Course 2009-2010 a.y.

Course Objectives

• The student becomes familiar with the main strands in the development of economic thought from Adam Smith to the end of the 20th century
• The student understands the conceptual origin of the micro- and macroeconomic theories she studied in the first and second year; this allows the student to appreciate better the meaning and the importance of micro- and macroeconomic analysis
• The student understands the methodological problems affecting the development of economic thought.
  

Course Content Summary

• The economic theory of Adam Smith
• The classical school (1790-1870): from Ricardo to J.S. Mill, through Marx
• The marginal revolution (1870-1890): Menger, Jevons, Walras
• The consolidation of neoclassical economics (1890-1930): Wieser and Böhm-Bawerk in Austria; Edgeworth, Wicksteed, and Marshall in England
• Pareto and the evolution of neoclassical economics between 1900 and 1930
• The years of high theory (1930-1940): the debate on economic calculation in the socialist commonwealth and Hayek's critique; the Keynesian revolution
• Microeconomic and macroeconomic theory between 1940 and 1970: ordinalism and behaviorism in choice theory; Debreu and the Neo-Walrasian approach to general equilibrium theory; Arrow and social choice theory; Von Neumann-Morgenstern, Nash, and the birth of game theory; Von Neumann-Morgenstern, Savage and the revival of expected utility theory; the neoclassical synthesis in macroeconomic theory
• From 1970 to the end of the 20th century: the New Classical Macroeconomics; the analysis of markets with asymmetric information; advances in game theory; the rise of experimental and behavioural economics.

Detailed Description of Assessment Methods

Written exam.

Textbooks

• Lectures notes (available on Learning Space)
• Original texts
• Suggested but not compulsory textbook:
  • M. BLAUG, Economic Theory in Retrospect, Cambridge University Press, Fifth edition. 

Prerequisites

The prerequisite is the knowledge of the basic micro- and macroeconomic theories taught in the following compulsory courses: Microeconomia/Microeconomics, Macroeconomia/Macroeconomics, Istituzioni economiche (CLEACC), Scenari economici (CLEACC).