Steve Gardner 
Fall 2007

• understand the historical continuities and interruptions in the subject matter and methods of economics that have been explored and employed since the days of Moses and Aristotle.
• understand the intellectual, cultural, and material forces that have shaped the historical development of economics
• be able to locate and interpret original classic texts materials, and appreciate the different methods of exposition that have been used to develop and transmit economic ideas.
• gain cultural literacy by understanding the contributions of the major schools of economic thought (Mercantilists, Physiocrats, Classicals, Marxists, Keynesians, Monetarists, etc.), and gain familiarity with their major contributors.
• apply theories and concepts from the course to practical issues in economic behavior and policy.

• Buchholz, Todd G. New Ideas from Dead Economists: An Introduction to Modern Economic Thought. Revised Edition, Plume, 1999.
• Keynes, J.M., The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money , Prometheus Books, 1997 [originally published in 1935].
• Marshall, Alfred.  Principles of Economics. 8th Edition. Prometheus Books, 1997 [1st edition originally published in 1890; 8th edition in 1920].
• Mill, John Stuart. Principles of Political Economy . 7th edition, Books II, III, IV and V and Chapters on Socialism. Oxford University Press, 1994 [1st edition originally published in 1848; 7th edition in 1871].
• Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations . Two Volumes. Reprint of the Oxford University Press edition by Liberty Press, 1981 [originally published in 1776].
• Tucker, Robert C., editor. The Marx-Engels Reader. 2nd. Edition. Norton, 1978 [selections originally published between 1843 and 1894].

• Abbott, Leonard Dalton, ed., Masterworks of Economics , McGraw-Hill, 1973.
• Spiegel, Henry William. The Growth of Economic Thought . Duke University Press, 1971.
• Sweezy, Paul. The Theory of Capitalist Development. Oxford University Press, 1942.

• Akamac E-Texts 
• Barber, William J.  A History of Economic Thought, 1967
  
• European Intellectual History
  
• Gallery of Economists 
• Great Economists and Their Times 
• History of Economic Thought Society 
• Library of Economics and Liberty 
• McMaster University Classics of Economics 
• On-Line Texts: Social Sciences 
• Portraits of Economists 
• Reference Writers
  
• Resources for Economists on the Internet 

Semester grades will be based on your performance on three examinations, each accounting for one-third of the course grade.  Unless you are told otherwise, each test will include a combination of multiple choice and essay questions.

If you have a "comparative advantage" in research and writing, or if there is a particular topic you would like to explore in depth, you may wish to write an optional term paper for this course.  In this case, the term paper and each of the three examinations will be worth 25%.  If you wish to pursue this option, you will need to discuss it with me very soon, and present a one-page prospectus by September 25.  The paper will be due no later than November 14.  Look here for guidelines on writing this optional term paper. 

See other important grade-related information under Attendance, below. . 

In keeping with University regulations, students who miss over 25% of class meetings (in this case, 8 or more sessions) will automatically fail the course. On the other hand, three points will be added to your semester average if you have perfect attendance; two points will be added if you have one absence; one point will be added if you have two absences (for purposes of earning this extra credit, there are no "excused absences"). If you arrive late for class, you will be recorded absent unless you have the roll changed after class. Please avoid late arrivals and early departures -- they are disruptive.  Preparation and participation may also be taken into account when course grades are determined.

Tentative Course Schedule
(Please read the required assignments before each class)

Methodology and Philosophy of Science-August 23

• Lecture Notes 
• William Trochim, "Positivism and Post-Positivism" 
• William Trochim, "Deductive and Inductive Thinking"  
• Roger Jones, "Philosophy of Science"  
• Milton Friedman, "The Methodology of Positive Economics," 1953 
• Ernest Nagel, "Assumptions in Economic Theory, The American Economic Review, Vol. 53, No. 2, May, 1963
• Paul Samuelson, "Discussion," The American Economic Review, Vol. 53, No. 2, May, 1963, pp. 231-234.
• Fritz Machlup, "Professor Samuelson on Theory and Realism," The American Economic Review, Vol. 54, No. 5, Sep., 1964. 
• Paul A. Samuelson, "Theory and Realism: A Reply," The American Economic Review, Vol. 54, No. 5, Sep., 1964. 
• George Soros, "The Capitalist Threat," Atlantic Monthly, February 1997 

Recommended: 

• Thomas Kuhn, "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions," 1962 
• Mauro Murzi, "Logical Positivism" 
• Karl Popper, Main Works in English 

• Class Notes 8/28
  
• Class Notes 8/30
• Buchholz, pp. 1-6.
• Keynes, pp. 351-353 (VI.23.5).
• The Bible 


Exodus 20:8-11, 22:12, and 23:10-11; Leviticus 25:1-55; Numbers 27:1-11; Deuteronomy 15:1-15 and 23:19-20; II Kings 6:25 and 7:1; Ecclesiastes 4:8 and 5:18; Matthew 6:28-34 and 25:14-30; Luke 6:34-35 and 10:38-41; Acts 4:32-37; and II Thessalonians 3:7-12.

Recommended: 

• Spiegel, Chapters 1 and 2.
• Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologica 
• Aristotle, Nichomachean Ethics 
• Aristotle, Politics --Book I, Chapters 4, 5, 9, and 10; Book II, Chapters 4 and 5; Book VII, Chapters 4 and 9.

• Class Notes 9/4
  
• Class Notes 9/6
• Buchholz, 6-9. 
• Smith, pp. 429-438 (IV.1.1-17), pp. 446-447 (IV.1.31), pp. 452-459 (IV.2.1-16), pp. 463-465 (IV.2.23-31), pp. 471-472 (IV.2.43-45), pp. 660-662 (IV.8.49-54).
• Keynes, pp. 333-351 (VI.23.1-4)

Recommended:

• Spiegel, Chapter 5.
• Thomas Mun, England's Treasure by Foreign Trade, 1664 (In Abbott, Vol. 1, pp. 6-27).
• David Hume, Essays Moral, Political, and Literary, 1742 and 1752 
• Richard Cantillon, An Essay on Commerce in General, 1755 

• Class Notes 9/11
  
• Class Notes 9/13
  
• Buchholz, pp. 16-18.
• Smith, pp. 663-688 (IV.9.1-52).

Recommended:

• Spiegel, Chapter 8
• A.R.J. Turgot, Reflections on the Formation and Distribution of Wealth , 1766 (In Abbott, Vol. 1, pp. 29-51)
• Quesnay's Tableau Economique
  

Adam Smith--September 18, 25, and 27

• Class Notes 9/18
  
• Class Notes 9/25     OPTIONAL TERM PAPER PROSPECTUS DUE
• Class Notes 9/27
• Buchholz, pp. 10-16, 19-41.
• Smith (skip the editor's general introduction), pp. 10-36 (I.1.1 - I.3.8), pp. 44-53 (I.4.11 - I.5.15), pp. 65-89 (I.6.1 - I.8.24), pp. 105-106 (I.9.1-6), pp. 113-115 (I.9.18-24), pp. 152-153 (I.10.44-47), pp. 160-162 (I.11.1-9), pp. 337-342 (II.3.18-31).

Recommended:

• Spiegel, Chapter 11.
• Barber, Chapter 1.
  

Thomas Malthus--October 2

• Class Notes 10/2
  
• Buchholz, Chapter 3.
• Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population, 1st Edition (1798) , Preface and Chapter 1
• Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population, 6th Edition (1826) , Preface;  I.I;  I.II;  IV.VIII;  IV.XIV
• Keynes, pp. 362-364 (VI.23.7).

Recommended:

• Spiegel, Chapter 12.
• Barber, Chapter 2.

• Class Notes  
• Buchholz, Chapter 4.
• Mill, Book IV, Chapter 3 (pp. 83-99).

Recommended:

• Ricardo, Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, 1817 (In Abbott, Vol. 2, pp. 6-65)
• Barber, Chapter 3.
  
• Thomas Malthus, The Corn Laws, 1814 
• Thomas Malthus, Grounds for an Opinion on the Policy of Restricting the Importation of Foreign Corn, 1815 
• Thomas Malthus, The Nature of Rent, 1815 
• Spiegel, Chapter 14.

• Class Notes 10/16
  
• Class Notes 10/18
  
• Class Notes 10/23
  
• Buchholz, Chapter 5. 
• Bentham, Jeremy. Principles of Morals and Legislation, 1823 (Chapters 1 and 4).
  
• Mill , Book II, Chapter 1 (pp. 5-24); Book IV, Chapters 6 and 7 (pp. 124-158); Book V, Chapters 1, 2, and 11 (pp. 159-189 and 324-367); and Chapters on Socialism, pp. 379-386,  413-423, and 431-436.

Recommended:

• Jeremy Bentham, Defense of Usury, 1787 
• Barber, Chapter 4.
  
• Spiegel, Chapter 16.

Karl Marx--October 30, November 1, and November 6

• Class Notes, 10/30 and 11/1
  
• Class Notes, 11/6
  
• Buchholz, Chapter 6. 
• Tucker, pp. 203-217, 336-340, 355-358, 436-438, 485, 490-491, 522-524, 529-531, 538, 698-701, 716-717.

Recommended:

• Karl Marx, Capital, Vol. 1, 1865 
• George Bernard Shaw (editor), Fabian Essays in Socialism
• Spiegel, Chapter 20.
• Barber, Chapter 5.
  
• Sweezy, passim.

Alfred Marshall and Marginalism--November 8, 13, and 15

• Class Notes 11/9 and 11/14    OPTIONAL TERM PAPER DUE (14th)
• Class Notes 11/16
• Marshall , Prefaces; Book I, Chapters 1 and 4; Book II, Chapter 3, §1; Book III, Chapters 3, 4, and 6; and Book V, Chapters 3, 5, 12, and 13.
• Buchholz, Chapter 7.

Recommended:

• William Stanley Jevons, A General Mathematical Theory of Political Economy , 1862 
• Barber, Chapter 6.
  
• Spiegel, Chapters 22 and 25.

• Buchholz, Chapter 9.
• Keynes (full text),   Selections,  pp. v-viii, 3-22, 27-28, 165-172, 245-54, 372-84.

Recommended:

• Barber, Chapter 8.
• Spiegel, Chapter 26.

• Friedman Notes
  
• Buchholz, Chapter 10.
• Friedman, Milton. "A Theoretical Framework for Monetary Analysis ," The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 78, No. 2. (Mar. - Apr., 1970), pp. 193-238.
• Friedman, Milton. "Nobel Lecture: Inflation and Unemployment ," The Journal of Political Economy, Vol. 85, No. 3. (Jun., 1977), pp. 451-472.

THIRD EXAMINATION--DECEMBER 11, 2:00-5:00 PM

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