ANALYSIS OF ECONOMIC DOCTRINES
Academic year and teacher
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- Versione italiana
- Academic year
- 2022/2023
- Teacher
- ROBERTO CENSOLO
- Credits
- 8
- Didactic period
- Primo Semestre
- SSD
- SECS-P/01
Training objectives
- The course offers a critical surveys of the main schools of economic thought. The aim is to highlight how intepretation and normative implication of theories stems from few crucial hypotheses, with particular reference to the assumption about individuals.
Students will learn that different theoretical frameworks correspond to specific ideologies, which, cannot be distinguished according to a principle of falsifiability, and that each framework capture different aspects of the historical evolution of market economies. Prerequisites
- Basics in micro and macroeconomics are recommended.
Course programme
- The course analyses the historical origins of alternative theoretical frameworks and discusses their relevance for the comprehension of contemporary economies.
1) Homo Economicus and general equilibrium
2) Animal Spirits and the Keynesian view
3) Individuals as social classes and Marx
4) The entrepreneur and the Schumpeterian framework
5)The moral individual and the Adam Smith vision of capitalism. Didactic methods
- Lessons in presence. (In case of new health requirements classes will be provided via gmeet)
Learning assessment procedures
- Students can choose among three options.
Option 1. Written exam at the end of the course
After the end of class two exam questions concerning topics discussed in class will be assigned. Short essays will be due a week later. In the first exam session of January student may confirm the points obtained in the written test and take an optional oral examination. In this case the score may be improved by a maximum of three points.
Option 2. Written examination in official exam sessions. Studying material: class notes and suggested bibliography .
Options 3.
For students who could not attend classes. Written examination in official exam sessions Studying material: see "References" below. Reference texts
- 1) Paradigma Neoclassico (Mainstream Economics)
• T. COWEN and A. TABARROK (2013), Modern Principles of Economics, Worth Publisher. Capitoli: 1, 3, 4, 12, 25, 26, 27, 29, 30
2) Il paradigma Keynesiano
• B. SHEENAN (2009), Understanding Keynes’s General Theory, Palgrave Macmillan.
3) Joseph Schumpeter
• R. HEILBRONER (1999), The Worldly Philosophers, Simon & Schuster:
Capitolo X
4) La visione di Karl Marx
• R. HEILBRONER (1999), The Worldly Philosophers, Simon & Schuster:
Capitolo VI
• L. PASINETTI (1977), Lectures on the Theory of Production, Cambridge University Press:
pp. 19-24.
5) Adam Smith
• R. Censolo and M. Morelli (2021), Adam Smith and the Roots of Populism, Working Papers 20210610, University of Ferrara, Department of Economics.
• Landreth H. and D. Colander (1996), Storia del Pensiero Economico, Bologna: il Mulino: capitolo III.