Undergraduate Course: Time, Economics and Resource Allocation in Britain 1930-1990 (ECSH10094)
Course Outline
| School | School of History, Classics and Archaeology |
College | College of Humanities and Social Science |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course provides an analysis of the changing interaction between time, economic theory and economic policy-making in the UK between 1930 and 1990. |
| Course description |
This one-semester course examines the changing use made of the concept of time in economic theory and in UK economic policy-making from the 1930s. Topics covered include: game theory and the contributions of von Neumann and Morgenstern; Hayek and the Austrian approach to time and markets; J.M. Keynes and the making of The General Theory; John Hicks and the interpretation of The General Theory; Frank Ramsey and discounting; James Meade and trade; , Robert Mundell and optimal currency areas; Nicholas Kaldor and export-led growth and expenditure taxation; Maurice Allais, Paul Samuelson and the Over-Lapping Generations model; Robert Lucas and rational expectations; and Milton Friedman and monetarism. The policy areas covered will include: exchange rates; trade; labour markets; human capital; the distribution of income and wealth; housing; social security; health; the ownership and structure of utility industries; public investment; transport; and taxation.
|
Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
|
Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | A pass or passes in 40 credits of first level historical courses or equivalent and a pass or passes in 40 credits of second level historical courses or equivalent.
In addition, a background in first-year economics or British economic and environmental history is helpful to students taking this course. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 3 History courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses. Applicants should note that, as with other popular courses, meeting the minimum does NOT guarantee admission. |
| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
|
| Academic year 2017/18, Available to all students (SV1)
|
Quota: 36 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
172 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
75 %,
Coursework
25 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
One 2,000 word essay (25%)
One two-hour exam (75%) |
| Feedback |
Students will receive written feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser during their published office hours for this course or by appointment. |
| Exam Information |
| Exam Diet |
Paper Name |
Hours & Minutes |
|
| Main Exam Diet S2 (April/May) | | 2:00 | |
|
| Academic year 2017/18, Part-year visiting students only (VV1)
|
Quota: 4 |
| Course Start |
Semester 1 |
Timetable |
Timetable |
| Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) |
Total Hours:
200
(
Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22,
Summative Assessment Hours 2,
Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4,
Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours
172 )
|
| Assessment (Further Info) |
Written Exam
75 %,
Coursework
25 %,
Practical Exam
0 %
|
| Additional Information (Assessment) |
One 2,000 word essay (25%)
One two-hour exam (75%) |
| Feedback |
Students will receive written feedback on their coursework, and will have the opportunity to discuss that feedback further with the Course Organiser during their published office hours for this course or by appointment. |
| No Exam Information |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- demonstrate by way of course work and examination as required, an understanding of the main principles underpinning the use of time in economic theory and in policy-making;
- demonstrate by way of course work and examination as required, an understanding of the main changes in economic theory between 1930 and 1990;
- demonstrate by way of course work and examination, an understanding of the role which economics plays in informing the processes and outcomes of decision-making;
- demonstrate, by way of coursework and examination as required, the ability to develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence;
- demonstrate independence of mind and initiative; intellectual integrity and maturity; an ability to evaluate the work of others, including peers.
|
Reading List
A.J.C. Britton, Macroeconomic Policy in Britain, 1974-1987, 1991, National Institute of Economic and Social Research, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
Bruce Caldwell (ed.), The Collected Works of F.A. Hayek: vol. 9, Contra Keynes and Cambridge.
M. Friedman, A Theory of the Consumption Function, 1957, NBER.
Friedrich A. Hayek, Prices and Production, 1931, London, George Routledge & Sons.
John Hicks, Methods of Dynamic Economics, 1985, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
John Hicks, Capital & Time; A Neo-Austrian Theory, 1973, Clarendon Press: Oxford.
Susan Howson (ed.), The Collected Papers of James Meade (4. vols), 1990, Unwin Hyman.
Gerald P. O'Driscoll Jr. and Mario J. Rizzo, The Economics of Time and Ignorance, 1985, Basil Blackwell: Oxford.
Richard F. Kahn, The Making of Keynes' General Theory, 1984, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press.
John Maynard Keynes, The General Theory, in D. Moggridge (ed.), The Collected Writings of John Maynard Keynes, vol. XIII, The General Theory and After, Part 1, Preparation, Macmillan, Cambridge University Press for the Royal Economic Society, first published 1973, pbk reprint with corrections, 1987.
Robert Leonard, Von Neumann, Morgenstern, and the Creation of Game Theory: From Chess to Social Science, 1900-1960, 2010, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
George Loewenstein and John Elster, Choice Over Time, 1992, New York: Russell Sage Foundation. |
Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Prof Martin Chick
Tel: (0131 6)50 3842
Email: Martin.Chick@ed.ac.uk |
Course secretary | Miss Alexandra Adam
Tel: (0131 6)50 3767
Email: alex.adam@ed.ac.uk |
|
|
University Homepage