Monroe 108 D

bhansen@mwc.edu

654-1484

Office Hours:

10:00-11:30 MWF

1:30-2:00 TH
 

Texts: David Kotz, Revolution From Above (RFA); United Nations, Human Development Report 1999 (HDR); Richard Carson, Comparative Economic Systems Vol. II (CES).
 

Course Description: Comparative Economic Systems is the field of economics which studies how differences in economic organization influence economic performance. Traditionally this field has been dominated by the comparison of socialist (planned) economies and capitalist (market) economies More recently economists have started to recognize that differences in economic organization are usually more subtle than this dichotomy suggests and that economic performance is strongly influenced by history, geography, culture and politics. In this class we will examine and compare the economic organization and performance of a number of countries in Asia, and Europe. Less developed countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia are examined in Econ 384 Economic Development. You will also examine one country in detail for you term paper.

Economic theory will be introduced through in class experiments as well as lectures. In addition, lecture notes for the first three weeks of the class will be posted on the Web (they will be linked to the Web version of this syllabus on the Departments homepage).
 

Goals and Objectives:

1. To gain a greater understanding of the economic problems people face in other countries.

2. To gain a greater understanding of how people in other countries deal with these problems.

3. To gain a greater understanding of how culture, history and political institutions influence economic organization and performance.

4. To develop writing skills.

5. To develop quantitative analysis skills.

6. To develop speaking skill through class participation and presentation.

Grading:

Grading Scale:

for a grade of A final class average must be >= 93.0
for a grade of A- final class average must be >=90.0 and <93.0
for a grade of B+ final class average must be >=87.0 and <90.0
for a grade of B final class average must be >= 83.0 and <87.0
for a grade of B- final class average must be >=80.0 and <83.0
for a grade of C+ final class average must be >=77.0 and <80.0
for a grade of C final class average must be >=73.0 and <77.0
for a grade of C- final class average must be >=70.0 and <73.0
for a grade of D+ final class average must be >=65.0 and <70.0
for a grade of D final class average must be >= 60.0 and <65.0
for a grade of F final class average must be < 60.0
 

Quizzes = 25%

Term Paper = 25%

Participation = 25%

Quantitative Analysis Exercise = 15 %

Presentation = 10%

Quizzes may occur at any time and will be graded on a 10 point scale.
 

I will provide you with handouts for the term paper and quantitative analysis assignment.

Course schedule:

The first three weeks combine an examination of the economic theory related to the comparison of alternative economic systems with an examination of the historical development of market oriented and socialist economies. Beginning in the fourth week begin to examine the economies of particular countries. The Wealth of Nations and the Communist Manifesto are available on line (check the Web version of this syllabus for the links).

	Monday	Wednesday	Friday
1. Read Smith, Wealth of Nations, Ch. 1-4	Introduction:	Lecture: The Fundamental Economic Problem	Experiments on Cooperation.
2. Read Marx and Engels, Communist Manifesto	Lecture: Measuring Economic Performance	Experiments: Common Property	Lecture: Custom, Capitalism, and Communism
3. Read RFA Part I	Lecture: Planning versus Markets	Institutions: The Rules of the Game	Library
4.Russia  Read RFA Parts II and III	Discuss: RFA Part II	Principal Agent Experiment	Discuss: RFA Part III
5. China	Film: To Live	Film: To Live	Discuss: To Live
6. Read Carson	Using Excel	Chinese Reform	Chinese Reform
7. Hungary  Read Carson	Discuss Carson	Discuss Carson	Work Day: Quantitative Assignment
8. The Middle East	No Class	Lecture: Iran	Discuss: Kuran
9. Japan	Lecture: Japanese Economic History	Speculative Bubbles Experiment	Discuss: Carson
10.	Discuss Carson	Discuss Carson	Paper Review
11. Germany	Discuss Carson	Voting Experiment	Discuss Carson
12. Sweden	Discuss Carson	Discuss Carson	How to present your paper.
13. The Global Economy	Comparative Advantage Experiment	Discuss HDR p. 1-72	Discuss HDR p. 77-114
14. Presentations	Presentations	No Class	No Class
15.	Presentations	Presentations	Presentations

Helpful Links:

H. Stephen Gardner's list of Comparative Economic Systems Links

CIA World Fact Book 1998

World Bank

Exchange Rates