Economic Challenges-Period 1

Economic theories do not come out of thin air. Crucial for this course is the insight that economists, both in the present and in the past, respond to the social, political and economic circumstances of their time. Their theories and policy proposals are not always in agreement with each other, which gives rise to the emergence of different paradigms and competing schools of thought. Studying the development of economic thought in its historical context is an excellent way to appreciate the richness of economics as a scientific tradition.

Each lecture starts with the discussion of an important period in economic history, starting from classical antiquity up to modern times. Each lecture ends with the discussion of a current 'economic challenge'. The following topics will be discussed: climate change, markets and morality, Brexit, limits on growth, aging, sweatshops, market failure, influence of advertising, the Euro crisis, robotisation, nuclear threat and big data. The relevance of the theory to the contemporary debate is always demonstrated. Along the way, we introduce the most important works of leading thinkers in economics such as Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Alfred Marshall and John Maynard Keynes. The fact that their ideas about the correct way of research and policy-making differed greatly from each other underlines the philosophy of this course that tackling important social questions from different angles promotes the understanding of what economics is all about.

Contact hours listed under a course description may vary due to the combination of lecture-based and independent work required for each course therefore, CEA's recommended credits are based on the ECTS credits assigned by VU Amsterdam. 1 ECTS equals 28 contact hours assigned by VU Amsterdam.