Prospectus

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History of Economic Thought

Course
2017-2018

Tags

GED

Admissions requirements

Principles of Economics and any 200-level economics course, or motivated students with the permission of instructor.

Description

The course provides a thorough overview of the evolution of economic theory from its earliest formation to the present day with an emphasis on the developments since Adam Smith published ‘The Wealth of Nations’ in 1776. The purpose of the course will be to develop an understanding of the interrelationships that exist between the historical context and economic theory. How did economic theory and policy evolve in response to changes in technology, market institutions, and political structures? An additional focus will be on those topics that remain relevant in our present day. The course introduces the students to different economic theories, ideologies, and concepts of great thinkers such as Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Karl Marx, Carl Menger, John Maynard Keynes and Friedrich Hayek.

Course objectives

Upon successfully completing the course, students will:
1. be able to describe the influence of evolving economic thought on contemporary global economics from historical and international perspectives;
2. be able to compare the evolution of economic theories, concepts and policies;
3. have acquired essential analytical tools to conduct individual research and broadly analyze how economic theory relates to practical situations;
4. be able to detect the differences between the main schools of economic thought and describe the historical debates between their advocates;
5. and be able to interpret contemporary events from the perspective of the great economic thinkers of the present and the past and write coherently about them.

Timetable

Once available, timetables will be published here.

Mode of instruction

The course uses a variety of teaching methods: interactive lecturing, student presentations, class debate and is writing-intensive.

Assessment

  • Attendance and participation: 20%, ongoing weeks 1-7.

  • Two book response papers, 10% total, weeks 1 & 3.

  • Seminar presentations and in-class discussions: depending on the number of students, around 2 seminars per student, 30% total, weeks 2-7.

  • Preparatory research topic presentation: 5%, weeks 6-7.

  • Final research paper: 35%, due by exam week.

Blackboard

There will be a Blackboard site available for this course. Students will be enrolled at least one week before the start of classes.

Reading list

  • Robert Heilbroner, The Worldly Philosophers (The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers), (any edition)

  • Steven Pressman (2014), Fifty Major Economists, third edition, Routledge.

  • Peter de Haan (2016), From Keynes to Piketty; the Century that Shook up Economics, Macmillan.

Registration

This course is open to LUC students and LUC exchange students. Registration is coordinated by the Curriculum Coordinator. Interested non-LUC students should contact course.administration@luc.leidenuniv.nl.

Contact

Zouheir El-Sahli: z.el-sahli@law.leidenuniv.nl

Remarks

Reading required from the book of Heilbroner: the introduction and chapters I (the Economic Revolution) through V (The Visions of the Utopian Socialists).