22-40.015 History of Economic Thought

Instructors: Prof. Dr. Elisabeth Allgöwer

Event type: Interactive class

Displayed in timetable as: History of Economic

Hours per week: 3

Credits: 6,0

Language of instruction: English

Min. | Max. participants: - | 50

More information:
Registration period for first-semester students Mon, 10 October 2022, 9 am to Thu, 13 October 2022, 4 pm

Comments/contents:
Adam Smith´s An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations can be placed at the origin of the development of economics as a separate academic discipline. This course traces topics in the history of economic thought from this starting point into the 20th century. It provides insights into major lines in the development of economics, draws attention to the changing methods of analysis and to shifting definitions of the subject matter. A theme running through the course is the role of the state/the government in the economy and how economists argued in favor of their visions of this role.

The first part of the course is devoted to classical political economy with a focus on Adam Smith´s contributions and on John Stuart Mill´s economics. The dominance of the classical school becomes increasingly challenged in the second half of the 19th century and eventually gives way to a plurality of approaches to economic analysis. Controversies about the basic principles of economics as a field of scientific study make the decades around the turn to the 20th century a fascinating period in the history of economic thought. In the remainder of the course aspects of these controversies are presented and discussed.

These debates take place as economics establishes itself as an independent academic discipline. The number of positions at universities across Europe and the United States increases significantly, bringing about professionalization and specialization within the field. The modern appearance of economics emerges. By the mid-20th century a new “mainstream” is established with general equilibrium analysis and the neoclassical synthesis as central building blocks. Studying the controversies accompanying the emergence of this mainstream allows us to better understand its characteristics. By shedding light on alternative visions of economic analysis, the implications of the dominating approach to economics become clearer. On the background of the topics dealt with in this course, the relevance of the history of economic thought to current debates in economics is demonstrated.

Learning objectives:

• In-depth knowledge of selected aspects within the field of the history of economic thought.
  
• Ability to interpret texts on economic theory and relate these texts to economic history and the history of ideas.
  
• Ability to critically reflect on modern contributions to topics covered in light of the history of economic thought.
  

Didactic concept:
The course is planned to take place in the classroom – as long as the pandemic situation allows this. If and when restrictions apply, the sessions will take place via Zoom or in hybrid formats during the specified time slots.
The weekly Tuesday sessions will be predominantly lectures – with room for questions and occasional short group work.
The biweekly Thursday sessions starting on October 26 are “seminar” sessions devoted to group work and plenum discussions of designated readings. Please note that the seminar sessions build on the respective lecture material. For a detailed schedule please see the syllabus. All students prepare the required readings for all seminar sessions – a set of guiding questions, made available in OpenOLAT, will help you focus your reading.
Attendance and active participation is expected.

Lecture notes and readings are available in advance through OpenOLAT. Once you are registered for the course "History of Economic Thought" in STiNE you have access to the corresponding OpenOLAT course.

Literature:
Readings for the individual topics will be available through OpenOLAT.

Background reading:

• Backhouse, Roger (1985) A History of Modern Economic Analysis. Oxford, New York: Blackwell.
  
• Blaug, Mark (1997) Economic Theory in Retrospect. Cambridge: Cambridge Univ. Press. (see also: student copies).
  
• Rima, Ingrid (1996) Development of Economic Analysis. London: Routledge.
  
• Sandelin, Bo, Hans-Michael Trautwein and Richard Wundrak (2014) A short history of economic thought. 3nd ed. London: Routledge.
  
• Schumpeter, Alois (1996[1952]) History of Economic Analysis. Oxford University Press.
  
• Vaggi, Gianni and Peter Groenewegen (2003) A concise history of economic thought. From mercantilism to monetarism. Palgrave Macmillan.
  

Additional examination information:
Take-Home Exam, administered through OpenOLAT.

TAKE-HOME EXAM:

Time to process the exam: 90 min

Time frame in which the exam can be completed: 105 min

For exam dates and times please see STiNE.