Students are urged to purchase the following books for this class:
[Rand] = Rand, Ayn. The Fountainhead. Plume, 1994. ISBN: 9780452273337.
[Watson] = Watson, James D. The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA. Touchstone, 2001. ISBN: 9780743216302. [Preview with Google Books]
[Kidder] = Kidder, Tracy. The Soul of a New Machine. Back Bay Books, 2000. ISBN: 9780316491976.
These and other required readings are featured in the table below.
Note: During Week 7, students completed the midterm exam.
| WEEK # | TOPICS | READINGS |
|---|---|---|
| I. Introduction and Overview | ||
| 1 | The Evolution of the Industrial State | No readings |
| 2 | Paradigms in Social Science |
Kuhn, Thomas S. “The Route to Normal Science.” Chapter 2 in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions: 50th Anniversary Edition. University of Chicago Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780226458120. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “The Nature of Normal Science.” Chapter 3 in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions: 50th Anniversary Edition. University of Chicago Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780226458120. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “The Nature and Necessity of Scientific Revolutions.” Chapter 9 in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions: 50th Anniversary Edition. University of Chicago Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780226458120. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Revolutions as Changes of World View.” Chapter 10 in The Structure of Scientific Revolutions: 50th Anniversary Edition. University of Chicago Press, 2012. ISBN: 9780226458120. [Preview with Google Books] Friedman, Milton. “Methodology of Positive Economics.” In Essays in Positive Economics. University of Chicago Press, 1966. ISBN: 9780226264035. [Preview with Google Books] |
| II. Liberalism and Neoclassical Economics | ||
| 2 | The Fountainhead. Directed by King Vidor. Black and White, 114 min. 1949. | No readings |
| 3 |
Discussion of Rand Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom |
[Rand] Friedman, Milton. Chapters 1–3, 6, 10, and 12–13 in Capitalism and Freedom: 40th Anniversary Edition. University of Chicago Press, 2002. ISBN: 9780226264219. [Preview with Google Books] |
| 4 |
Becker Gilder |
Becker, Gary S. “The Economic Approach to Human Behavior.” Chapter 1 in The Economic Approach to Human Behavior. University of Chicago Press, 1978. ISBN: 9780226041124. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Altruism, Egoism, and Genetic Fitness: Economics and Sociobiology.” Chapter 13 in The Economic Approach to Human Behavior. University of Chicago Press, 1978. ISBN: 9780226041124. Gilder, George. “The Mandate for Capitalism.” Part One in Wealth and Poverty: A New Edition for the Twenty-First Century. Regnery Publishing, 2012. ISBN: 9781596988095. [Preview with Google Books] |
| III. Marxism, Economics and Politics | ||
| 5 |
Marxism: The Manifesto Elster |
Marx, Karl, and Frederick Engels. “Manifesto of the Communist Party.” 1848. anu.edu.au. Marx, Karl. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy. Chapters XIV, and XV, Sections 1, and 2. marxists.org. Elster, Jon. “Marxist Methodology.” Chapter 2 in An Introduction to Karl Marx. Cambridge University Press, 1986. ISBN: 9780521338318. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Marxian Economics.” Chapter 4 in An Introduction to Karl Marx. Cambridge University Press, 1986. ISBN: 9780521338318 ———. “Historical Materialism.” Chapter 6 in An Introduction to Karl Marx. Cambridge University Press, 1986. ISBN: 9780521338318 ———. “Class Consciousness and Class Struggle.” Chapter 7 in An Introduction to Karl Marx. Cambridge University Press, 1986. ISBN: 9780521338318. ———. “Marx’s Theory of Politics.” Chapter 8 in An Introduction to Karl Marx. Cambridge University Press, 1986. ISBN: 9780521338318. |
| 6 |
Capital, The Division of Labor and Machinery Bowles and Gintis Foley |
Bowles, Samuel, and Herbert Gintis. “The Crisis of Liberal Democratic Capitalism: The Case of the United States.” Politics & Society 11, no. 1 (1982): 51–93. Foley, Duncan K. “The Severest Critic.” Chapter 3 in Adam’s Fallacy: A Guide to Economic Theology. Belknap Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780674027299. [Preview with Google Books] |
| IV. The Social Embeddedness of the Economy | ||
| 8 |
Introduction Weber |
Weber, Max. “The Spirit of Capitalism.” Chapter 2 in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. marxists.org. ———. “Asceticism and the Spirit of Capitalism.” Chapter 5 in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. marxists.org. |
| 9 |
Polanyi Schumpeter |
Polanyi, Karl. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. 2nd ed. Beacon Press, 2001, pp. 43–52, 68–76, 130–50, 192–200, 200–19, and 249–58. ISBN: 9780807056431. Schumpeter, Joseph A. “Can Capitalism Survive?” Part II (especially pages 121–63) in Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. 3rd ed. Harper Perennial Modern Classics, 2008. ISBN: 9780061561610. [Preview with Google Books] |
| 10 | Keynes | Keynes, John Maynard. The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money. Harcourt, Brace & World, 1965, pp. 3–34, and 245–79. ISBN: 9780156347112. [Preview with Google Books] |
| V. The Rise and Fall of the Corporate State | ||
| 10 | Galbraith and Solow |
Galbraith, John Kenneth. “The Corporation.” Chapter 7 in The New Industrial State. Princeton University Press, 2007. ISBN: 9780691131412. [Preview with Google Books] Solow, Robert M. “The New Industrial State or Son of Affluence.” The Public Interest, no. 9 (1967): 100–19. |
| 11 | Piore and Sabel |
Piore, Michael J., and Charles F. Sabel. “Mass Production as Destiny and Blind Decision.” Chapter 2 in The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity. Basic Books, 1986. ISBN: 9780465075614. ———. “The Corporation.” Chapter 3 in The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity. Basic Books, 1986. ISBN: 9780465075614. ———. “Possibilities for Prosperity: International Keynesianism and Flexible Specialization.” Chapter 10 in The Second Industrial Divide: Possibilities for Prosperity. Basic Books, 1986. ISBN: 9780465075614. |
| VI. The Crisis | ||
| 12-13 |
The Crisis Davis Lo |
Davis, Gerald F. Managed by the Markets: How Finance Re-Shaped America. Oxford University Press, 2009, pp. 1–14, and 235–55. ISBN: 9780199216611. [Preview with Google Books] Dubner, Stephen J. “This is Your Brain on Prosperity: Andrew Lo on Fear, Greed, and Crisis Management.” January 9, 2009. freakonomics.com. |
| VII. Recasting Individualism | ||
| 13 |
Thaler and Sunstein DellaVigna |
Thaler, Richard H., and Cass R. Sunstein. “Introduction.” In Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Revised and expanded edition. Penguin Books, 2009. ISBN: 9780143115267. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “Biases and Blunders.” Chapter 1 in Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness. Revised and expanded edition. Penguin Books, 2009. ISBN: 9780143115267. [Preview with Google Books] DellaVigna, Stefano. “Psychology and Economics: Evidence from the Field.” Journal of Economic Literature 47, no. 2 (2009): 315–72. |
| 14 |
Arendt Sacks Lester and Piore |
Arendt, Hannah. “Vita Activa and the Human Condition.” Chapter 1 in The Human Condition. 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780226025988. [Preview with Google Books] ———. “The Term Vita Activa.” Chapter 2 in The Human Condition. 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780226025988.[Preview with Google Books] ———. “Eternity Versus Immortality.” Chapter 5 in The Human Condition. 2nd ed. University of Chicago Press, 1998. ISBN: 9780226025988. [Preview with Google Books] Sacks, Oliver. Seeing Voices: A Journey into the World of the Deaf. Vintage Books, 2000. ISBN: 9780375704079. Lester, Richard K., and Michael J. Piore. Innovation—The Missing Dimension. Harvard University Press, 2004. ISBN: 9780674019942. [Preview with Google Books] |
| 15 |
The Soul of A New Machine The Double Helix: A Personal Account of the Discovery of the Structure of DNA |
[Watson] [Kidder] |
Recommended Readings
Rawls, John. “Some Reasons for the Maximin Criterion.” American Economic Review 64, no. 2 (1974): 141–6.
Foley, Duncan K. “Adam’s Vision.” Chapter 1 in Adam’s Fallacy: A Guide to Economic Theology. Belknap Press, 2008, pp. 1–4. ISBN: 9780674027299. [Preview with Google Books]
———. “Grand Illusions.” Chapter 6 in Adam’s Fallacy: A Guide to Economic Theology. Belknap Press, 2008. ISBN: 9780674027299. [Preview with Google Books]
Althusser, Louis. For Marx (Part 1), pp. 94–101, 104–7, and 110–16. marx2mao.com.
Althusser, Louis, and Étienne Balibar. “The Errors of Classical Economics: Outline of a Concept of Historical Time.” Chapter 4 in Reading Capital (Part 2), pp. 91–101. marx2mao.com.
Krugman, Paul. “How Did Economists Get It So Wrong?” New York Times Magazine, September 2, 2009.
Solow, Robert M. “How To Understand the Disaster.” New York Review of Books, May 14, 2009.
