Economic history

Teacher(s)

Lacroix Jean; Oosterlinck Kim;

Language

English

Prerequisites

The prerequisite(s) for this Teaching Unit (Unité d’enseignement – UE) for the programmes/courses that offer this Teaching Unit are specified at the end of this sheet.

Learning outcomes

At the end of this learning unit, the student is able to :

This course takes up a number of big and often controversial issues in world economic history during the last millenium. The focus will be on the ways in which economic historians have approached these issues--on the economics they have used to understand them and on the evidence and the statistical and other techniques that they have used to support their interpretations. Students should take away from the course a broad knowledge of world economic history, reinforced skills in economic and quantitative reasoning, and greater ability to read scientific work critically.

Content

Some of the questions to be discussed include:
Was the pre-industrial world Malthusian?
What was the long-term impact of the Black Death?
How was capital mobilized in the pre-industrial world?
Why did the Industrial Revolution take place in Britain?
Why was there a "great divergence" in incomes between the West and the rest after 1800?
What was the nature of global financial integration before the First World War?
Was American economic growth exceptional?
What caused the Great Depression?
Why was economic growth and development often slow in regions such as Africa, Latin America and the Middle East?

Teaching methods

The teaching approach chosen is based on the reading and the critical discussion of scientific articles. Students will prepare and present at least one article per week.

Evaluation methods

Assessment will be based on three components: 1) article presentations and general participation in class discussions (30%); 2) extended abstracts of two articles read for class (20%); and 3) a short paper analyzing critically an article in economic history chosen in collaboration with the instructors (50%).

Other information

A fuller description of the course objectives, assessment and readings can be found at the course site on Moodle.

Bibliography

Bibliographie: Le cours sera basé sur des articles scientifiques (issus de livre ou de revues scientifiques) qui seront accessibles sur Moodle. L’ouvrage suivant peut être vu comme utile pour le sujet du cours : Robert C. Allen, Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2011, 192 pp).

Faculty or entity

ESPB