69065 - Economic history

Learning outcomes

The course aims at providing students with an up-to-date understanding of the main aspects and trends of the world economy during the 20th and early 21st centuries. At the end of the course students should understand the origin of the most important economic institutions and the features of the economic cycles so far experienced by the world economy. Topics addressed in more detail will include the failure of the command economies, the construction of the European Union, the evolution and transformation of financial systems, the globalization, the regulation of labour market in different countries.

Course contents

The course is organized in two parts, the first taught by prof. Mauro Carboni and the second by prof. Elena Korchmina.

Course contents

In the first part, the student will be offered a general overview of the evolution of the world economy from the XVIth to the XXth centuries, with special focus on Europe. The topics covered are the following:

1. Pre-industrial economies and the wheels of commerce
2. The “global Atlantic”: emigration, slavery, plantations, and empires
3. The "unbound Prometheus": the first industrial nation
4. The spread of industrialization: State, capital, and technological innovations
5. The great wave of globalization: trade, immigration and capital flows (1870-1913)
6. The disintegration of the world economy and the great depression (1914-1945)
7. The new world order and the reintegration of the world economy after 1945: the golden age and decolonization
8. The process of European economic integration
9. The oil crisis, financial instability, and the third industrial revolution
10. The rise of Asia: tigers, dragons, and the new global age

In the second part, the student will have the opportunity to deepen his understanding of specific issues including the impact of the three waves of globalization on world economy, the role of state intervention in economic development, the relationship between economic growth and financial systems. The topics covered in the second part are the following:

1. The First Globalization
2. The anti-global backlash
3. The Second and Third wave of Globalization
4. Financial System and globalization: the history of stock exchanges and central banks
5. Financial System and globalization: from gold standard to flexible exchange rate
6. Technological change and inequality.
7. Globalization and inequality
8. The changing role of the state in the economy.
9.  Inequality and the welfare state.
10.  State based development: from the USSR to the Asian Tigers.

 

Readings/Bibliography

For the first part taught by prof. Mauro Carboni the recommended textbook is:

Franco Amatori – Andrea Colli, The Global Economy. A Concise History. Giappichelli- Routledge, 2019

For the second part taught by Elena Korchmina:

There is no single textbook and a reading list will be provided during the lectures.

 

Teaching methods

Traditional lectures with the support of power point presentations and audiovisual material 

Assessment methods

The exam is aimed at evaluating the skills and the critical abilities developed by the students

There is a written exam composed of both multiple choice and open questions, covering the topics of the lectures.

At the end of the first part it will be possible to take the I MIDTERM EXAM and at the end of the second part the II MIDTERM EXAM.

Exams will be held according to the following format:

Mid-term (40 minutes)
12 multiple choice questions (1 point each; only one right answer, no penalties for wrong answers) and 2 essay questions (max 10 points each)

Full exam (80 minutes)
24 multiple choice (half point each; only one right answer, no penalties for wrong answers) and 4 essay questions (max 5 points each)

The mark is out of 30 points, and the minimum required to pass the exam is 18 / 30.

Grades are graduated as it follows:

<18: failed
18-23: sufficient
24-27: good
28-30: very good
30 cum laude: excellent

 

Teaching tools

PC, projector.

Slides and additional recommended readings available on the School Virtuale platform.

Office hours

See the website of Mauro Carboni

See the website of Elena Korchmina