HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT, ECON 307 |
University of
Wisconsin - Green Bay |
Larry J. Smith, ES 307 E, Office Hours by Appointment, arrange via smithl@uwgb.edu |
As required by federal law and UW-Green Bay policy for individuals with disabilities, students with a documented disability who need accommodations must contact the Disability Services Office at 465-2841. Reasonable accommodations can be made unless they alter the essential components of the class. Contact the instructor and Disability Services Coordinator in a timely manner to formulate alternative arrangements.
This course is accessible to any curious upper-level student and is based entirely on D2L discussion of assigned readings and personal research project reports and the summary course wiki, and a few other wiki pages, that will help future students become oriented to the course. Discussions will be focused by overviews of reading assignments supported by approximately one-page, or shorter, reflections (one-pagers) on those assignments posted to appropriate D2L topics. Do not be intimidated by the redundant nature of the posted reading overview or summary one-pagers. Think of them as required assignments to prepare you to participate in the more substantive discussions to follow and, just as would happen if you submitted them in a classroom, don't look at others' one-pagers until you have posted your own reflection on the assignment. And, thus, do not allow yourself to fall behind the pace of this syllabus in the reading and posting process discussed further below. Student-selected projects define much of the course and frequent, including extemporaneous, personal project-related input to relevant discussions is expected from each course member. To make the most of this course you MUST select a personal project topic and begin to pursue it early in the course. And, if that topic is related to your personal, especially vocational, aspirations you will benefit most from it. If you are uncertain regarding your vocational aspirations by all means contact and work with the campus Career Services office. All work in the course is documented by D2L and summary course wiki accumulations the interpretation of which is focused by D2L-discussion-posted individual self-evaluations for approximately each one-third of the course.
Textbooks:
Primary Texts: Canterbery, Barber and your choice of Johnson and Kwak or Sachs are required. Students with a serious interest in economics are encouraged to use Spiegel instead of or in addition to Canterbery and Barber with Johnson and Kwak or Sachs still also required and the other recommended.
Barber, William J. A
History of Economic Thought. New York: Penguin. 1967.
(Abbreviated WB in assignment table below) This outstanding text is supplemental to the primary course text by Canterbery. Because these books' interpretations and overage differ in some regards both are required (unless you choose to read the Spiegel text, then both Barber and Canterbery are optional but strongly recommended). Barber is very accessible to students with little
or no background in economics and it is available on Library Reserve.
Canterbery, E. Ray. The Making of Economics: Volume 1. The Foundation. 4th Edition. Singapore: World
Scientific. 2003. (Abb C) This is the
primary text for the course. It, like Barber, is very accessible even to students with little
or no background in economics and, very importantly, it addresses the much
needed shift in background for economic thinking from mechanical to
thermodynamic (or nearly equivalently biological) frames of reference.
Johnson, Simon and James Kwak, 13 Bankers: the Wall Street Takeover and the Next Financial Meltdown.New York: Random House. 2010. (Abb J&K). Note this book can be read instead of or in addition to Sachs' Common Wealth. 13 Bankers addresses the current, short run (from an economic theory perspective), problems created by the 2007 to today and continuing for an indefinite time, and likely recurring, financial crisis precipitated, this time, by the "bubble" in housing prices, and the financial manipulations that created it, must be redressed before most of the political economic world will be prepared to return to looking at the long run, from an economic theory perspective, and far more "real," problems addressed by Sachs.
Sachs, Jeffrey. Common Wealth: Economics for a Crowded Planet. Penguin
Books. New York, 2008. (Abb JS) This
book addresses the longest of long-run future of economic problems and economic thought as human
activity challenges the productivity of Planet Earth. It can be read instead of or in addition to Johnson and Kwak's 13 Bankers. Whichever of Common Wealth or 13 Bankers you choose to read it is important that, at least by following associated D2L discussions or looking into reviews and related web discussions or blogs, you become somewhat familiar with the thrust of both books. Note: many of you may think these books are excessively anti-American. But such an interpretation can only come from the problematically popular and widely-circulated myth that America is so exceptional that it is excused from the historical and economic forces that have plagued other empires or, today "super powers." From comparative historical and, especially, economic theoretical perspecties the books are actually rather gentle on America and the sense of global superiority and exemption from both historical and theoretical limitations that often "guides" its global activities many of which are exceedingly problematic from both economic and, more fundamental, ecosystem and thermodynamic perspectives. For more on this issue see the links for week 8 in the syllabus table below.
Spiegel, Henry William. The Growth of Economic Thought. Duke University Press. Durham, North Carolina, 3rd. edition. 1991. (Abb HS) Note this
book is optional and can be read instead of or in addition to Canterbery with Barber strongly recommended either way. It is especially recommended, for both this course and for future
reference, for students with a serious professional interest in economics.
Supplemental Texts: These books are optional but their
perspectives, which can be accessed in ways other than "reading" the
books, including from appropriate web sites, published book reviews and D2L discussions, are very important
for putting our subject into contexts relevant to and useful for both general
interest and for consideration of the future of contemporary industrial culture and
it's economics.
Benyus, Janine M. Biomimicry:
Innovation Inspired by Nature. New York: Wm. Morrow.1997. (Abb JB) Note:
The web site Biomimicry - Nature as Model, Measure and Mentor is more up-to-date than the now more than a decade old, but still very
inspiring, book. Benyus indirectly addresses
the fundamental shift from mechanical toward biological and thermodynamic frames of reference
that economics must embrace if it is to become more fully useful in addressing
humanity's future
Heilbroner, Robert L. The Worldy Philosophers: The Lives, Times
& Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers. Any of the seven editions since
the first was published in 1953 will serve. (Abb H).
(Note: readings from H are listed in the readings but optional.) Heilbronner’s The Worldy Philosophers is a classic literary and very readable
introduction to economic thought and well-worth your effort if you choose to
read it.
Hawken, Paul, Amory Lovins and L. Hunter Lovins. Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial
Revolution. New York: Little Brown. 1999. (Abb. HLL) HLL is available
in full on the web, and reviewed here (http://www.sustainabilityinstitute.org/pubs/NatCapPrimer.pdf)
in a system dynamics perspective. The book is available
in full at http://www.natcap.org/sitepages/pid5.php Hawken, et.al. is another useful book for
helping you deepen your understanding of the on-going shift from mechanical
toward biological and thermodynamic frames of reference for economic issues and
concerns, and is also available entirely
online, but, if you wish, you can easily purchase it online for less than the
cost of printing copies.
Classics:
Two books are on reserve in the Cofrin Library that, along with the Spiegel text, also available on
reserve, qualify as classics in the subject of the History of Economic Thought.
They are among the most complete works on our subject and far too detailed to
use as texts in our one-semester course. You should, however, become acquainted
with them and some of the many, more conventional, textbooks on the history of
economic thought in our library. By all means please try to consult these resources as you
definately should consult Spiegel's text and especially his suggestions for collateral
readings, pp.769-771, bibliographic notes by chapter pp 684-819, and updated
literature discussion pp 822-845 for bibliographic suggestions and
interpretive perspectives, which though somewhat dated will help you get started on meaningful bibliography on virtually any topic related to our subject and
especially for your personal research project topic.
Blaug, Mark. Economic Theory in Retrospect. Cambridge University Press. NY. 1962, 1968, 1978,
1985, 1996 (5th ed.)
Schumpeter, A. J. History of Economic Analysis. Oxford
Univ. Press. NY. 1954
New Resources−)(− New Expectations (or, as Joseph Schumpeter called it, creative destruction): Once you have developed interest in an economics topic and have learned a few key terms relevant to it, it is now quite easy to start to learn more about its roots. This ease results from access to library data base and internet searches on major at least partially academically oriented search engines like Google, and Google Scholar (which while useful are not nearly as useful nor as inexpensive to use as the Cofrin Library's data bases). Electronic search of academic journals as is possible in JSTOR (but there only for articles about 5 or more years old) and availability of other electronic indexes, of which METALIB, especially Web of Science and World Cat are particularly useful and Internet-accessible through our and many other academic libraries are incredibly powerful. In fact, in the area of intellectual history, perhaps more than in any other field, incredible, historically unique, power is now available to anyone who bothers to access it. This technological wonder is, for you, both valuable and something of a problem. Research is now much easier than it was not long ago; but the bar of expectation is therefore higher. Hence, what may have been a respectable piece of work in intellectual history a few years ago might today be reproducible in a few relatively brief sessions with key search engines and data bases supported by relevant reading and reflection on what was found during the searches. It is, therefore, my professional responsibility to expect more from you than I did from students only a few years ago. But, it is vastly easier for you to meet the new expectations than the earlier ones were for earlier students. Unfortunately, however, this is only true if you actually learn to AND USE the new tools.
This library exercise will help considerably if you are reticent about, or slow in, using the library http://www.uwgb.edu/Library/instruction/courses/scholarlyassign.htm. But note that the exercise was created for another course, Sustainable Development, so adjust your search terms and database selection toward our course and your personal topic within it, and, be absolutely sure to focus on History of Eonomic THOUGHT (not just on either only events or only the current state of thought about whatever topic you are interested in) for your personal project topic. (Note, to be on track to earn a course grade of B or higher you should produce a bibliography of at least 6 peer-reviewed journal articles on a topic of your choice and post it to D2L and discuss your experience doing this before the end of the second week of class. Start with JSTOR to find early literature on your topic and then pursue relevant articles and authors in Web of Science (WOS) to bring the search up-to-date. At least two of the initial articles should be published in 2008 or later and thus cannot be found in JSTOR but WOS will have up-to-date references, if not always full-text articles, the ones of which you want you may need to request from Inter Library Loan, ILL. Continue steadily with this work and comment on the experience and on your choice of personal research topic, which by then should be firm, in your first self-evaluation that is due by Feb 20. In the beginning it is fine to treat this as an exercise to help you begin your personal project research, so the topic you use to get started is not critical, nor is it important that you actually get the article(s) in hand, that you know of and can properly document their existence is what's critical. And any topic selected for the exercise, say, for example, "elasticity of demand," "monetary theory," "creative destructon" or "moral hazard in economics" will help you get started. Always remember that you are looking for issues from the history of economic thought not more general material, so if you topic is not obviously related to economics like the first three above be sure to put economics into your search string or, expecially in JSTOR which searches every word of every article and thus does not use keywords, restrict your searches to economics journals to avoid material relevant to the topic but not to economic thought or, thus, this course. If you have trouble doing this exercise on your own, using Jstor and Web of Science via the Cofrin Library web site, don't wast time and energy and become frustrated but seek assistance from Anne Kasuboski, Cofrin Library Distance Education and Reference Librarian, 920-465-2543 or kasubosa@uwgb.edu who will help you become comfortable with these powerful tools.)
Course Requirements (.x) = Approximate Proportion of Final Grade back to top
1. Regular and active course participation documented by your D2L accumulation that always starts from a one-page overview of your reaction to each "reading" assignment posted to D2l when assigned. Do not be intimidated by this assignment. Just Do It! Yes the posted one-pagers will be redundant. And, yes, sometimes a lot is assigned but you are NOT expected to r-e-a-d it all, just to overview it and react to it. You should go ahead and post your reaction even if others are similar or identical to yours. (The best strategy here is to simply never read other classmember's posts until you have posted your own.) The important interaction follows posting of initial "reading" reactions and quickly becomes a general and often quite engaging discussion initiated by the "readings". (.5)
Whenever assigned reading is relevant to your self-selected topic-oriented research you must explore scholarly, or peer-reviewed, resources beyond the reading and input the results of that exploration to D2L discussions in a timely fashion. A good place to start on this exploration is Spiegel's suggestions for collateral readings (on the unnumbered pages 678-81) and his extensive bibliographical notes (on pp. 684-845) both of which are organized by the chapters in the text. JSTOR for, all but very recent, searchable articles, other library data bases including especially Web of Science, and, for books which are in general much less useful for bibliographic development than peer-reviewed journal articles, World Cat, and less useful and often expensive but directly Internet accessible Google Scholar, are also excellent and easy-to-use resources for this exploration. You are particularly expected to lead or amplify discussions when the assigned topics overlap with your own personal research topic. Obviously, to do this successfully you MUST identify your research topic early in and pursue it throughout the semester. As you begin to seek a research topic keep clearly in mind the distinction between economic history (which is only tangentially relevant to this course) and the history of economic thought (or ideas) (where your personal research topic MUST focus).
Your general course D2L accumulation must contain several successive versions (iterations) of at least three different timelines--that can be presented as three separate rows along one time scale in a single document, which illustrate the flow of ideas documented in your bibliographies with the key associated terms highlighted by your glossaries--which use a common, variously broken or roughly logarithmic, time scale to locate events and especially the roots of key ideas pertaining to: (1) general human and hence economic experience, (2) science and technology in general and (3) economic thought in particular. An absolute minimum of two iterations of three such timelines one set focused on the history of economic thought in general and the other set focused on your research topic must be included in your D2L accumulation and you should start on them within the first and second weeks, respectively, of the course. Again, to do this effectively you obviously MUST identify your research topic early in and pursue it throughout the semester, though if you simply cannot commit to a topic you can start your bibliographic work with an exercise topic until you do commit.
For roughly each third of the course you should submit a self-evaluation of your work, including reference to frequency of reading and participation in D2L and wiki interactions, and progress on your personal project from the beginning to that date. A few days before the self-evaluations are due I will provide anonymous summary distribution data on D2L items posted and read by each class participant that you can use, if you choose, in developing your self-evaluation. Obviously you should have a rough idea of how many posts you have made and of what proportion of total class posts you have read but you can also access precise data on your activity from D2L. It is critical that you to comment on and summarize your wiki engagement because, while that tool keeps track of all inputs, it does not provide useful summary information. If you choose to use letter grades in your self-evaluation keep these official UW-Green Bay definitions in mind (interpretive definitions in parentheses are mine, not "official," and all grades of C or above assume extensive D2L interaction several times each week.) A-Excellent (very few errors and extensive interaction with peer-reviewed literature beyond assigned readings), A/B-Very Good (few errors and obvious interaction with peer-reviewed literature beyond assigned readings), B-Good (all assigned material completed at a high level with few errors and some interaction with peer-reviewed literature beyond assigned readings), B/C-Above Average (all or most assigned work completed at a quality level with few errors), C-Average (assigned work completed on time and at an acceptable level), D-Poor (assigned work not completed on time or at acceptable levels), F-Unacceptable. While developing your self-evaluation, also keep the fact clearly in mind that excellent work is truly rare both across individuals and for most individuals most of the time. If you are uncomfortable with providing a complete self evaluation simply list your class-related activities in lieu of a full self evaluation.
Your D2L discussions should address any weaknesses in your preparation or abilities for dealing with this course and your strategies for overcoming those weaknesses. These might include limitations in your ability to: (1) "read" at the pace and in the rapid, highlight-focused, style required for this course, (2) conduct effective, both library, including electronic database, and internet-based, scholarly (or peer-reviewed) bibliographic exploration, (3) write effectively or (4) participate in class D2L dialogues and wiki collaborations. It might also include reference to limitations in your ability to adequately comprehend the distinction between economic history and the history of economic thought, or ideas, or anything else that might keep you from achieving at the level both you and Larry would prefer. The most important part of addressing such concerns is discussion of your efforts to ameliorate those weaknesses or problems with either Larry, other class members, advisors, tutors or students who have completed this course successfully and in your D2L accumulation.
Self-evaluations that reference your reading and D2L and Wiki activity and progress on course and personal project timelines, bibliographies and glossaries and, when appropriate, personal project report and interactions with other student's personal project reports are due on or before February 20, March 28, and April 25. If you are uncomfortable with providing a complete self-evaluation simply list your class-related activities in lieu of a full self-evaluation. Failure to submit a self-evaluation (or at least a listing of relevant course related activities) supported by accumulated D2L and wiki activity that documents your interaction with assigned "readings"when they were assigned by, or very shortly after, any of the above dates will result in a a grade of NR, for No Report, for that period and more than one grade of NR for the three periods will seriously limit your chances of earning a grade of C or higher in the course.
2. The primary focus of your work in this course, to be documented by your D2L and wiki accumulations, should include both a general history of economic thought bibliography, timeline and glossary and a major concept or topic-focused personal research proposal report organized around and presented in the same D2L post with a topic-focused peer-reviewed literature initiated bibliography and a bibliography-related timeline and glossary.
Your broad bibliography for both the course in general and the one for your personal reseach proposal topic should contain a minimum
of 50 to 80 or more, though some topics may have a less abundant literature, mostly electronically reproduced not hand-entered,
bibliographic entries selected and topically organized from a much larger pool
of possible resources. Again, Spiegel's collateral reading suggestions and his
bibliographical notes, along with relevant notes and author indexes from
Schumpeter and Blaug, are excellent resources to
start from. It is not essential that all of the references included in your
broad bibliography be accessible by you during the course of the semester, or
even that they be in a language you read, and you are certainly NOT expected to read all of each item in your bibliography. But reading abstracts and conclusions sections of articles is very useful and almost always more accessible than the tehnical language often found in the body of academic articles. What IS ESSENTIAL is that you know why the resource might be useful (probably based on
some author's reference to it) and why or how you know that. And, it is a good idea to annotate key bibiographic entries with such information and to use WOS to search for subsequent citations of key articles you find in JSTOR or other more historical databases. At least
1/4 to 1/3 of your broad bibliography must reference peer-reviewed academic journal articles
or scholarly book chapters or sections (that include references to peer-reviwed literature) and the bibliography should include
reference to and copies of reviews of relevant books and abstracts, or other
overviews, of journal articles and other resources and, for the most
potentially important resources, your own annotations about why you think they
are important (probably based on other authors' citations of them) whenever
possible.
Since it is essential that you work on this project steadily throughout the semester you should post a one-pager on a possible personal project topic or, if you are undecided topics, by February 4 and post good starts on a scholarly (peer-reviewed) bibliography and bibliography-related timeline and glossary for your personal project proposal by Feb 11 if you expect to earn a course grade of B or
higher. A preliminary and probably incomplete, but well-grounded in scholarly
bibliography, research proposal should be posted in preliminary
draft, or at least outline, form by or before March 10. A second draft, with revisions based on editorial comments
by other class members (which means you should comment on some of theirs that interest you most) of the research
proposal including expanded bibliography, timeline and glossary is "due" no later than April 10.
The final draft of the personal project report is firmly due Dec 1 to
give class mates plenty of time to respond to at least 7 other reports. NOTE: The proposal nature of your
"research paper" is a product of the fact that you cannot
realistically be expected to, nor should you expect yourself to, complete a meaningful piece of intellectual history research in one term while possibly
taking other courses and carrying on with a busy life. Thus, it
is fully expected that even your "final" "report" will be preliminary and indicate
areas, and possibly supporting resources, where additional work would be
appropriate if you had the time and energy to pursue it. NOTE: BECAUSE YOU SIMPLY CANNOT SATISFACTORILY
COMPLETE THIS PROPOSAL UNLESS YOU START EARLY AND WORK EXTENSIVELY ON
IT THROUGHOUT MOST OF THE COURSE, RESEARCH PROJECTS NOT POSTED IN PRELIMINARY FORM BY MARCH 10ARE UNLIKELY TO SUPPORT COURSE GRADES ABOVE B/C. (.25)
The final "paper - proposal" should be a
maximum of 12 pages of double spaced (12 cpi or 12 point) text and should conclude with a discussion of how you would proceed
to study further in this area if you had time and resources to continue your
inquiry. The 12 page count is for text only and does not include:
(I) "Final" versions of the three-level timeline regarding (a) general experience,
(b) science and technology in general, and (c) economic thought in particular
with special reference to issues in economic thought which are related to your
topic
(II) Selected bibliography with which your paper interacts directly including a
minimum of about 20 relevant and appropriately formatted entries, at least half
of which should be parts of scholarly books or peer-reviewed journal articles,
and the broad bibliography discussed in the preceding paragraph (which should be
collected from various sources and need not be reformatted)
(III) Your research topic focused glossary.( All three BTG items should be incorporated into or appended directly to your project proposal report and incorporated into a single attachmen to facilitate review.) and
(IV) any appendices you need to include to expand further
on issues not dealt with adequately in the 12 page or shorter presentation.
Note: The possibility of an appendix means that the 12-page limit is not a
constraint that should keep you from elaborating completely on whatever issues
catch your attention; nor is it an excuse for inadequate attention to important
and relevant issues. Also note that if you don't submit a preliminary
research proposal and at least a start on a bibliography, timeline and glossary by March 10 and much more complete bibliography, timeline and
glossary especially when
submitted for the second time on April 10 you should not expect to earn a grade of B or higher for the course. NOTE: If by March 10 your D2L accumulation does not include a substantial start
toward a personal research project including potentially relevant bibliography
and a previously circulated statement / one-pager on your choice among the
available STANDARD citation styles based on your career aspirations (see Research and Documentation Online)
that you WILL use for your final focused bibliography you will not be working at a level and pace likely to earn a grade of B or higher in the course because if you do
not start early on and work extensively throughout the semester on a personal
research project you simply cannot adequately experience the meaning of
intellectual history.
3. A final examination that surveys the history of economic thought in context of major economic events and in relation to your selected research topic. (.25)
Note that more than half of your grade will be directly related to your personal research proposal project. Begin to work on identifying a topic for that project, preferably one that links to the future you aspire to for yourself, and supporting bibliography, three-level timeline, and glossary immediately. See Canterbery, The Making of Economics, pp. 66-67 (many copies of the three previous editions are available in our library) for a timeline to begin working from, but other timeline models are and will be available. MS Word's timeline template which you can access through a search for "timeline template" (without the "quotation" marks) in Word's online help tool is very useful for displaying timelines, but a spread sheet or word processor table function in landscape display mode works well too and there are also timeline templates for Excel and other spreadsheet programs. In general word processor-developed timelines in portrait (or vertical) display mode are not nearly as visually effective as those presented in landscape (or horizontal) orientation. Always remember your timeline must be of your own creation, never considered finished (and regularly recreated and improved or better-focused) and, especially, never borrowed directly from another source. While hand-drafted timelines are useful for getting started and, in some cases, for display, you will be most successful and have the best chance of both keeping your timeline orderly and learning to utilize timelines in other realms of inquiry if you make the investment to learn to develop it in a spreadsheet program such as Excel in "landscape" orientation on a total of about three or four pages when you print it.
Participation in assignment-focused D2L (or occasional and optionally-attended classroom) discussions and collective editing of class-wide wiki statements are essential for this course. Assigned readings should be examined for what they address and how they address it. It is not expected that you will "read" all, or even most, of each assignment. This is especially true if you r-e-a-d – as most of us tend to want to–at one slow pace always trying to see and "r-e-a-d" "every word" and if you choose to “read” Spiegel which is far too long to r-e-a-d. R-e-a-d-i-n-g every w-o-r-d is not the kind of "reading" expected of you for assignments in this course. Nor is such reading what you should expect of yourself in general. In fact, except when you are working on your own self-defined project or reading for entertainment and know why you think it appropriate to read like that, you are expected to never read assigned material in that conventional, one-word-at-a-time, way in this course. What is expected regarding these assignments is that you will be prepared to discuss each assignment's relationship to the larger course and topic and have identified AND STARTED TO FOLLOW leads in the assigned material that can take your exploration beyond the assigned material especially when it might be worked into your personal project. You are also expected to bring those leads into your one-pagers, and into the D2L (or classroom) discussion and your evolving timelines, bibliographies and glossaries whenever possible.
All dialogue inputs and individual reports are to be posted to appropriate discussion forums in the course D2L with some class-wide collaborative summaries, which every class member is expected to contribute to, collectively edited in course wiki summaries. Don't worry if it is not immediately clear where to post something in D2L just post it somewhere that seems at least somewhat appropriate and if you see later that a better place exists you can copy it and repost it there.
NOTE: The statements above and the assignments below represent reasonable, though high, expectations for junior/senior-level university course work. I am well aware, however, that many students are either unaccustomed to such expectations or unprepared either academically or logistically in their lives, to meet those expectations. I am also painfully aware that much student experience on this and other campuses, suggests that such expectations are not common or reasonable. In that regard let me say firmly that these expectations are both reasonable and possible for ordinary people to meet with commitment and effort. Students who do meet these expectations will grow and find satisfaction in their studies. However, because the general cultural standards of our society and parts of academia generally do not always reinforce and demand such standards I will be lenient–but not generous with honor grades of B or higher for those who regularly fall short of expectations–and flexible when it is occasionally not possible to complete all assignments at the levels expected. This leniency is contingent on reasonable explanations and alternative negotiations, initiated by you, in the context of the self-evaluations or directly by e-mail and should, in any case, not be interpreted as a license to not contribute to discussion of assigned material, more-or-less when assigned, or to summary course wiki statements. (Again, see the statements at the ends of #s1 and 2 above.)
ECON 307 HISTORY OF ECONOMIC THOUGHT |
University of Wisconsin - Green Bay Spring 2011 Internet Course |
COURSE SCHEDULE |
WEEKS / DATES |
TOPIC OR DISCUSSION |
ASSIGNMENT |
1 |
Please introduce yourself to the class (on D2L). Post a statement (one-pager) on your understanding of the distinction between Economic History (events) and the History of Economic Thought (HET) (or Economics) (ideas) . Post brief (one-pager) reflections on each assignment, or if you prefer groups of assignments, steadily throughout the course and plan to interact with D2L at least about every other day. Don't worry about reading every word of every assignment. Just spend the time you have available with the WHOLE assignment and produce a reaction (one-pager) that you post and then engage the subsequent discussion. You will see that you can indeed learn from your classmates and that reading every word is neither essential nor, often, even desirable. Do Not Be Intimidated By Redundancy in these statements it is a natural result of the process. Everyone "read" HS Intro. “An Overall View of the History of Economics” which is available on e-reserve for this course at E-reserve list for this course (http://ereserve.uwgb.edu/econ307/econ307list.html). But you will have to enter through the main Cofrin Library Web page from off campus. I strongly recommend that you read, reread and react to this very useful overview several times during the semester. (Yes, I know it's not scanned perfectly, the book is on library reserve if reading the scanned copy is too distracting for you.) |
Examine Canterbery's
(C) timeline (pp 66-67) and
start work on taking reading notes with the structure of a general HET bibliography, timeline and glossary (BTG). This note taking will initially be based on information from course readings and later expanded with information from sources identified from library databases and other sources like article or book citations. Post updates on these each week.
(Approximately eight or more item updates to each collection each of weeks 2 - 10 will keep you on track for a course grade of A but treating all
six collections–bibliography, timeline and
glossary for each of HET in general and starting in a week or so for your personal project proposal topic–as parts of a single large
learning project, which really is this course, rather than as totally separate activities with separate item counts for each, is best for your sanity.)
|
2 |
Get started on using library databases, preferably for a personal research proposal topic, but if not at least for a topic like: elasticity of demand, monetary theory, health economics, creative destruction, or moral hazard in economics that you use to exercise your economics and library and bibliogrpahic skills until you commit, the sooner the better, to a personal research topic. | One-pager on possible personal research topic(s) due February 11 but post statements about and seeking help with your confusion earlier if you are having problems making a choice. C Ch 2, HS overview (do NOT try to read all of this) Chs 3-5, H Ch 2, |
| 3
|
A one-pager on possible personal research topic(s) that addresses the topic'(s') potential connection to the history of economic ideas and includes at least 8 peer-reviewed bibliographic sources, including at least 3 published in 2008 or later (JSTOR is your best resource for starting scholarly historical bibliography and Web of Science is best for finding recent articles and chains of citation of older ones) is essential to get you started and is due by Feb 11 in addition to one-pagers on some of this period's readings. Post starting work on research proposal topic-focused bibliography, timeline and glossary by Feb 11 if you expect to earn a grade of B or higher for the course. | C Ch 3, HS overview (do NOT try to read all of
this) Chs 5-9 Bibliographic exercise described in left column should be posted to D2Lby Feb 11. This is as an exercise to help you begin to do scholarly research so the topic is not critical though of course focusing on the topic of your personal research project will reduce your workload. Use library data bases for this and do NOT try to complete this exercise using the public Internet. If you cannot do this exercise otherwise seek help using Jstor and Web of Science from Anne Kasuboski the Distance Education Librarian (920) 465-2543 or kasubosa@uwgb.edu to do it. If you do not have a good start on this exercise by the third week of class do not be surprised if you do not earn a grade of B or higher for the course. |
| 4 February 14 - 20 |
The Larger Context of Economic
(and Scientific) Thought. While much of the reading "assigned" for this section is "optional" everyone must participate in the D2L and wiki discussions on science history, economic history and ethics (or religion) history.. First Self-Evaluation Due Feb 20 If you have not been active in classroom and (or) D2L discussions or do not have a good start on your personal research project and the two sets (HET in general and personal-project-proposal-topic focused) of bibliography, timeline and glossary do not expect a grade of B or higher in response to your D2L-posted self evaluation. |
C, Ch 4 & 10 especially pp
175-196; JS (Sachs)
Wilson's Forward (who is E.O. Wilson?) overview Chs 1&2 and "read" Ch 6 or
JK Introduction and Chs 1&2; overview JB especially via http://www.biomimicry.net/ Students failing to post self evaluations when due, or within a day or two after, will receive grades of NR for no report. Two grades of NR among the three for required self-evaluations mean a grade of C or higher cannot be earned for the course no matter what else is done. |
5 Feb |
Adam Smith and the start of Classical Economics | C Ch 5; WB prefatory note, prologue Intro to Classical Econ and Ch 1; HS Chs 10-11; H Ch 3 |
| 6 Feb 28- March 6 |
Classical Economics Continued |
C Chs 6&7, HS Chs 12-14 and overview Ch 15, H Ch 4, WB Chs 2&3. |
| 7 March 7 - 11 |
John Stuart Mill the last Classical Economist | C Ch 8, HS Ch 16, WB Ch 4 and Postscript to Classical Economics First posting of Preliminary Personal Project Proposal Report Due March 10 with one-pager on your chosen documentation style see Research and Documentation Online . |
| 8 March 21-27 |
Failures of economic practice and brief introduction to Institutional Economics this link http://www.socialdems.com/page.asp?PID=1566 will give you a good intro to Int.Econ and to one of it's most visible contributors Thorstein Veblen. The concentration of wealth and income in the late 19th century that gave rise to Institutionalism bears close resemblance to current economic events discussed similarly and lucidly in the book for our course, 13 Bankers, and in Johnson and Kwak's blog The Baseline Scenario. (Continued in next column.) |
Reread C Ch 10 pp 194 - 201; |
9 Mar 28 |
Karl Marx Classical Economics' Greatest Critic Second Self-Evaluation Due March 28 |
WB all of Part Two (Marxian Economics) HS overview Chs 17,18&21 and "read" Chs19&20 H Chs 5 and 6 or for those not reading either H or HS check out http://www.economictheories.org/2008/07/on-economic-theory-of-socialism.htm |
| 10 April 4-10 |
Neoclassical (yesterday's and much of today's)
Economics |
H overview Ch 7, C "read" Ch 9 and (re)overview Ch 10, HS overview Chs 22, 23 and 24 and "read" Ch 25, WB overview all of Part Three (Neo-Classical Economics)S |
| 11April |
Institutionalism and other early critical perspectives |
C Ch 10, H Ch 8, HS Ch 27 Second draft Personal Project Proposal Report Due April 10 |
| 12 April 18 - 24 |
Capitalism? Collapse??? Keynes and successors | C Chs 11 & 12, HS Ch 26&27 WB Part Four -- Keynesian Econmics |
| 13Apr 25 Through May 1 |
What's next for Economic Thought? |
C Ch 13, HS Ch 29, H Chs 10 & 11 |
| 14 May 2-6 |
What's next for Economic Experience? Start to finish, to your own satisfaction, your reading of and postings on Sachs or JK and optional readings especially Benyus (mostly via the web site) and Hawken, Lovins and Lovins. |
JS "read" Ch 11 and Part 5 Global Problem Solving Explore whatever you find engaging of the Benyus website http://www.biomimicry.net/ and HLL. Third Self-Evaluation DueApril 25 |
| 15 May 9-1 |
Continue finishing, and planning for continuing your study in this area, your reading of and postings on Sachs or JK and optional readings especially Benyus (mostly via the web site) and Hawken, Lovins and Lovins. Read and comment on at least seven other student's personal project proposal reports. | Final Exam answer due on D2L by 3:00 p.m. May 11. |
Final Exam Question |
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