Ricardian Socialism, economics homework help
Only do the week 6,8 and 9.
Ec 4
0
7
Fall
2016
:
CLASS CALENDAR
W
eek
1
(9/27
)
Class
Intro
duction
Religious Underpinnings
We begin with the Biblical notions of social ethics and economic justice that
underlie the three “Abrahamic” religions (Judaism, Christianity, and Islam). A
central theme is is that nature (including human societies) were “designed” to
work harmoniously. Unlike other creatures, humans however are not bound to
nature, and follow what they believe is their own “self interest”. Such behavior
can be the root of
our own demise. The quest for a harmonious path becomes
the story of human civilization.
Week
2
(10/4
)
Greece through The Mercantilists
We begin with the economic thought of the Greek philosophers, particularly
Aristotle, who understood economic
behavior to be a part of nature, but were
suspicious of the intentions of individuals who were not “trained” to behave
wisely. Teachings of the Greek philosophers were merged with Christian
teachings by the Scholastic doctors, who developed a commercial
code intended
to promote economic justice. As nation
-
states emerged economic thought turned
to the means by which one state can gain economic advantage over its
neighbors.
SPIEGEL:
Chapters 1,2
(all)
3
(rhrough p55 and pp.60
-
65)
4
(Through p.81)
MEDEMA and SAMUELS: Aristotle
(Politics and Nichomachean Ethics)
Thomas Acquinas
(through page 25)
Thomas Mun
QUESTIONS
:
1) Describe the difference between Economics and Chermatistics (the art of
getting money) in Aristotle’s Thought. Why was he suspicious of Chermatistics?)
How does this compare with the thou
ght of the Stoics? The Epicurians?
2) How do Thomas Acquinas’ standards of fairness in buying and selling
compare to modern assumptions of what must be satisfied in order for
competitive markets to function?
E
con 132
Syllabus
Fall
2013
Page
2
Dr.
McLaren
Week
3
(10/11)
SPIEGEL:
Chapters 5
(all)
7
(John Locke)
8
(From Cantillon to the end)
9
(Hume)
QUESTIONS
:
1) What is a “specie” (precious metal coin) flow theory of trade
as advocated by
Hume? How much of that did the Mercantilists understand? How did this impact
their policies, specifically, how did they view property rights or the rights of
individuals?
2) How Did Locke differ from the other mercantilists?
Week
4
(10/11)
Liberalism and the Classical Economists
With the Classical economists, economic behavior was again seen as a natural
process, this time as one that performs best when left alone. Belief that the
gains of one must come at the expense of others gav
e way to the view that
natural cooperation would enhance the wellbeing of all parties. While Smith
recognized that economic processes could be corrupted, Others proclaimed his
“invisible hand” to be a doctrine of greed.
SPIEGEL:
Chapters 10
, 11, 12,
14
(All)
QUESTIONS
:
1) What does Smith mean by “self interest”? Is this consistent with his previous
argument that “sympathy” is the foundation of a moral society?
2) In the first week I argued that there were
three points made in the “Garden of
Eden” story that were a metaphors for nature and humankind’s relationship to it.
Does Smith’s “Invisible Hand” fit that model?
3) Acording to Smith, What is the down side of the division of labor? How does
he propose
to fix it?
4) What problems does Spiegel have with Say’s Law? Under what conditions is
it valid and under what conditions might it not be?
E
con 132
Syllabus
Fall
2013
Page
3
Dr.
McLaren
Week
5
(10/25
)
Review and Midterm
Week
6
(11/1
)
Mill and the
Utopian Socialists
The advent of the indus
trial revolution revealed a dark side of capitalism that the
classical economists had not expected. This was the potential for abuse of a
growing population of workers by industrialists whose power grew ahile their
numbers shrank. Numerous proposals for
a more egalitarian structure of firms
arose. While these were short lived, they strongly influenced John Stuart Mill,
who became the leading thinker in economics of the mid 19
th
Century.
READINGS:
Spiegel
Chapters 19 (all)
15 (pp.339
-
344)
16 (pp.368
-
373, and 383
–
392)
Medema and Samuels (pp.183
–
185)
QUESTIONS
:
1) What was the main argument behind Ricardian Socialism?
2
)
Are th
e proposals of the Utopian Socialists (Owen, Forrier, and Saint
-
Simon
compatible with a market economy?
3) Was Mill able to address the concerns of the socialists in his view of market
economics?
Week
7
(11/8
)
Marx and the Soviet Experiment
E
con 132
Syllabus
Fall
2013
Page
4
Dr.
McLaren
W
ee
k
8
(11/15
)
Economic Science
This week we look at the “scientific method” as it applies to economics. J. S. Mill
gave the first description of what it means for economics to be considered a
science. His definition has been the generally excepted wisdom
until 1953 when
Milton Friedman wrote his famous essay. Though Friedmans essay has been
taken as the last word on the subject by many, there are many others that are
very dubious about it.
NOTE: I recommend that you begin with Friedman’s essay. It wil
l make reading
Hands a little easier
QUESTIONS
:
1) According to Friedman, what is positive economics? Why does he advocate
keeping it separated from normative considerations? Do you believe it is really
possibl
e to keep the two separate?
2) On page 14 and 15, Friedman argues that a hypothesis cannot be judged on
how realistic its assumptions are, only on its ability to predict or “explain” events
( this is the notorious “F
-
Twist”). What does he mean by reali
stic or unrealistic
assumptions?
3) On page 17 (middle of the page) Friedman argues that it is impossible to say
that she effect of some variable is “small” enough to be ignored? Is this
argument valid? Explain.
4) What does J. S. Mill mean by the in
ductive and deductive scientific methods.
Which of these does he argue is best for Economics”
E
con 132
Syllabus
Fall
2013
Page
5
Dr.
McLaren
Week 9
(11/22
)
General Equilibrium The Marginal Revolution
With the Marginal Revolution of the 1870’s came the mathematically
–
based
microeconomic theory t
hat we have today. While showing great promise at first,
the axiomatic approach has shown severe limitations in its ability to describe
human behavior. The weakness may well lie, not in mathematics, but in the fact
that the marginal revolutionaries were
not themselves mathematicians. As result,
they may have caused out theory to have been built COMPLETELY
BACKWARDS!
READINGS:
Posted on Blackboard
Bentham
Measuring Utility
Medema and
Samuels Jevons
(pp.415
–
431
)
Menger (pp.443
–
455)
QUESTIONS
:
1) In the
article
titled
“
Bentham
’
s Red Herring
”
what problems are there with the
asumptions that: a) Maxi
mization of utility is the cause behind individual choice?
b)
utility is the measure of an individual
’
s wellbeing?
2) In Jevon
s
’
article, Is it clear that Marginal utility must be derived from total
utility or can it be the other way around?
3) From the article
on measuring utility, what would be necessary in order for
utility to be comparable between individuals?
Week 10
(11/29
)
Macroeconomics
We begin with a return to the Physiocrats who were the first to envision the
circular flow of goods and s
ervices through a society. It was Keynes who used
this model to demonstrate how such a flow can be disrupted, even when there is
no lack of the imputs needed to keep it going. While Keynes’ theory has played a
major role in public policy for nearly a cen
tury, his theories are being rejected by
the profession for lack of solid foundation in the axiomatic theory of general
equilibrium. It remains to be seen whether the weakness is in Keynes, or in the
inability of general equilibrium theory to adequately e
xpress his ideas.
FINAL EXAM
:
See Class Schedule
Answers
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