Course Syllabus

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Semester & Location:

Fall 2022 - DIS Stockholm

Type & Credits:

Core Course - 3 credits

Study Tours:

Gothenburg, Sweden & 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

Stylianos Papaioannou

Academic support:

academics@disstockholm.se 

Program Contact:

Susanne Goul Hovmand - sgh@dis.dk 

Time & Place:

Mondays and Thursdays 14.50-16.10, 1D-508 

Course Description

Our global economic system generates astounding wealth and unprecedented individual freedom. It also creates many problems, including inequality, financial instability, and massive environmental destruction. Some of these problems grow to become crises with international impact.

How nations respond to crises is greatly influenced by a cocktail of factors, including the economic systems in place and how they process and allocate resources, what are the ruling government forms, what kind of policies and regulations are passed (and to whose benefit), market organizing, trade agreements and alliances (with who, for what), and developmental capabilities.

To compare economic systems is to compare ways to process information and make decisions – especially when faced with challenging and uncertain circumstances. This comparison is the study of comparative economics. In comparative economics, we compare economic systems, policies and strategies, and turn towards a facet of economics that is hard to measure, hard to predict, yet vital for navigating and understanding the economy.

In this course, we will compare a selection of economies and how they respond to crises. We will take a look at a variety of policies, economic systems, resource scarcity and allocation, and how the EU has responded to some of the global crises over the past many years.

Learning Objectives

By the end of this course, students are expected to understand:

  • The complex relations between capitalist economics and democratic politics
  • How different economic systems and forms of government result in different responses to crises.
  • Market dynamicity and its interplay with policy responses.
  • Resource scarcity and allocation, and the conflicts affecting the related decision-making.
  • The roots of the 2008 Financial Crisis and the divergent policy responses to the crisis
  • The genesis of crisis in the Greek economy and the EU policy response
  • The EU, its foundations and basic operation, as well as its many institutions.
  • How policies are written.
  • To further develop essential skills – in analytical thinking and in both oral and written presentation - that are vital not only in navigating academic studies, but in flourishing in the game of life.

Faculty

Fairouz Hussien

PhD student in Business Administration (Stockholm School of Economics), M.Sc. in Management and Strategy. Co-founder of the SSE 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

Week 1:

EU Policy Document 52021DC0129 (2021) communication from the commission to the European Parliament, the European council and the council a: common path to safe and sustained re-opening. URL: https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/

Week 2:

Friedman, B. (2007) "Capitalism, Economic Growth, and Democracy". Daedalus136:3

Stiglitz, J.E. (2019) Why Government? in People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent. W.W. Norton & Company, New York.

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

Jaworski, B., Kohli, A.K. & Sahay, A. Market-driven versus driving markets. J. of the Acad. Mark. Sci. 28, 45–54 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1177/0092070300281005

Week 3:

Latour B. The Powers of Association. The Sociological Review. 1984;32(1_suppl):264-280. doi:10.1111/j.1467-954X.1984.tb00115.x

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.

Bailey, M. Cao, R., Kuchler, T., Stroebel, J. and Wong, A. (2018) "Social Connectedness: Measurement, Determinants, and Effects." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 32 (3): 259-80. DOI: 10.1257/jep.32.3.259

Week 4:

Short Study Tour

Week 5:

Heryan, T. & Tzeremes, G. (2017) The bank lending channel of monetary policy in EU countries during the global financial crisis. Economic Modelling, 67, pp.10-22 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2016.07.017.

Cumes, J.W.C. (1974) Inflation! A Study in Stability. Chapter 1. Pergamon, ISBN:9780080181677

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

Week 6:

Schneider, G., & Troeger, V. E. (2006). War and the World Economy. Journal of Conflict Resolution, 50(5), 623–645.

Week 7:

Orwell, G. (1946) Politics and the English Language. 

Riksbank (2020), Economic Commentaries: GDP growth in Sweden relative to other countries in the wake of Covid-19. Pp. 1-11.

Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. 2013. ‘Economics versus politics: Pitfalls of policy advice’. The Journal of Economic Perspectives 27 (2): pp. 173–192.

Week 8:

Break

Week 9:

Midterm exam

Week 10:

Mitchell, T. (2013) Carbon Democracy: Political Power in the Age of Oil, London: Verso. Introduction + Ch. 1: ‘Machines of Democracy’.

Heather I. Sullivan, “Material Ecocriticism and the Petro-Text,” in Heise, Christensen, & Niemann (eds.) The Routledge Companion to the Environmental Humanities, London: Routledge, 2017, pp. 414–423.

Week 11:

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

The Greek Crisis with Stylianos Papaioannou.

Week 12:

Long study tour

Week 13:

Long study tour reflections & presentations

Week 14:

Economic Impact of the Refugee Crisis with guest lecturer Natalie Bye. Readings:

European Commission (2016). An Economic Take on the Refugee Crisis: A Macroeconomic Assessment for the EU. European Union Publications Office: Luxembourg. Accessible at https://ec.europa.eu/info/sites/default/files/file_import/ip033_en_2.pdf

Note: You are only required to read the Executive Summary (pp. 3-4)

Vogt Isaksen, J. V. (2018). The Framing of Immigration and Integration in Sweden and Norway: A Comparative Study of Official Government Reports. Nordic Journal of Migration Research, 10(1): pp. 106-124. DOI: http://doi.org/10.2478/njmr-2019-0033 Accessible at https://journal-njmr.org/articles/abstract/10.2478/njmr-2019-0033/

Week 15:

No pre-assigned readings.

Field Studies

Field Study 1: Nobel Museum (https://nobelprizemuseum.se/en/): "Ideas that change the world". We will approach this field study through the lens of crises as catalysts for change.

Field Study 2: Army Museum (https://armemuseum.se/). A follow-up session to Lecture 8: Economic Impact of War.

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: Lecturing 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. 
  • Readings: the readings for this course are here to support your learning by providing more depth and prespective to comparative economics, and all that it entails. 

Expectations of the Students

Students are expected to actively participate in class, enagage with the readings and the ongoing discussions. Since much of the work will be done using laptops, students are expected to bring theirs with them to 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.

Grading

Assignment

Percent

Participation

10%

Midterm Exam

25%

Course essay

15%

Reflections

25%

Final Exam

25%

Participation (10%): 

  • Your participation grade reflects the importance of being active in this course, which relies in great part on the reflections, discussions, and exercises in class. 
  • Related task is to be found in "assignments" with further instructions.

Midterm Exam (25%) 

  • There will be a mid-term exam covering the theories and concepts that have been discussed in the beginning of the course.
  • No study aids (e.g. cheat sheets) are permitted.
  • Further details coming soon.

Essay (15%)

  • Your essay will integrate some but not all aspects of the course. 
  • Related task is to be found in "assignments" with further instructions.
  • Further details coming soon

Reflections (25%)

  • In connection with the study tours, in this course we have two reflection assignments.
  • Further details coming soon

Final Exam (25%) 

  • Further details coming later.
  • Take-home exam.

Course Summary:

Date Details Due