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Academic Year 2004/2005

Order and Planning in the History of Economic Thought
ECON 256 SP

This course examines selected episodes in the history of political economy through the theoretical lens offered by the contrast between spontaneously ordered social systems, in which social outcomes arise independently of the intentions of the participants, and centrally planned systems, whose outcomes reflect the design of a purposeful planner. Through this lens, we consider still unresolved questions about the nature of economic and political order, the relation of the individual to the collective, and the roles of knowledge and purpose in economic systems. After an introduction to the theoretical perspective itself, focused on the Socialist Calculation Debate of the 1930s and the 40s, we turn to a series of specific topics, including American progressivism, the antitrust movement, Taylorism, planning for war, Marx and his successors, and the Keynesian Revolution.

MAJOR READINGS

Primary readings will be interspersed with modern commentary throughout the course. Among the major authors studied will be Adam Smith, Friedrich Hayek, Jeremy Bentham, Oskar Lange, Charles E. Lindblom, Louis D. Brandeis, Frederick Winslow Taylor, Randolph Bourne, Karl Marx, V.I. Lenin, Eduard Bernstein and John Maynard Keynes.

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

Two short papers, and three essays of six to eight pages each.

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture/Discussion

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UGRD    Credit: 1    Gen Ed Area Dept: SBS ECON    Grading Mode: Graded   

Prerequisites: ECON101 OR ECON110 Links to Web Resources For This Course.

Last Updated on MAR-21-2005

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