EC146: History of Economic Thought

Module code: EC146

Module provider: Economics; School of Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Credits: 20

Level: Level 1 (Certificate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Dr Steven Bosworth, email: s.j.bosworth@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 23 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

The module aims to acquaint students with the main schools of thought in economics and provide students with an understanding of the origins of economic ideas. The module presents scholars and their ideas in historical perspective, and illustrates their relevance in the context of contemporary debates. The module will show students how the history of economic thought represents a helpful introduction to the discipline and fundamental tool to formulate economic ideas that can help to understand current issues.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to:

1. Understand the origin of some fundamental ideas and theoretical concepts widely employed today
2. Understand how these ideas, concepts, theories and methods can be applied to explain current phenomena
3. Think critically and understand how these concepts and ideas relate to other disciplines  

Module content

The module will cover the following content: 

• Birth of Political Economy, mercantilism and forerunners of Classical Political Economy, theories if value
• Classical political economy, laissez-faire revolution, Smithian economics, Ricardo and Mill, English monetary theories
• Socialist economic thought and Marx
• Utilitarianism and marginalist revolution
• Neoclassical orthodoxy; Marshall, American and Austrian Schools, Pareto and ordinalism
• Keynes and problems of economic dynamics
• General Equilibrium theory and New Welfare Economics
• Contemporary macroeconomic theories, monetary counterrevolution, post Keynesian and new Keynesian macroeconomics
• Margins of Orthodoxy, games and evolution, contemporary institutionalism

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures will introduce the material which students will then read and expand upon.

Study hours

At least 20 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: /cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs