This course is about the history of ideas in economics to help the students to understand and appreciate the intellectual development that have shaped the world as we know it. The first half of the course will be devoted to the era of mercantilism, followed by the school of the Physiocrats, and then covering the ideas of what Keynes coined as “classical economists”, such as Smith, Hume, Malthus, Stuart Mill, Ricardo, and Marx, among others. The second half of the course will start from Keynes and Keynesianism (yes! they are different), followed by the monetarists up to the Lucas critique and the rational expectations revolution. The neoclassical synthesis and its origins will serve as a bridge to move from "classical" to "modern" economic thought. Finally, the course will explore the impact of the history of ideas in the current macro-development literature. A reflection on the methodological aspects of economics as a science will take place during the semester as well, probably at the beginning of the course. In the end, this is nothing but a story of scientific revolutions with several paradigms opposing each other, and influencing the economic policy that has transformed the fate of nations; As Keynes wrote in the first pages of his General Theory (1936), "the ideas of economists (...) are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else". 3 undergraduate hours
Prerequisites (Must be complete BEFORE taking this course):
MATH 220 or MATH 221 (Calculus 1)
ECON 302 (Intermediate Microeconomic Theory) or ECON 303 (Intermediate Macroeconomic Theory)
Instructors Teaching the Course:
This course is taught by the below faculty ~ you may click on their name to view their website with additional information. Please check the Course Explorer or Enterprise/Self-Service to see what section they will be teaching (teaching schedules vary by semester).
Felipe Saenz
Past Course Syllabi:
The following syllabi are from past semesters and should only be used as a guide for the information covered in the course and general structure of the course. The instructors have the right to change the course for upcoming semesters ~ please refer to the syllabus they distribute the first day of class.
Econ 490 History of Modern Econ Thought Felipe Saenz Past Syllabus
View the Course Explorer:
See when the course is offered in upcoming semesters and all the section details:
https://courses.cites.illinois.edu/schedule/terms/ECON/490
Restrictions:
Click Here to see our restrictions page for more information on restrictions & overrides
Course restrictions are managed by the Econ Undergraduate Studies Office. Instructors do NOT have the ability to provide overrides.
