Capitalism and Its Critics, Fall 2006
(Complete Item Description)
- Abstract:
Subject addresses the evolution of the modern capitalist economy and evaluates its current structure and performance. Various paradigms of economics are contrasted and compared (neoclassical, Marxist, socioeconomic, and neocorporate) in order to understand how modern capitalism has been shaped and how it functions in today's economy. Readings include classics in economic thought as well as contemporary analyses. Subject stresses general analytic reasoning and problem formulation rather than specific analytic techniques. May not be used for economics concentration. One economics HASS-D subject may be used as an economics elective for the economics major and minor. This course examines the implications of economic theories for social and political organization in the context of the historical evolution of industrial societies. Among the authors whose theories will be discussed are Ayn Rand, Milton Friedman, Karl Marx, Max Weber, Joseph Schumpeter, and John Kenneth Galbraith. Emphasis will be placed on class discussion of specific texts. Students will be encouraged to ground their views in concrete textual and empirical material and to consider the implications of different arguments for the understanding of personal, political, and economic events today.
- Subject:
- Social Sciences
- Grade Level:
- Post-secondary
- Collection:
- MIT OpenCourseWare