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Course Title: Comparative Economic
Date of Preparation: March 1999
Prepared by: Laurence Shute
COURSE OUTLINE
I. Catalog Description
EC 412 Comparative Economic Systems (4)
Examination of alternative economic organizations, ranging from free enterprise to fully planned economies. 4 lecture/presentations. Prerequisites: EC 201 and EC 202.
II. Required Background or Experience
EC 201 and EC 202.
III. Expected Outcomes
Students in EC 412 will:
a) compare and contrast the fundamental principles that distinguish the two basic economic systems -- capitalism and socialism,
b) identify and summarize the multiple forces that can affect the historical or concrete forms of development of real-world systems, including the economic, political and moral dimensions,
c) examine the interrelationships between underlying premises and real-world manifestations of these premises across economic systems,
d) summarize the complexity of forces that affect systems, and
e) critically discuss the relevant criteria by which real world systems may be compared and evaluated.
IV. Text and Readings
Texts:
Agressano, J. Comparative Economics (New York: Prentice Hall, 1991).
Gardner, H.S. Comparative Economic Systems (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1998).
Hammond, R. Comparative World Atlas (Maplewood, NJ: Hammond, 1989).
Readings:
Bergson, A. The Economics of Soviet Planning (New Haven, CN: Yale University University Press, 1964).
Carrere D'Encausse, H. Confiscated Power (New York: Harper Row, 1982).
Djilas, M. The New Class (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1957).
Dobb, M. On Economic Theory and Socialism (London: Routledge and Paul, 1965).
Fischer, E., ed. The Essential Marx (New York: Herder and Herder, 1970).
Friedman, M. Capitalism and Freedom (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 1963).
Fromm, E. Marx's Concept of Man (New York: Ungar Publishing Company, 1962).
Gray, A. The Socialist Tradition (New York: Longman Green and Company, 1946).
Harringron, M. Socialism Past and Future (New York: Arcade, 1989).
Hoff, T.J.B. Economic Calculation in the Socialist Society (London: W. Hodge, 1949).
Howe, I., ed. Essential Works of Socialism (New York: McGraw-Hill, 1964).
Lavoie, D. National Economic Planning (Cambridge, MA: Ballinger Publishing Company, 1985).
Lavoie, D. Rivalry and Central Planning (New York: Cambridge University Press, 1985).
Leeman, W.A., ed. Capitalism, Market Socialism and Central Planning (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin, 1963).
McKenzie, R.B. Competing Visions (Washington, D.C.: CATO Institute, 1985).
Novak, M. The Spirit of Democratic Capitalism (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1982).
Nove, A. The Soviet Economy, 2nd Edition (New York: Praeger Publishers, 1969).
Roberts, P.C. Marx's Theory of Exchange (Stanford, CA: Hoover Institution Press, 1963).
Rothbard, M.N. For A New Liberty (New York: Macmillan, 1973).
Schumpeter, J. Capitalism, Socialism, and Democracy (New York: Harper, 1950).
Von Mises, L. Socialism (Indianapolis, IN: Liberty Fund, 1981).
V. Minimum Student Materials
Textbooks and notebooks.
VI. Minimum College Facilities
Classroom suitable for lecture/presentations. Library of assigned reading materials and basic works.
VII. Course Outline
A. Introduction
1. Economic Problem of Scarcity
2. Fundamental Tasks of Economic Systems
B. Which System is Best?
1. Economic Analysis of Economic Policy
C. Theories of Capitalism
1. Free Market or Laissez-Faire Ideals
a. Private Property,
b. Consumer's sovereignty
c. Competition
d. Monopoly
e. Business Cycles
6.Unemployment
g. Inflation
h. Poverty
2. Managed Capitalism -- Capitalism and Planning in the 20th Century
D. Marx's Vision of Socialism and Communism
1. Capitalism and Alienation
2. The Path from Capitalism to Socialism
3. The Nature and Purpose of Socialism
4. Pure Communism
5. The Theory of Democratic Socialism, or Market Socialism
E. The Mises Critique of Socialist Economy
1. The Problems of Value and Prices
2. Economic Calculations in Socialist and the Market Systems
3. The Meaning of Planning
4. Socialist Approximation to the Market
F. The USSR Experience in Socialism
1. The Soviet Economy and Its Basic Institutions
2. Problems in Planning and Emergence of Markets
3. Economic Growth and the Rise of the Soviet Consumer
4. The Liberman and other Reform Proposals
G. Socialist Systems in Other Countries: Yugoslavia, China, Eastern Europe
VIII. Instructional Methods
Lecture/presentation sessions covering text assignments and course readings.
IX. Evaluation of Outcomes
Students complete a written research paper on one of the categories listed in the course outline. Written in-class examinations and classroom participation.
