Syllabus Information

4.1. Assessment tasks (description of tasks, marking system and assessment criteria)

Global evaluation: Final exam (75%) and in-class performance/participation (25%).

In-class perfomance/participation

You are expected to read and prepare the readings and homework assignments specified on the reading list, and to participate in the class discussions. To participate actively, you will need to come to class well prepared in terms of ideas. In other words, your instructor expects you to speak in class. In addition to your oral participation, your in-class performance also includes the degree to which you have prepared the assignments.

Final exam

The final exam is cumulative; that is to say that it consists of all the materials studied up to the end (including lectures and practical classes). The exam will likely contain all of the following parts: a) A multiple-choice test (ten short questions) (25% of the grade), b) Two short essays (50% of the grade).

5.1. Methodological overview

This course is designed to help students to understand present day main economic problems. The main objective of most of this course is to give students a historical perspective about them. Causes and characteristics of economic growth, spatial and personal income disparities, the nature and causes of economic crisis and the building of a global economy are the main issues to be discussed throughout the course.

5.3. Syllabus

Outline of the Programme (Syllabus)

1. Economic development in the long run Growth and development. Modern economic growth: characteristics and causes. The two waves of globalization. Income disparities. Economic growth and the environment.

2. Institutional change. Institutional change and market economies. The evolution of enterprises and the managerial business system. The evolution of the labor market.  Emergence and evolution of the modern financial system. The growth of public intervention.

3. The origins of modern economic growth. The British industrial revolution. The spread of industrialization. The growth of the Settler Economies.  The economic backwardness in the non-Western World.

4. Models of economic growth in the twentieth century. The 1930s’ economic crisis. The golden age of capitalism. The Soviet economy and the European planned economies. Economic growth of the developing countries. The 1970s’ oil crisis.

5. The bases of present day economy: the working of a global economy. The second wave of globalization. The Great Recession.

5.4. Course planning and calendar

Course planning

Delivery type                       Number Length hours       Student hours

Lecture                                      15            2                                       30

Seminar                                     15            2                                       30                         

Private study                                                                                      190

Total contact hours                                                                            60

Total hours                                                                                         250