The course connects the history of economic thought onto Global History by showing how significant economic ideas have influenced the process of Europe’s formation from the very beginning to the present day.
A. Magliulo, A History of European Economic Thought, Routledge, 2022.
Learning Objectives
The aim of the course is to trace the influence of the great economic ideas in the making of Europe as a supranational community, from its origins to the present day.
By the end of the course, students will be knowledgeable about some significant moments in the history of economic thought and about the intertwined political history of Europe. They will understand that economic ideas have political power and that Europe was born before the institutions that govern it today. Students will also be able to analyze the nature of the fundamental problems that Europe has faced over time and the significance of some crucial economic policy choices.
Prerequisites
Knowledge of the principles of economics.
Teaching Methods
The course is based on lectures and on classroom discussions with students.
Type of Assessment
The examination consists of an oral colloquium aimed at assessing the candidate’s knowledge, critical understanding, and expository ability of the main topics covered in the course.
Course program
1. Medieval Economic Thought and the Birth of Europe
2. Mercantilism and Physiocracy in the Making of a Europe of Absolute Monarchies (1517– 1776)
3. Classical Political Economy and a Europe of Liberal Nation-States (1776–1870)
4. Neoclassical Economics vs. Etatism and a Europe of Empires (1871–1918)
5. Neoliberalism(s) and Corporatism: A Europe of Sovereign Nations and Its Failure (1919– 1943)
6. The Invention of Functionalism and the “Separated Unification” of Europe (1944–1973)
7. The Decline of Etatism, Rebirth of Neoliberalism, and United Europe (1974–2007)
8. The Crisis of Neoliberalism, the Greatest Recession, and Unfinished Europe (2008–)