his egocentrism, of course, but all the symptoms of his root problem are there: he thinks through an idea only until it is passably clear to him, since, for his purposes, it needn’t be any clearer; he dispenses with transitions because it’s enough that he knows how his ideas connect; he uses a private system -- or no system -- of punctuation; he doesn’t trouble to define his terms because he understands perfectly well what he means by them; he writes page after page without bothering to vary his sentence structure; he leaves off page numbers and footnotes; he paragraphs only when the mood strikes him; he ends abruptly when he decides he’s had enough; he neglects to proofread the final job because the writing is over… Given his total self-orientation, it’s no wonder that he fails repeatedly as a writer. Actually, he’s not writing at all; he’s merely communing privately with himself -- that is, he’s simply putting thoughts down on paper. I call this “unconscious writing.” The unconscious writer is like a person who turns his chair away from his listener, mumbles at length to the wall, and then heads for home without a backward glance. Basically, all it takes to begin moving from unconscious writing to genuine writing is a few moments’ reflection on what the writing/reading process ideally involves. Think about it. What it involves is one person earnestly attempting to communicate with another. Implicitly, then, it involves the reader as much as the writer, since the success of the communication depends solely on how the reader receives it. Also, since more than one person is involved, and since all of us have feelings, it has to be as subject to the basic rules of good manners as any other human relationship. The writer who is fully aware of these implications -- the conscious writer -- resembles a person who companionably faces her listener and tries her level best to communicate with him, even persuade and charm him in the process, and who eventually bids him the equivalent of a genuine farewell. The big breakthrough for the novice writer, then, will occur at the moment he begins to comprehend the social implications of what he’s doing. Far from writing in a vacuum, he is conversing, in a very real sense, with another human being, just as I am conversing right now with you, even though that person -- like you -- may be hours, or days, or even years away in time. This breakthrough parallels an infants’ dawning realization that a world exists beyond himself. Paul Burka, a national Magazine Award-winning journalist and executive editor of Texas Monthly, told one of my classes, “The hardest thing a writer has to do is curb his self-indulgence.” “The Novice,” From: John R. Trimble. 2000. Writing with Style: Conversations on the Art of Writing. 2nd ed. New York: Prentice Hall. ISBN: 0-13-025713-3 Appendix 3: Important Notes on Writing for this Course Final Paper Format: ???????? I have few pet peeves you should know about. Some are careless errors, and some are issues of preference. Paragraphs need to hold together, not be too long or too short, and the first sentence should give the reader some clue of what the paragraph is about. Vary your sentences a little for more interesting reading. Your paper should not ramble, and should make logical sense. Learn to use colons and semicolons properly. For example, a semicolon separates two stand-alone sentences making a similar point.? In the U.S., commas and periods go within the ending quote mark (though not if there is a citation at the end of the sentence). Don't quote unless the quote is just too good to pass up; instead, learn to paraphrase. All sentences must have, at minimum, a subject and a verb.? I like papers that try to be objective, and I suggest you avoid being flip, funny or sarcastic. Don't over-use metaphors: be as specific as possible. You are not writing poetry. Boring and clear is better than evocative yet vague; and use the active voice and avoid the passive voice. "The dog bit the man" is better than "the man was bitten." People often use the passive voice to avoid saying who did something. If you find yourself doing that, go back and figure out who did what. This is a professional academic paper and should be treated as such.????????? The paper should be a maximum of 15 pages, not including the cover page and any references or tables.? It will be submitted to . This paper must be typewritten and double-spaced, with one-inch margins all around the text, and I prefer normal fonts of Times Roman 12. It is silly to play with the margins or the fonts just to make it fit the page target.Your paper should have a cover page that has your name, my class, the date, the title, and a one-paragraph abstract that summarizes your paper.? You should have an introduction that begins on page 1, and a conclusion at the end.? Use section headings to clarify your paper's organization.? Put page numbers at the bottom, but do not number the cover page, abstract, or end notes if you use them.? Also, any figures or tables should each be put on their own separate, unnumbered page at the back of the paper, and they should be referred to in the text as Figure 1 or Table 4, for example. ???????? Citations and References: Though this is intended to be, at this point, a thought paper more than a research paper, you will still need to cite any and all sources you use in your paper, and list your references alphabetically after your conclusion.? Do not use footnotes for citations; use them instead to explain points in more detail if necessary (single-spaced). When you cite your references, put the name(s), the year after a comma, and the page number(s) if appropriate after a colon, all in brackets (you may use parentheses instead, if you prefer).? For example, the seven references listed below would be cited in the text as [Olson, 2000]; [Cargill & Parker, forthcoming]; [Parker, 1995]; [Banks, Parker, & Wendel, 2001]; [Economist, 1997]; [World Bank, 1993]; and [IMF, 2001].? Don't forget to give page numbers for a quote or something from a book, e.g., [Olson, 2000: 68-69]. For sources with more than two authors, cite all authors the first time and then later use et al. (et alia, Latin for "and others"), though if there are more than three you can use et al. the first time.? For example, source (4) below would be cited as [Bhattacharyya, et al., 1994].? If you are citing two sources with the same author(s) and year, cite and reference them with the year plus a, b, c, ..., e.g., [Parker, 1995a] and [Parker, 1995b]. You should use full names for historical figures, but only last names for your research sources. A citation generally goes at the end of the sentence or phrase, before the ending punctuation, as in: Schumpeter emphasized the role of entrepreneurship in driving economic development [Gregory & Stuart, 1995: 66].If you quote and then cite, the end-quote marks go before the citation, which goes before the ending punctuation.? If you already mention the author in the text there is no need to repeat it again, as in: ?Hayek [1945] argued that prices served to convey information.If you are citing the source of a quote, and your citation is at the end of the sentence, then the ending quotation marks go before the citation, if in: "In fact, in any society with autocratic governments, an autocrat with the same incentives as a roving bandit is bound to appear sooner or later" [Olson, 2000: 27].?Though I would probably paraphrase this, or rephrase this as: Olson [2000: 27] argues that, "in any society with autocratic governments, an autocrat with the same incentives as a roving bandit is bound to appear sooner or later."All citations must be listed alphabetically? in a bibliographic section entitled “References.”? All sources in your references must be cited somewhere in the text. It is not necessary to cite the same source excessively, especially if it is clear that it is a continuation of the same argument.? Use endnotes to explain points in more detail if necessary, but not to cite sources, and include these in a section at the end entitled “Notes”.? I encourage you to cite relevant material from the assigned texts.?Finally, you should use quotes sparingly, instead paraphrasing where possible then citing the source of the idea.? Extended quotes should be single spaced and indented, without quote marks.???????? References go on a separate page entitled "References," and you should list your sources alphabetically and unnumbered.? Here are seven sample references, for (1) a book, (2) an article in an edited book, (3) an article in a journal, (4) multiple authors, (5) a newspaper article where no author name is listed, (6) institutional author, and (7) an internet source where the print version is not available.? Books and journals are underlined (you may use italics instead of underlines if you wish), while articles are in quotes.?Olson, Mancur (2000), Power and Prosperity (New York, NY: Basic Books). Olson, Mancur (1997), "The New Institutional Economics: The collective choice approach to economic development," in Clague, Christopher (ed.), Institutions and Economic Development : Growth and Governance in Less-Developed and Post-Socialist Countries (Baltimore, MD:? Johns Hopkins Press). Hayek, Friedrich A. (1945), "The price system as a mechanism for using knowledge," American Economic Review 35(4): 519-30. Bhattacharyya, Arun, Elliott Parker, & Kambiz Raffiee (1994), "An examination of the effect of ownership on the relative efficiency of public and private water utilities," Land Economics 70(2): 197-209. Economist (1997), "Banking in emerging markets" (April 12): 34-37. World Bank (1993), The East Asian Miracle: Economic Growth and Public Policy (New York, NY: Oxford University Press). IMF (International Monetary Fund, 2001), International Capital Markets:? Developments, Prospects, and Key Policy Issues < external/ pubs/ ft/ icm/ 2001/ 01/ eng/ index.htm>.Lastly, a few terms to be careful of (common sources of vagueness in past papers). balance This is a metaphor implying a relation between two quantities. It has specific meanings in certain phrases: for example "the balance of trade" simply means exports minus imports. But be careful about using "balance" in a normative fashion (in other words as a good thing that we should try to achieve) without explaining what is supposed to balance what, and why. crisis A loaded, misused and over-used term. People usually use it to mean that something or someone is endangered, and some urgency is usually implied. If you use the word be clear what is in crisis, for whom, and why. the economy People produce, consume, exchange, lend, borrow, and so forth – all kinds of economic activity. We can designate the people of a region, nation, or world as a regional economy, national economy, or world economy. But we’re still talking about a lot of people doing a lot of different things. You have to be very careful about attributing behavior or properties to an "economy." “The economy improved,” for example, is almost meaningless. If you mean total output went up, say so. If you mean unemployment went down, say so. If you mean inflation fell, say so. fair, equitable, just These denote moral judgments. Different people will think different things are fair. So you need to be clear what concept of fairness or equity or justice is being used. flow, flowing, circulate, circulation, circulating If you use these terms be clear what is flowing or circulating. the market Markets are institutions that put buyers in touch with sellers. There may be markets in goods and services, and there may be markets in factors of production like land, labor, and capital. Financial assets may also be traded on markets. But “the market” in general has no clear meaning, and should not be used as a synonym for a national economy. If you are engaged in a theoretical discussion of different ways of allocating goods, as in markets versus central planning, it might be reasonable to talk about properties of “the market” in the abstract. money Money is a name given to certain kinds of assets. It's really a category of assets -- in most modern economies, financial assets that are the liabilities of the central bank or commercial deposit banks -- that can be used to perform certain functions, the most important being a means of payment. Money is not income. Money is not spending. Money is not wealth. If you mean income or spending or wealth, use those words. stable, sound, progressive, good, developed (as opposed to undeveloped or underdeveloped) All are vague terms that must normally be defined or specified further. Importantly, they reflect not semantic difference, but entirely different conceptual approaches relying on a different set of assumptions. Neoclassicals, for example, use undeveloped whereas critical development theory uses the term underdeveloped to signify that development is a process more than a set of techniques. What is endogenous to one school of thought is exogenous to another. value This word is used to denote certain kinds of moral/ethical judgments. It is also sometimes used to denote the ratios at which things trade. Be clear what it means when you use it. well-being, social welfare, social good When people recommend a course of policy they will often say it promotes social well-being. (Nobody ever says they want social ill fare or ill-being.) But there is no consensus whatever on what such well-being or welfare is. Be clear what your criteria are if you use these terms. Appendix 4: Internet ResourcesA variety of information pertaining to the history of economic thought (including full texts of many original sources) is now available via Internet. I have compiled a useful collection below. The two leading intellectuals which you can surf and learn a tremendous amount of knowledge and which will cement your learning is Professor David Harvey (New School of Social Research). Students have found his sites extremely helpful as well as the many you tubes available. It would be very wise to really surf their sites, as some of they contain the best sources for your paper. Make sure to also watch Wall Street (the sequel) and my favorite, Inside Job, narrated by Matt Damon.Biographical Information (and more)The History of Economic Thought (HET) Homepage includes a fairly extensive alphabetical index of more than 500 great economists (past and present). It presents photos/portraits, brief biographical sketches and many links to related topics. A summary of major schools of thought appears at the end of the list. Taylor’s Gallery of Economists (parallels Heilbroner’s Worldly Philosophers) (30) from Blaug’s Great Economists Before Keynes (1986) and Great Economists Since Keynes (1985) DeLong’s Adam Smith Page (UC Berkeley) DeLong’s Keynes Page (UC Berkeley) Portraits of Great Economists Samuels Collection of Economist Portraits TextsMcMaster University Archive for the History of Economic Thought (by Rod Hay) Roy’s Guide to On-Line Supplements in History of Economic Thought(Refers to Rod Hay’s and Michio Akama’s data bases) On-Line Books (8000+ Entries)(You may want to click on “subject” and go to Library of Congress classification “HB-HJ”. You can also search by author and/or title) and Engels, The Communist Manifesto’s Wealth of Nations (Searchable On-Line) of Bristol contains WON and other great classics in Word and HTML formats’s Theory of the Leisure Class Draper’s The Two Souls of Socialism provides a good brief history of socialism. Boland’s The Foundations of Economic Method (pdf) of Thought/MethodologyDead Economists Society (Classical Liberalism) British Economists (Essay by J. S. Nicholson) Economics (Classical economics and opposition) from the Victorian WebNote that the URL for the complete Victorian web site is: of Macroeconomic Thought (Student Economic Review, University of Dublin) of Value Theory (Student Economic Review, University of Dublin) on Neoclassicism (E. Roy Weintraub) on Keynes (Paul Krugman) Summary of History of Economic Thought (Roger McCain) An index of general themes in history of Political Economy (HOPE) Line of Western Philosophy for History and Philosophy of Science (Charles Ess, Drury College) Goffe’s Resources for Economists On the Internet is an exceptionally broad directory Scout Report for Business & Economics Links (Scott Simkins) Dismal Scientist (Economic Information) Library of Congress Experimental Search System to Cite Web and Internet Information A good one for simply auto-formatting bibliographies: When You Need a Break“Celebrity” Economics Majors ................
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