THE UNIVERSITY of EDINBURGH

DEGREE REGULATIONS & PROGRAMMES OF STUDY 2021/2022

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DRPS : Course Catalogue : School of History, Classics and Archaeology : Economic and Social History

Undergraduate Course: Time, Economics and Resource Allocation in Britain 1930-1990 (ECSH10094)

Course Outline
SchoolSchool of History, Classics and Archaeology CollegeCollege of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Credit level (Normal year taken)SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) AvailabilityAvailable to all students
SCQF Credits20 ECTS Credits10
SummaryThis 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. Personal Tutors should contact the History Honours Allocation Administrator to ensure there is space available before enrolling students (tel. 504030).
Information for Visiting Students
Pre-requisitesVisiting students must have 3 History courses at grade B or above. We will only consider University/College level courses. Enrolments for this course are managed by the CAHSS Visiting Student Office, in line with the quotas allocated by the department. All enquiries to enrol must be made through the CAHSS Visiting Student Office. It is not appropriate for students to contact the department directly to request additional spaces.
High Demand Course? Yes
Course Delivery Information
Academic year 2021/22, Available to all students (SV1) Quota:  0
Course Start Semester 1
Timetable Timetable
Learning and Teaching activities (Further Info) Total Hours: 200 ( Seminar/Tutorial Hours 22, Programme Level Learning and Teaching Hours 4, Directed Learning and Independent Learning Hours 174 )
Assessment (Further Info) Written Exam 0 %, Coursework 100 %, Practical Exam 0 %
Additional Information (Assessment) Coursework:
2,000 word Essay (on a particular topic in the course) (50%)
2,000 word Essay (on a question running across almost the whole course) (50%)
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:
  1. demonstrate an understanding of the main principles underpinning the use of time in economic theory and in policy-making;
  2. demonstrate an understanding of the main changes in economic theory between 1930 and 1990;
  3. demonstrate an understanding of the role which economics plays in informing the processes and outcomes of decision-making;
  4. develop and sustain scholarly arguments in oral and written form, by formulating appropriate questions and utilising relevant evidence;
  5. 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
KeywordsNot entered
Contacts
Course organiserProf Martin Chick
Tel: (0131 6)50 3842
Email: Martin.Chick@ed.ac.uk
Course secretaryMiss Katy Robinson
Tel: (0131 6)50 3780
Email: krobins3@ed.ac.uk
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