Introduction to Economic Thought

Curriculum guideline

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Course
ECON 1125
Discontinued
No
Course code
ECON 1125
Descriptive
Introduction to Economic Thought
Department
Economics
Faculty
Commerce & Business Administration
Credits
3.00
Start date
End term
202030
PLAR
No
Semester length
15 Weeks X 4 Hours per Week = 60 Hours
Max class size
35
Contact hours
Lecture: 3 Hours Seminar: 1 Hour Total: 4 Hours
Method(s) of instruction
Lecture
Seminar
Learning activities

Lectures and seminars.

Course description
The course provides the student with a preliminary approach to exploring fundamental issues of economic analysis, with a focus on understanding the nature of capitalism. Presentation of the ideas of prominent economists, such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx and J.M. Keynes, who have shaped and challenged our understanding of the laws that regulate economic society, will be a prelude to discussing contemporary issues in economic thought.
Course content
  1. Scarcity, choice and opportunity cost
  2. Pre-capitalist Europe
  3. Adam Smith and the Industrial Revolution
  4. Malthus and Ricardo
  5. The Socialists
  6. Marx's critique of capitalism
  7. Marshall and the Neoclassics - The development of microeconomics
  8. Walrus
  9. Veblen and Galbraith
  10. The great depression and the Keynesian revolution - the emergence of guided capitalism.
  11. Schumpeter
  12. Friedman
  13. Free trade
  14. Perestroika - restructuring the Marxist legacy
Learning outcomes

To provide students with a preliminary understanding of alternative approaches to the study of fundamental economic issues, theory and analysis.  At the end of the course, the student will be able to:

Specific:

  1. demonstrate an understanding of the interaction between the process of economic development and the development of economic ideas;
  2. will demonstrate an understanding of the major differences, both theoretical and ideological, between Classical, Neo-Classical, Marxist and Keynesian economics;
  3. employ the basic tools of economics, such as supply and demand, to analyze the economic problems confronting modern economics.  Selected topics may include free-trade, the relationship between unemployment and inflation and the economic restructuring of Marxist economies.
Means of assessment
Term Tests 30% - 65%
Written Assignments     0%-35%
Final Examination 30% - 40%
Class participation - instructor evaluation    05% - 10%
Total         100%

THERE WILL BE A MINIMUM OF THREE (3) EVALUATIONS.

Textbook materials

Textbooks and Materials to be Purchased by Students

References will be chosen from the following list, as determined by the instructor.

  • Heilbroner, Robert L. The Worldly Philosophers, Latest Ed.  New York:  Simon and Schuster Inc.
  • Hunt, E.K. and H.J. Sherman. Economics, Latest Ed.  New York:  Harper and Row.
  • Canterbery, E. Ray.  The Making of Economics, Latest Ed.  Belmont, California:  Wadsworth Publishing Company.
  • Ibsen, Four Great Plays by Ibsen;   Voltaire, Candide;   Orwell, Animal Farm.
Prerequisites

BC Pre-Calculus 11