A historical survey of how, over time, market economies have been essential in the achievement of peace and prosperity across societies. And how alternative systems have failed every single time we have tried them.
Key historical societies discussed:
- Classical Greece
- Late Republican Rome and Early Principate
- Islamic Golden Age
- Song China
- 13th century Western Europe
- Industrial Revolution Western Europe
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The course offers an empirical-based narrative that aims to explain the roots of current US wealth. Why did the British colonies, and later the independent US, grow from being a peripheral area of the world economy, at the end of the Peace of Utrecht (1713-1715), to being the largest economy in the world by the 1870s?
Key topics discussed in the course:
- What role did economic factors play in the revolt of the colonies?
- Which forces drove the Revolution?
- How did the Constitution determine the economic developmental path of the U.S.?
- What role did John Marshall play in engineering economic growth?
- Did slavery cause the U.S. prosperity or slow it down?
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This course offers students an introduction to a rich tradition of thinking about the centrality of markets in the social sciences. The course aims to explore the proper scope of what we call economics by looking into the development of our discipline through the several discussions about the nature of economic growth, exchange, cooperation, factors of production, and more .
Some key authors discussed:
- Aristotle
- Adam Smith
- Karl Marx
- Friedrich Hayek
- Joseph Schumpeter
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This course focuses on the interception between finance and economic growth by studying some of the most important events in economic history that have taken place over the last few centuries. Starting with the emergence of the modern capital markets and economic growth, the course examines in-depth, major developments in financial history, such as the classical gold standard, the origins of central banking, the Great Depression, and the Bretton Woods system. However, this course goes beyond any standard course on financial history and examines how finance has affected economic growth in the long-run,from an international perspective and starts in the seventeenth century in Europe, up to the 1990s in South-East Asia.
This course explores philosophical concepts of justice, liberty, rights, and equality to address general economic and social issues. The aim is to emphasize economics as more than a social
science of laws and theorems, and more as a discipline that influences the well-being of the whole of society.
Some key questions discussed:
- Does individual self-interest in the aggregate really promote the common good?
- Is it always right to do whatever promotes the greatest good for the greatest number?
- Do people have inviolable rights which have priority over all else?
- What do all humans desire: pleasure? Happiness? Wealth? Or the primary goods of well-being and self-respect?
- Is self-interest natural to us or produced by social forces and circumstances?
- Is government the only institution in society which needs to treat everyone equally? Or is it the institution which needs to correct for social inequalities?
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This course explores the intersection of economics and philosophy, examining the foundational assumptions and methodologies of economics as a social science. It begins by analyzing key texts on economics' definition, scope, and methodology, including works by Robbins, Mill, and Friedman, alongside their critiques. Central philosophical concepts like rationality, utility, and welfare are scrutinized, focusing on their origins, technical definitions, and critiques within economic theory.
The course also delves into welfare economics, addressing issues like preference satisfaction, interpersonal utility comparisons, and the role of economics in promoting well-being. Students also engage in four pivotal debates on market failure, imperfect information, economic growth's moral dimensions, the environment, and the ethics of state-led behavioral nudges. Through these discussions, students are encouraged to assess the philosophical underpinnings of economics and form critically informed opinions on its practice as a social science.