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HIST 212 10C Classical Economists Syllabus

This seminar traces the evolution of economic ideas from Adam Smith through John Maynard Keynes. Students will read and discuss the original works of thinkers like Smith, Malthus, Ricardo, Marx, and Keynes. Class participation and discussion of the dense readings will be heavily emphasized. The instructor has not previously taught undergraduates and will determine appropriate assessment, such as a final exam or paper, through discussion with students.

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130 views

HIST 212 10C Classical Economists Syllabus

This seminar traces the evolution of economic ideas from Adam Smith through John Maynard Keynes. Students will read and discuss the original works of thinkers like Smith, Malthus, Ricardo, Marx, and Keynes. Class participation and discussion of the dense readings will be heavily emphasized. The instructor has not previously taught undergraduates and will determine appropriate assessment, such as a final exam or paper, through discussion with students.

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Lianxin He
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© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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HIST 212.

301-10C

Economic Ideas from Adam Smith to Keynes and Offer

Steinberg Thursdays 1:30-4:30PM

This seminar traces the evolution of the main economic ideas of classical economic
liberalism from Adam Smith through Malthus, Ricardo and Say to John Stuart Mill and
Karl Marx. The course will consider how and why Smith's description of markets became
the orthodoxy and what assumption about "universal laws", universal human nature and
the definition of rationality have to be made for that description to be reliable. We shall
read together the main works of these thinkers and at the end consider Keynes’ General
Theory and Avner Offer’s The Challenge of Affluence (2006) to help us re-think the
problems of classical liberalism in the globalized capitalist system of today.

Students use the original texts only and no secondary reading is required, though if any
of you find something useful, do let the rest of us know about it. (Joan Robinson’s
introductory essay is itself a classic written by a disciple of Keynes). Reading these great
texts - some from more than two centuries ago - is very, very exacting and we all
(including your instructor) have to do it. A way to ensure that these texts are really read,
and nobody comes to class unprepared is to divide the reading among all of us; each
responsible for one or two chapters; not the whole. In that way everybody profits from
the other students’ work and they from yours. I sometimes take a selection of chapters;
sometimes not. It depends on how many students we have. These are truly great works,
wonderful books, and each in its way gives intense pleasure to the reader who makes the
effort to understand the writer. I have done nothing remotely as hard in my long career as
the task of understanding these writers. The course, therefore, will not appeal to the lazy
or half-hearted.

I have never given this course to undergraduates and that raises the question of
examinations and/or final papers, a procedure quite unnecessary with advanced students.
I shall see how the course settles and then decide – with agreement from all of you – how
best to examine you. I am sure that participation in the weekly reading must be the most
important element of assessment; let say us 75%. A final exam or essay would then be a
concluding reflection, probably not longer than 1500 words. If students want to fulfill
their research requirement, they can certainly do so, and there are many wonderful topics
which they could choose but that would be an additional, though not intolerable, burden.
If you think of this course as an intellectual journey with a fairly experienced guide (but
not a professional economist) you will be in a suitable, adventurous frame of mind to
enjoy the adventure.
Readings:
All the classical texts are available on line at The Online Library of Liberty [URL:
http://oll.libertyfund.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=380]
I have indicated the editions available in hard copy and several of each should be
available at the Penn Book Center, 34th and Sansome.

Thursday, September 9. Introduction to the course and preliminary questions about


The Wealth of Nations and its influences. Introductory Reading: Joan Robinson,
Economic Philosophy (New Brunswick, N.J., Transaction Publishers, 3rd Printing 2008)
ISBN: 0-202-30908-8 (pbk.)

Thursday, September 16 Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations Modern Library


Classics (New York: Random House, 2000) ISBN 0-679-78336-9 pbk Book 1

Thursday, September 23 Adam Smith, The Wealth of Nations Book II

Thursday, September 30 T.R. Malthus: An Essay on the Principle of Population


(Cambridge Texts in the History of Political Thought) (Paperback) ISBN-13: 978-
0521429726

Thursday, October 7 Jean-Baptiste Say, A Treatise on Political Economy


Cosimo Classics (New York: Cosimo Inc 2007) ISBN 978-1-60206-191-0

Thursday, October 14 David Ricardo, The Principles of Political Economy and


Taxation (Dover Value Editions) (Paperback) Publisher: Dover Publications (June 11,
2004) ISBN-10: 0486434613,

Thursday, October 21 Say and David Ricardo [continued]

Thursday, October 28 Friedrich List, National System of Political Economy -


Volume 2: The Theory (Hardcover)  Cosimo Classics (October 1, 2006)ISBN-10:
1596059532 and ISBN-13: 978-1596059535

Thursday, November 4 John Stuart Mill, Principles of Political Economy


(Indianapolis/Cambridge: Hackett Publishing, 2004) ISBN 0-87220-713-7 (paper)
Thursday, November 11 Karl Marx Capital: A Critique of Political
Economy Volume I. The Process of Capitalist Production (Penguin Classics) (Paperback)

Ernest Mandel (Introduction), Ben Fowkes (Translator) Penguin Classics (May 5, 1992)
ISBN-10: 0140445684 ISBN-13: 978-0140445688

Thursday, November 18 Marx Volume 1 [continued]

Thursday, November 25 THANKSGIVING: NO CLASS

Thursday, December 2, John Maynard Keynes, The General Theory of Employment,


Interest, and Money (Great Minds Series) (Paperback)  Publisher: Prometheus Books
(May 1997) ISBN-10: 1573921394  ISBN-13: 978-1573921398

Thursday, December 9 Avner Offer, The Challenge of Affluence: Self-Control and


Well-Being in the United States and Britain since 1950 (Paperback)
Oxford University Press, USA (November 1, 2007) ISBN-10: 0199216622
ISBN-13: 978-0199216628

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