History of Political Economy

Recommended Prerequisites

Not applicable.

Teaching Methods

The teaching methodology in the first part of the syllabus is based on theoretical-practical sessions comprising an introduction by the professor followed by a debate aimed at the analysis of the assigned readings. The second part of the syllabus, on a seminar regime, more directly appeals to the participation of students, involving both introduction to the debate by students’ presentations and their engagement in the following discussion. This second part involves seminar sessions on four of the topic presented in the syllabus selected by students.    

Learning Outcomes

1. To develop skills for critique, argumentation and autonomous judgement. 2. To develop skills for interpretation of texts and works of authors in light of the historical context and their relation with the main traditions and currents of political economy. 3. To develop skills for the identification of the origins and understanding of economic and political ideias present in contemporary controversies. 

Work Placement(s)

No

Syllabus

1. The main currents of political economy 1.a Classical liberalism and industrial capitalism: Smith, Ricardo, Mill 1.b The nature of modern capitalism: Marx, Durkheim e Weber 1.c Democracy and capitalism in the institutionalist tradition: Veblen, Commons, Polanyi, Kapp 1.d The Great Depression and the economic role of the state: Keynesianism - Keynes, Kalecki and Minsky - and Welfare Economics - Pigou and Stiglitz 1.e Decolonization and development: modernization theories - Rostow and Lewis -, structuralism - Myrdal, Nurske and Hirschman - and dependence theory - Furtado and Prebisch 1.f The neoliberal reaction to state interventionism in political economy: Hayek Friedman, Buchanan and Olson 2. Contemporary debates and their antecedents 2.a Growth and secular stagnation 2.b Money and monetary policy 2.c Technology, labour and employment 2.d Growth and sustainability 2.e Inequalities and growth 2.f Financialization, development and welfare 2.g Ethics and the market  

Assessment Methods

Assessment
Report of a seminar or field trip: 25.0%
Other: 25.0%
Research work: 50.0%

Bibliography

Caporaso, J. A. e Levine D. P. (1992), Theories of Political Economy, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Kurz, H. and Riemer, J. (2016), Economic Thought: A Brief History, New York: Columbia University Press. Milonakis, Dimitris and Ben Fine (2009), From Political Economy to Economics: Method, the social and the historical in the evolution of economic theory, Routledge: London and New York. Trigilia, C. (2002), Economic Sociology – State, Market and Society in Modern Capitalism, Oxford: Blackwell.