Course Syllabus

Comparative Economics: Global Risk and European Responses

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.
• Resource scarcity and allocation, and the conflicts affecting the related decision-making.
• The EU, its foundations and basic operation, as well as its many institutions.
• A closer look at a variety of crises, and how they were handled.
• 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 @ Stockholm School of Economics. Co-founder of the Methods Lab. Research focus on economic regulation, essential industries, and governance power. Expertise from the airline industry and fossil fuel systems.

Readings

All compulsory readings are accessible through the modules.

1. Steiner‐Khamsi, G. (2010). The Politics and Economics of Comparison. Comparative Education Review, 54(3), 323–342. doi:10.1086/653047 
2. Stiglitz, J.E. (2019). Why Government? In People, Power, and Profits: Progressive Capitalism for an Age of Discontent. W.W. Norton & Company, New York.
3. North, D.C. (1991). "Institutions." Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5(1), 97-112. DOI: 10.1257/jep.5.1.97.
4. Goodhart (2002) the Constitutional Position of Central Banks.
5. Pickard (2020) Monopoly Control over Digital Infrastructures.
6. Perman (2011) An introduction to natural resource and environmental economics.
7. Blommstein, H.J. (2006). Why is Ethics Not Part of Modern Economics and Finance? A Historical Perspective. DOI: 10.3917/fbc.024.0054.

Additional readings, available by request.

1. Goodman, J., & Loveman, G. (1991). "Does Privatization Serve the Public Interest?" Harvard Business Review, Nov-Dec.
2. Friedman, B. (2007). "Capitalism, Economic Growth, and Democracy." Daedalus, 136(3).
3. Fligstein, N. (1996). Markets as Politics: A Political-Cultural Approach to Market Institutions. American Sociological Review, 61, 656-673. DOI: 10.2307/2096398.
4. Cumes, J.W.C. (1974). Inflation! A Study in Stability. Chapter 1. Pergamon. ISBN: 9780080181677.
5. Wolf, M. (2022). The market can deliver the green transition – just not fast enough. Financial Times. Retrieved from: https://www.ft.com/content/33ca0d1b-6173-4ce1-a072-a8d3c0b492beLinks to an external site.
6. Acemoglu, D., & Robinson, J.A. (2013). ‘Economics versus politics: Pitfalls of policy advice’. The Journal of Economic Perspectives, 27(2), 173–192.
7. Hagens, N.J. (2020). Economics for the future – Beyond the superorganism. Ecological Economics, 169. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2019.106520.

Study Tour

The course includes a study tour to Helsinki, Finland, where we will have an opportunity to learn more about crisis responses from a Finnish perspective.

Expectations of the Students

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

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

1 missed attendance = 1 written task to be submitted. 

Evaluation

You will be evaluated based on your assignment submissions, preparedness, and in-class class activity.

Grading