Syllabus for Winter 2010

Course: Economics 493/593: The Evolution of Economic Ideas

Professor: Mark Thoma
Office/Hours: PLC 471 on M/W 4:00-5:00 p.m.
Phone/Email: (541) 346-4673, [email protected]
Web Page: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~mthoma/

Text: History of Economic Thought: A Critical Perspective, updated second edition, by E.K. Hunt.

Prerequisites: Economics 311 and 313, or the equivalent.

GTF/Office/Hours: Ania Aksan, PLC 516, T/Th 1-2 p.m.

Tests: There will be a midterm and a final. The midterm will be given on Monday, February 8^th, and the final will be given on Thursday, March 18^th from 10:15 a.m. - 12:15 p.m.

Homework: Problem sets will be assigned periodically. These are graded, and exam questions will be based, in part, upon the problem sets.

Grading: The midterm is worth 35%, the homework counts as 15%, and the final is worth 50%.  Grades will be assigned according to your relative standing in the class.

Tentative Course Outline:

Introduction	Ch. 1
The Mercantilist School	Ch. 2
The Physiocratic School	Ch. 2
The Classical School ‑ Adam Smith	Ch. 3
The Classical School ‑ Thomas Malthus	Ch. 4
The Classical School ‑ David Ricardo	Ch. 5
The Classical School ‑ Bentham, Say, and Senior, and Mill	Ch. 6
The Classical School ‑ Mill	Ch. 8
The Rise of Socialist Thought and Marxian Socialism	Ch. 9
The Marginalist School ‑ Jevons, Menger, and Walras	Ch. 10
The Neoclassical School ‑ Marshall and Clark	Ch. 11
The Institutionalists - Veblen (time permitting)	Ch. 12
Neoclassical Welfare Economics - Edgeworth	Ch. 14
The Keynesian School ‑ Keynes	Ch. 15
More Recent Developments	Ch. 17