Course Syllabus

Comparative Economics: Global Risk and European Responses

Semester & Location:	Summer Session 2 2022 - DIS Stockholm
Type & Credits:	Core Course - 3 credits
Study Tours:	Athens, Greece
Major Disciplines:	Economics, Finance, and Political Science
Prerequisite(s):	One course in intermediate or advanced microeconomics at university level.
Faculty Members:	Fairouz Hussien - fairouz.hussien@disstockholm.se Stylianos Papaioannou - stylianos@disstockholm.se
Program Contact:	Susanne Goul Hovmand - sgh@dis.dk
Time & Place:	13:00 - 16:00 & D-508

Course Description

Markets generate wealth – but there are no guarantees of how. On the international stage, the volatility of markets contributes to many of the key global challenges of our time: climate change, widening inequality, unprecedented waves of migration, financial crises, and increasing unemployment in the wake of digitalization, automation, and AI. In this course, we consider how responses to these challenges differ between Europe and the U.S., with a focus on the nature and extent of public interventions in the marketplace.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, students are expected to have a better understanding of:

• ...the structure and dynamics of Swedish economy, and the welfare state.
• ...the foundations and basic operation of the European Union and the European Monetary Union
• ...how crises emerge and their multilevel impact on society.
• ...how supranational entities respond to instability.
• ...the genesis of crisis in the Greek economy and the EU policy response.

Furthermore, students are expected to develop their analytical thinking in oral and written presentations, and showcase their capabilities to seek information and be source critical.

Faculty

Fairouz Hussien

PhD student in Business Administration (Stockholm School of Economics), M.Sc. in Management and Strategy. Co-founder of the Methods Lab. Research focus on economic regulation, essential industries, and governance power. Expertise fom the airline industry and fossil fuel systems.

Stylianos Papaioannou, PhD

Ph.D  in International Entrepreneurship, Uppsala University, M.S. in  International Business Strategy, Linnaeus University. Research focus on International Entrepreneurship, International Opportunity development and organizational behavior of Small and Medium sized Enterprises. 

Readings

Elliott, Graham, and Allan Timmermann. 2008. "Economic Forecasting." Journal of Economic Literature, 46 (1): 3-56.DOI: 10.1257/jel.46.1.3

Goodman, J. and Loveman, G. (Nov – Dec 1991) “Does Privatization Serve the Public Interest?” Harvard Business Review

Van Loon, A. (2013). Domestic Politics in EU External Economic Relations: US-EU Competition in Trade. Global Power Europe - Vol. 1, 219–234. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-32412-3_13

Jonning, L. (2009). "The Swedish Model for Resolving the Banking Crisis of 1991-93: Seven reasons why it was successful." European Commission, Directorate General for Economic and Financial Affairs Economic Paper 360

North, Douglass C. 1991. "Institutions." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5 (1): 97-112. DOI: 10.1257/jep.5.1.97

Fligstein, Neil. (1996). Markets as Politics: A Political-Cultural Approach to Market Institutions. American Sociological Review. 61. 656-673. 10.2307/2096398.

Study Tour

The course includes a study tour to Athens, where we will have an opportunity to carry out an in-depth examination of the genesis and key features of the Greek economic crisis and the policy initiatives that have been employed to reverse long term economic stagnation.

Approach to Teaching

Learning is not a top-down process, but an equal exchange of information to construct knowledge in the team.

In this course learning will be facilitated through the following:

Lectures: though lectures will not be the main focus of this course, they will be used to provide students with essential knowledge on the subjects discussed in this course.

Problem-based learning (PBL): students will be given cases that they will, in groups, first problematize, and then solve.

Self-initiated learning: students will be expected to seek knowledge in groups, and assess their validity critically. Therefore, please bring your laptops with you.

Readings: the readings for this course are not meant to be memorized, but are here to support your learning by providing more depth and prespective to comparative economics, and all that it entails. These readings will help you deliver a better performance in the course overall.

As life-long learning is a deeply individual experience, students will be taught the basics of source criticism, and will be taught the SMART model of task management to ease their learning process.

Expectations of the Students

Students are expected to actively participate in class, enagage with the readings and the ongoing discussions.

Use of laptops and other electornic devices is permitted only when said so in class.

1 missed attendance = 1 written task to be submitted. In other words: most of the course activity will be taking place within teaching hours. Absence from a session, however, means that the students must submit a make-up assignment related to the topic of discussion.

Evaluation

What work will they be doing in the class, and how will you evaluate it?  What will you value in their work? What are your expectations of their work?  What will be rewarded, and what will not be rewarded? This leads to the grading breakdown.

Engaged participation in class

• Most sessions will wrap up with a presentation, and much of the sessions will focus more on student activity rather than passive listening.
• Your active and respectful participation in the sessions is expected.

Study tour tasks

• Immersion journal
• Interaction with guest lecturers

Final exam

• Details later pt 1
• Details later pt 2
• Information on the final exam will be given on the Monday following our return from the study tour.

Grading

Assignment	Percent
Engaged participation in class	30%
Study tour assignments	20%
Final exam	50%