Course Syllabus

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Semester & Location:

Spring 2023 - 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 (current students please use either Canvas Inbox or email fairouz.hussien@disstockholm.se to contact)

Stylianos Papaioannou (current students please use the Canvas Inbox to contact)
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.
  • Increased familiarity with policies, how they are written and used in crisis responses.
  • 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.
  • 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

All readings are available for download in the modules.

Week 1:

Field Study 1: Visit to Stockholm City Museum (https://stadsmuseet.stockholm.se/)

  • Short assignment:
    • As you familiarize yourself with the history of Stockholm, pay attention to 1. what it has endured over time, and the most common types of crises that you can pick up on, and 2. the development of infrastructure, and what contributed to overcoming hardships (big and small).
    • You will not need to submit a written assignment. However, you are expected to discuss your observations on Thursday, at the introductory session.

L1. Introduction

  • 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:

L2. Economics, Politics, and Public Policy

  • 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.

L3. Economic Impact of the Refugee crisis pt. 1 with Natalie Bye

Week 3:

L4. Economic Impact of the Refugee crisis pt. 2 with Natalie Bye

L5. Institutionalism

  • 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.

Week 4:

Short study tour to Gothenburg.

Week 5:

L6. Industrial Development & Economic Growth

  • Kniivilä, Matleena. (2007). Industrial development and economic growth: Implications for poverty reduction and income inequality. 

L6.1. Time to work on short study tour assignment.

Week 6:

L7. Market Construction

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

  • Diaz Ruiz, C. A. (2013). Assembling market representations. Marketing Theory, 13(3), 245–261. https://doi.org/10.1177/1470593113487744

  • 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

Field Study 2: Tour of the Riksdagen with MP Maria Stockhaus

  • 9 am: morning fika (place to be determined)
  • 10 am: tour with Maria begins.

L8. Central Banks, and Monetary & Fiscal Policies

  • 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 7:

L9. Moral Markets

  • Blommstein, H. J. (2006) Why is Ethics Not Part of Modern Economics and Finance? A Historical Perspective. DOI 10.3917/fbc.024.0054

  • Check module to access videos needed for preparation.

L10. Economic Impact of War & Economic Sanctions

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

Week 8:

L11. The Greek Crisis pt. 1 with Stylianos Papaioannou.

L12. The Greek Crisis pt, 2 with Stylianos Papaioannou.

Week 9:

Long study tour to Athens

Week 10:

L13. Crisis Responses & Policy Writing

  • Orwell, G. (1946) Politics and the English Language. 
  • Stabilisation policies in a monetary union - Speech by Mario Draghi, President of the ECB, at the Academy of Athens
  • Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson. 2013. ‘Economics versus politics: Pitfalls of policy advice’. The Journal of Economic Perspectives 27 (2): pp. 173–192.

Midterm exam

Week 11:

L14. Environmental Economics pt. 1

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

L15. Environmental Economics pt. 2

  • 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 12:

L16. Economic Impact of Covid 19

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

Week 13:

L17. Economic Impact of Propaganda

  • Pending.

Week 14:

Break

Week 15:

Course presentations pt. 1 & 2

Week 16:

Final exam

 

Field Studies

Field Study 1: Visit to Stockholm City Museum (https://stadsmuseet.stockholm.se/)

  • Short assignment:
    • As you familiarize yourself with the history of Stockholm, pay attention to 1. what it has endured over time, and the most common types of crises that you can pick up on, and 2. the development of infrastructure, and what contributed to overcoming hardships (big and small).
    • You will not need to submit a written assignment. However, you are expected to discuss your observations on Thursday, at the introductory session.

Field Study 2: Riksdagen, with MP Maria Stockhaus

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, engage 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.

 

Academic Regulations  

Please make sure to read the Academic Regulations on the DIS website. There you will find regulations on: 

 

DIS - Study Abroad in Scandinavia - www.DISabroad.org

Course Summary:

Date Details Due