Economics 493/593 - History of Economic Thought

Syllabus for Winter 2012

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

Professor: Mark Thoma
Office/Hours: PLC 471 on T/Th 3:30-4:30 p.m.
Phone/Email: (541) 346-4673, [email protected]
Class Web Page: http://economistsview.typepad.com/economics493/

Text: History of Economic Thought: A Critical Perspective, by E.K. Hunt and Mark Lautzenheiser.

Prerequisites: Economics 311 and 313, or the equivalent.

GTF/Office/Hours: Nicholaus Hockensmith, PLC 405, T/Th 10:30-11:30

Tests: There will be a midterm and a final. The midterm will be given on Tuesday, February 14^th, and the final will be given on Thursday, March 22^nd at 1:00 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

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

Syllabus for Fall 2008

[Syllabus in pdf format]

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

Professor: Mark Thoma
Office/Hours: PLC 471 on T/Th 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Phone/Email: (541) 346-4673, [email protected]
Web Page: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~mthoma/

Text: The Evolution of Economic Thought, 7th ed., by Brue and Grant.

Prerequisites: Economics 311 and 313, or the equivalent.

GTF/Office/Hours: Alex Twist: [email protected], PLC 507, T/Th: 10:00-11:00. 

Tests: There will be two midterms and a final. The midterms will be given on Tuesday, October 21st and Tuesday, November 18th. The final will be given on Tuesday, December 9th from 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.

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

Grading: Each midterm is worth 25%, the homework counts as 15%, and the final is worth 35%.  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. 3
The Classical School ‑ Forerunners	Ch. 4
The Classical School ‑ Adam Smith	Ch. 5
The Classical School ‑ Thomas Malthus	Ch. 6
The Classical School ‑ David Ricardo	Ch. 7
The Classical School ‑ Bentham, Say, Senior, and Mill	Ch. 8
The Rise of Socialist Thought	Ch. 9
Marxian Socialism	Ch. 10
The Marginalist School ‑ Forerunners	Ch. 12
The Marginalist School ‑ Jevons, Menger, et. al.	Ch. 13
The Marginalist School ‑ Edgeworth and Clark	Ch. 14
The Neoclassical School ‑ Alfred Marshall	Ch. 15
The Keynesian School ‑ John Maynard Keynes	Ch. 21
More Recent Developments

Syllabus for Fall 2007

[Syllabus in pdf format]

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

Professor: Mark Thoma
Office: PLC 471 on T/Th 2:00-3:00 p.m.
Phone/Email: (541) 346-4673, [email protected]
Web Page: http://darkwing.uoregon.edu/~mthoma/ 

Text: The History of Economic Thought, 4th ed., by Landreth and Colander.

Prerequisites: Economics 311 and 313, or the equivalent.

Tests and Grading: There will be two midterms and a final. The midterms will be given on Tuesday, October 16^th and Thursday, November 8^th. The final will be given on Monday, December 3^rd from 8:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m.  Each midterm is worth 30% and the final is worth 40%.  Grades will be assigned according to your relative standing in the class.

Homework: Problem sets will be assigned periodically. These are not graded, but it is strongly recommended that you do them since exam questions will be based, in part, upon the problem sets.

Tentative Course Outline:

Introduction
The Mercantilists and the Physiocrats	ch. 3
Adam Smith	ch. 4
Ricardo, Malthus, and Say	ch. 5
Bentham, Senior, and Mill	ch. 6
Marx and His Critique of Classical Economics	ch. 7
Jevons, Menger, and Marginalism	ch. 8
Edgeworth, Clark, and Marginalism	ch. 9
Marshall and the Neoclassical School	ch. 10
Walras and General Equilibrium	ch. 11
John Maynard Keynes	ch. 15
More Recent Developments