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The Development of American Economic Thought in the 19th Century and the First Half of the 20th Century ECON259 SP

This course is designed to investigate the nature of dominant strands of economic thinking in the United States by focusing on central controversies that have shaped the American approach to the discipline: among them, the divergent perspectives of Christian moral philosophers and secular "rationalists" in the first half of the 19th century; the Methodenstreit of the 1880's and the conflicting claims of proponents of German historical approaches and of the English "classical school"; the engagements between the academic economists and the amateurs (such as Henry George) in the late 19th century; the controversies over the place of "formalism" and "realism" in the early decades of the 20th century; divergent American interpretations of the message of Keynes' GENERAL THEORY in the 1930's and 1940's. The course will invite attention to the following question: is there a distinctiveness in an American approach to the behavior of the economy? Sub-themes to be investigated will include the forms in which economics became assimilated into American universities; the impact of debates over economic policies on the shaping of economic argument; the legacy of the participation of economists in government on the reformulation of economic theory.

MAJOR READINGS

EXAMINATIONS AND ASSIGNMENTS

ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS and/or COMMENTS

COURSE FORMAT: Lecture

REGISTRATION INFORMATION

Level: UG Credit: 1.00 Gen Ed Area & Dept: SBS ECON

Prerequisites: ECON111 and ECON112 or ECON105 or ECON107 or ECON111 and ECON212

Last Updated on MAR-03-1998