University of Redlands

Econ 304: Economic History

Fall 2015

Instructor:
Oce:
Oce Hours:

Nathaniel Cline

E-Mail:
Classroom:
Class Times:

nathaniel_cline@redlands.edu

Duke 203C

Duke 201

M, W 2pm-3pm and T, Th 2:30pm-3pm

M, W 11:30-12:50

...from time to time history catches economists at their brilliant gymnastics and walks o with their
overcoats... E. Hobsbawm, 1980

Course Description and Objectives

This course will cover themes in the economic history of the world. The core question of the course as outlined
in the rst few weeks, regards the nature and causes of the wealth of nations. Even a cursory look at long run
time series data shows a clear divergence between nations since at least the industrial revolution. Though
there has been some debate on the rise of certain non-western nations in recent decades, the gap between
the West and the rest has persisted until the present. This course seeks to examine the explanations that
economists have oered for this phenomenon. By the end of this course, students should be familiar with
the broad outlines of global economic history and some of the discipline's major debates.
In addition, this course fullls the WB general education requirement. We will thus spend a signicant
amount of time discussing and practicing academic writing in economics.

Course Materials

There is no textbook for our course. We will rely instead on readings I have selected from academic and
popular journals and books. There is quite a bit of reading required, and some of it can be fairly dense. In
class we will discuss strategies for reading academic work to make this task a bit easier, but be warned that
you will have to devote a fair amount of time to reading.

Course Expectations
1. To attend
This course will rely a great deal on discussion of the course material.

In order for this to prove

sucessful, students must be present, prepared, and willing to contribute. As a result, attendence will
be graded. Two classes may be missed without penalty. Each subsequent absence will result in one
point lost from your nal grade. Missing ve or more classes will result in a failing grade.
2. To read the assigned materials
TIn addition to attendence, course discussion requires that students have read and understood the
assigned material. This will also help you to be prepared for the extended answer exams. Given the
quantity of reading, if you fall behind you will nd it very dicult to catch up. In order to encourage
students to keep up with the reading, I will on occassion assign short reading responses in class that
will be graded.

3. To complete assignments on time

In the interest of keeping up with the course, students are required to submit assignments on time.
Late or improperly submitted assignments will not be accepted.
on material that the class is no longer considering.

This is to avoid students working

In case of extreme emergency, students with

appropriate documentation will have the missed assignment dropped.

A Note on Writing

This course fullls a WB liberal arts foundation. In order to recieve WB credit you must be of junior or
senior standing. In addition, the course catalog states that, Students completing the WB will demonstrate:

the ability to write thoughtfully in the genres appropriate to a specic discipline;

an awareness of conventions for communicating in writing within a specic discipline;

the ability to use feedback to revise their writing so as to communicate eectively with a specic
disciplinary audience.

In order to meet these objective, you will complete three kinds of writing:
1. Classroom freewrites
These will be done in class, and will not be graded. They are designed to both stimulate discussion,
but also to encourage you to learn the practice of thinking through writing.
2. Classroom reading responses
These will be done in class, and will be graded. They are designed to both stimulate discussion, and
to help evaluate your reading comprehension.
3. A formal article in the style of the Journal of Economic Perspectives
A great deal more will be said about this in class. This assignment will involve an exploration of an
historical issue with modern relevance. It is this assignment in particular that will help you learn the
conventions of the discipline, and will require you to engage in revision.
4. Take home extended answers
These are designed to both test your understanding of the material covered, and give you a chance to
think critically about it through writing.

Assignments and Grading

Your grade for this course will be based upon three exams (two midterms and nal), reading quizzes, group
projects, and homework assignments as described above. Note that there are no extra credit assignments.
Their weighting in your nal grade is as follows:
Assignment

Weight

Extended answer 1

30

4.0

95%-100%

2.0

74-76

Extended answer 2

30

3.7

90-94

1.7

70-73

Extended answer 3

30

3.3

87-89

1.3

65-69

JEP Article

45

3.0

84-86

60-64

Classroom response

2.7

80-83

0.7

56-59

Total

150

2.3

77-79

4 point scale

0-55

Accomodations

If you are need of support or accommodation of any kind to participate in this class, please speak with
me immediately and make the appropriate arrangements with Academic Success and Disability Services at
909-748-8108.

Academic Honesty

Acknowledge when work is not your own. Few things are sacred in the academy, but the attribution of ideas
is one of them. All instances of plagiarism will be reported to the college. The rst instance will recieve a
grade of zero. The second will result in a failing grade for the course and possible disciplinary action by the
college.

Preliminary List of Topics and Readings

Topic

Reading

Date

Introduction to the course

None

9/9

Overview of global economic history and

Capitalism entry from the

its main issues I: What is Capitalism?

New Palgrave Encyclopedia of

9/14

Economics
Overview of global economic history and
its main issues II: The Great Divergence

Divergence, big time by Lant

Pritchett

A Guide to Writing in

Writing in economics

Economics, Parts I-III

9/16

9/21

The Original Auent Society

Pre-capitalism I: Scarcity and Surplus

in Stone Age Economics by

9/23

Marshall Sahlins, pp.1-39

Societies and Economic
Systems in The Great
Pre-capitalism II: The Embedded

Transformation by Karl

Economy

Polanyi, pp. 45-58

9/28

Selections from Aristotle, St.

Thomas Aquinas and Karl
Marx handed out in class.

Property and Prophets by E.K.

The rise of capitalism I: Competing

Hunt, Ch. 1 and 2

theories

Selections from Aristotle, St.

9/30

Thomas Aquinas and Karl

Marx handed out in class.
Evolution of the Market
Pattern in The Great

Transformation by Karl
Polanyi, pp. 59-70
The rise of capitalism II: The Market

The Self-Regulating Market

Pattern

and the Fictitious

Commodities in The Great

10/5

Transformation by Karl
Polanyi, pp. 71-80
Selections from Aristotle, St.
Thomas Aquinas and Karl
Marx handed out in class.
The industrial revolution I: Overview

Industry and Empire, by Eric

Hobsbawm Ch. 2, 3

Study day

10/7
10/12

Why the Industrial Revolution

The industrial revolution II: Innovation

was British: Commerce,

and demand

induced invention, and the

scientic revolution by Robert
C. Allen

10/14

Reading

Topic

Date

State formation and the

construction of institutions for
The industrial revolution III: The role of

the rst industrial nation by

the state

Patrick Karl O'Brien in

10/19

Institutional Change and

Economic Development edited
by Ha-Joon Chang
The industrial revolution IV: The
Latecomers

Kicking Away the Ladder by

Ha-Joon Chang, Ch. 1, 2

The industrial revolution V: The factory

system

What do bosses do? by

Stephen Marglin

The origins of backwardness I: Overview

and Institutions

Why nations fail, by Acemoglu

and Robinson, Preface, Ch. 1, 2

10/21

10/26

10/28

Selections from Guns, Germs,

The origins of backwardness II: Geography

and Steel by Jared Diamond

What Makes Countries Rich or

11/2

Poor by Jared Diamond

Selections from Wealth and
The origins of backwardness III: Culture

Poverty of Nations by David

11/4

Landes
The origins of backwardness IV:

Malthus and Darwin: Survival

Demography

of the Richest in Farewell to

11/9

Alms by Gregory Clark

Technology, Finance and
The origins of backwardness V:

Dependency: Latin American

Dependency

Radical Political Economy in

11/11

Retrospect by Matias
Vernengo
Finance and hegemony I: The classical

The Gold Standard in

gold standard

Globalizing Capital by Barry

11/16

Eichengreen
Finance and hegemony II: The classical

Notes on the Working of the

gold standard

Gold Standard by Nathaniel

11/8

Cline
The Great Depression I: Global

Transmission of the Great

Depression by Peter Temin

Thanksgiving

11/23
11/25

Topic

Reading

Date

The Great Depression II: Domestic

The Nation in Depression by

11/30

Christina Romer
The Golden Age of Capitalism

The Rise and Fall of the

12/2

Golden Age by Andrew Glyn,

Alan Hughes, Alain Lipietz, and
Ajit Singh
The long view and the future of the
capitalist world economy I: Cycles of
Accumulation

The Three Hegemonies of

12/7

Historical Capitalism in The

Long Twentieth Century by

Giovanni Arrighi
The long view and the future of the
capitalist world economy II: The Crisis
and Environment

The End of the 'End of

12/9

History': The Structural Crisis

of Capitalism and the Fate of
Humanity by Minqi Li
Concluding thoughts

None

12/14

The final exam will be take-home and will be due