History+of+Economic+Thought


 * __Introduction__:** In this unit we will study the history of economic ideas. We will do so by reading about people such as Adam Smith, David Ricardo, Thomas Malthus, Karl Marx, John Maynard Keynes, Friedrich Von Hayek, and Milton Friedman. We will read about these economists and their ideas in chronogical order, starting with Smith in the 18th century and ending with Friedman in the 20th, and discuss them in class.


 * __Essential Question__:** What is economics and why do we study it?

**__January 3__: The Economic Revolution**

 * __Homework Due__: Read Chapter 2 ("The Economic Revolution") in The Worldly Philosophers.


 * __Discussion__: What events and forces caused the shift from an agrarian economy to one based on industrial capitalism?

**__January 5__: The Wonderful World of Adam Smith**

 * __Homework Due__: Read Chapter 3 ("The Wonderful World of Adam Smith") in The Worldly Philosophers (PDF below).
 * [[file:Adam Smith.pdf]]


 * __Discussion__: Adam Smith was "interested in laying bare the the mechanism by which society hangs together".


 * 1) "How is it possible for a community in which everyone is busily following his self-interest not to fly apart"?
 * 2) "What is it that guides each individual's private business so that it conforms to the needs of the group"?
 * 3) "With no central planning authority and no steadying influence of age-old tradition, how does society manage to get those tasks done which are necessary for survival"?

**__January 9__: The Gloomy Presentiments of Parson Malthus and David Ricardo**

 * __Homework Due__: Read Chapter 4 ("The Gloomy Presentiments of Parson Malthus and David Ricardo") in //The Worldly Philosophers.//


 * __Discussion__: Why was the analysis of Malthus and Ricardo so much more pessimistic about the fate of society than Adam Smith's?

**__January 11__: The Inexorable System of Karl Marx**

 * __Homework Due__: Read Chapter 6 ("The Inexorable System of Karl Marx") in //The Worldly Philosophers//(PDF below).
 * [[file:Helibroner on Marx.pdf]]


 * __Discussion__: Why did Karl Marx believe that capitalism would ultimately collapse?

**__January 15__: The Heresies of John Maynard Keynes**

 * __Homework Due__: Read Chapter 9 ("The Heresies of John Maynard Keynes") in //The Worldly Philosophers.//


 * __Discussion__: How did Keynes revolutionize our understanding of the economy?


 * __Related Readings__


 * "Mr. Keynes and the Classics: A Suggested Interpretation" by John Hicks (1937)

**__January 17__: Friedrich Von Hayek and the Austrian School**

 * __Homework Due__: Reading on Hayek


 * __Discussion__: How and why did Hayek believe that Keynes was wrong about the economy?

**__January 19__: Milton Friedman and the Chicago School**

 * __Homework Due__: Reading on Friedman


 * __Discussion__: How did Friedman's analysis of the economy differ from both Keynes and Hayek?