82781 - Seminar in Economic Analysis

Learning outcomes

The seminar, which is addressed to year 3 undergraduates, provides tools for the critical assessment of theoretical schemes and models learnt in the first two years of the degree course. Following John Hicks's belief that 'we need to know he history of our concepts in order to know what we are handling' (Hicks, 1977), the seminar will reconstruct the genesis of current economic theories highlighting their context and domain of relevance. Each session will discuss a paper, book chapter, or book that has seminally contributed to the formation of current economic knowledge. The aim of the course is to develop students' interpretive skills in the utilization of economic theory concepts and tools.

Course contents

Part One of the course will provide fundamental analytical coordinates that will be used  as interpretive framework in reading and commenting the sources discussed in Part Two. Part Two will be devoted to reading and commenting seminal contributions to the formation of the corpus of current economic theory.  The relevant literature will be distributed to students attending the course.

Readings/Bibliography

The relevant literature  will be distributed to students attending the Seminar.

 

Students are expected to have completed the reading of the following introductory literature before the start of the Seminar:

 

H. Simon, ‘The Architecture of Complexity', Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, vol. 156, n. 6, December, 1962, pp. 122-137. (Traduzione italiana: H. Simon, 'L'architettura della complessità', in Informazione e studi di progettazione ambientale, n. 5, Istituto universitario di architettura di Venezia, anno accademico 1970-71.)

 

J. Hicks, ‘Rivoluzioni in economia', in J. Hicks, Moneta, capitale e benessere. Saggi di teoria economica, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1985, pp. 285-301. (First edn 1976).

 

L.L. Pasinetti, ‘La teoria del valore come fonte di paradigmi alternativi nell'analisi economica', in L.L. Pasinetti, ed, Aspetti controversi della teoria del valore, Bologna, Il Mulino, 1989, pp. 231-254 (First edn 1986).

 

R. Scazzieri, 'Political Economy of Economic Theory', in I. Cardinale and R. Scazzieri (eds), Palgrave Handbook of Political Economy, Basingstoke and London, Palgrave Macmillan, 2018, pp. 193-233.

 

Teaching methods

Critical reading of seminal contributions to the formation of the corpus of current economic literature. Active student participationn is required.

Assessment methods

Each student is expected to make a class presentation (reader's report) commenting a specific source, and  to submit at the end of the Seminar a written report based on his presentation (length 4,000 - 5,000 words)

Teaching tools

PPT lecture notes, I.O.L. materials

Office hours

See the website of Roberto Scazzieri