Course Syllabus Fall 2015

A. Course Information
Course Number

ECO 346

Course Name

Foundations of Political Economy

Section

11

Credit Hours

Department

Department of Economics

Campus

Beirut

Meeting Time and

Place
Number of Hours per
week
Tutorial Lab Hours

Tuesdays & Thursdays 3:30-4:45pm; Room 1110 Business Building

3
0

Course Description

This course introduces students to the major schools of thought in Political

Economy, from the classical economists to Marxist, Keynesian, Neoclassical,
Public Choice, Institutional, and the Austrian school economists.

Prerequisites

None

B. Instructor Information
Instructor Name

Dr. Saifedean Ammous

Office Location

1514 Business Building

Telephone Extension

2815

Email

Saifedean.ammous@lau.edu.lb

Office Hours

Tuesdays & Thursdays: 9:30-10:30am & 2:00-3:00pm

C. Textbooks and Content Coverage

Required Textbook(s)

See syllabus

D. Goals, Outcomes and Learning Methods

The School of Business at LAU follows processes to assess and evaluate how well the school accomplishes its program
educational goals and learning outcomes. These measures assist departments and faculty members to continuously improve
programs and courses.
1. The graduate will possess knowledge of core economic principles, theories and
Program Learning
quantitative tools.
Goals
2. The graduate will have the ability to use economic analysis for the solution of business
and organizational problems.
BS in Business
3. The graduate will possess an understanding of the workings of economic policy
instruments
and objectives, and the linkages between the public sector and the private
BS in Economics
economy.
4. The graduate will have the ability to use written and oral communication effectively.

LAU School of Business | Course Syllabus

Program Learning
Outcomes
This course will be used
towards fulfilling the
following program
learning outcomes.

BS Business:
1.1 The graduate will demonstrate essential knowledge acquired in the field of
economics.
2.1: The graduate will be able to propose a solution to a business problem
using quantitative and/or qualitative reasoning.
BS Economics:

General Skills
This course will contribute
to developing the
following:

Teaching Methodology

Required Technology
Skills

1.1: The graduate will be able to demonstrate knowledge of key economic

principles and theories of the macro and micro dimensions of market
economies.
1.2: The graduate will be able to express economic relationships using
graphical and mathematical tools, and to empirically examine such
relationships using regression methods.
2.1: The graduate will be able to propose a solution to a business or economic
problem using qualitative and quantitative reasoning.
3.1: The graduate will identify and evaluate the social and ethical implications
of economic policy, theory and the market economy.

Analytical thinking (able to analyze and frame problems)

Reflective thinking (able to understand oneself in the

context of society)

Application of knowledge (able to translate knowledge of

business and management into practice)

This course will be taught through discussion sessions revolving around the
weekly readings. Students are required to do the readings every week, and
submit reaction papers to the readings for 4 topics throughout the semester. The
papers will be due on the first day in which the topic will be discussed in class.
Regularly check the course Blackboard page.

E. Performance Evaluation
Midterm Exam

30%

Reaction Papers

20%

Attendance & Class Participation

10%

Final Paper

40%

LAU School of Business | Course Syllabus

Total

Quality Points

Guidelines over 100

90

A-

3.67

87 - 89

3.33

83 - 86

3.0

80 - 82

2.67

77 - 79

C+

2.33

73 - 76

70 - 72

1.67

67 - 69

D+

1.33

63 - 66

60 -62

59

B
University Grading
Scale

C
A letter grade will be
determined based on the
University grading scale,
as follows:

100%

Grade

Course Syllabus

Week 1: Introduction to the course

Week 2 & 3: Classical Economics, Adam Smith
Butler, Eamonn. 2011. The Condensed Wealth of Nations and the Incredible
Condensed Theory of Moral Sentiments.
http://www.adamsmith.org/sites/default/files/resources/condensed-WoN.pdf
Coase, Ronald H. ([1976]) 1994. Adam Smiths View of Man. In his Essays on
Economics and Economists. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 95-116.
http://www.chicagobooth.edu/~/media/59F2E558F3604398BBF9518FCF3EBC9E.PDF
Week 4: Classical Economics: Thomas Malthus & David Ricardo
"David Ricardo." The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. 2008. Library of
Economics and Liberty. http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Ricardo.html
"Thomas Robert Malthus." The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics. 2008. Library of
Economics and Liberty. http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/bios/Malthus.html

LAU School of Business | Course Syllabus

Donald J. Boudreaux, "Comparative Advantage." The Concise Encyclopedia of
Economics. 2008. Library of Economics and Liberty.
http://www.econlib.org/library/Enc/ComparativeAdvantage.html
Kremer, Michael Population Growth and Technological Change: One Million B.C. to
1990. Quarterly of Journal of Economics.108. 3 (1993), 681-716.
http://www.econ.ucdavis.edu/faculty/gclark/210a/readings/kremer1993.pdf
Simon, Julian. Population Growth Is Not Bad for Humanity.
http://www.juliansimon.org/writings/Articles/POPOPED3.txt
Week 5 & 6: Marxist Economics
Foley, Duncan. 1986. Understanding Capital: Marxs Economic Theory
http://ouleft.org/wp-content/uploads/Foley_Understanding_Capital.pdf
Marx, Karl, and Friedrich Engels. The Communist Manifesto.
https://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/download/pdf/Manifesto.pdf
Week 7 & 8: Keynesian Economics
Keynes, J. M. "The Great Slump of 1930," "Economy," and "The End of LaissezLaissez-Faire." In Essays in Persuasion. pp. 126-50, 126-50, and 272-95.
http://www.gbv.de/dms/zbw/73041079X.pdf
Keynes, J. M. Chapters 1-3 in The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and
Money
http://cas.umkc.edu/economics/people/facultypages/kregel/courses/econ645/winter2011/ge
neraltheory.pdf

Krugman, Paul. Introduction to The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and

Money by John Maynard Keynes.
https://notendur.hi.is/gylfason/KrugmanonKeynes.pdf
Week 9: Neoclassical Economics
Becker, Gary. 1993. Nobel Prize Lecture: The Economic Way of Looking at Behavior.
http://www.ssc.wisc.edu/~walker/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/09/Becker1993.pdf
Friedman, Milton. Capitalism and Freedom. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press,
1982, Chapters I, II, V, IX, X, XI, XII. http://www.pdfarchive.com/2011/12/28/friedman-milton-capitalism-and-freedom/friedman-miltoncapitalism-and-freedom.pdf
Week 10 & 11: Public Choice Theory & Institutional Economics
Mancur Olson, 1965. The Logic of Collective Action
http://outsidethetext.com/archive/Olson.pdf

LAU School of Business | Course Syllabus

Schumpeter, Joseph. Capitalism, Socialism and Democracy. Harper Perennial Modern

Classics, 2008, PART II: Can Capitalism Survive? http://digamo.free.fr/capisoc.pdf
North, Douglas. Institutions. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 5(1): 97-112.
http://pubs.aeaweb.org/doi/pdfplus/10.1257/jep.5.1.97
Week 12 & 13: The Austrian School
Rothbard, Murray. The End of Socialism and the Calculation Debate Revisited. The
Review of Austrian Economics, Vol. 5, No. 2 (1991): 51-76
https://mises.org/journals/rae/pdf/rae5_2_3.pdf
Hayek, Friedrich A. 1946. Individualism and Economic Order. Chapters I, II, III & IV.
https://mises.org/library/individualism-and-economic-order
Rothbard, Murray. Power and Market: Government and the Economy. Capters 1, 2, 6
& 7. https://mises.org/library/power-and-market-government-and-economy
Barry, Norman. 1982. The Tradition of Spontaneous Order. Literature of Liberty 2(2),
Summer, 7-58.
http://www.econlib.org/library/Essays/LtrLbrty/bryTSO.html
Week 14 & 15: Review, Discussion & Final Paper Presentations
Last day of classes: Dec. 11, 2015
Deadline for withdrawal from the course with a WI grade: Oct. 8, 2015
Deadline for withdrawal from the course with a WP or WF grade: Nov. 13, 2015

F. Policies
Attendance Policy

Students are held responsible for all the material presented in the classroom, even during
their absence. Makeup work and exams, if any, will be according to the rules spelled out
in the course syllabus.
Students can miss no more than two weeks of classes in any semester (one week for
summer term) excused and otherwise, in any course, and still receive credit for that
course.

Make-Up Policy

Students who exceed the allowed number of absences must withdraw from the course;
otherwise, the course grade will be recorded by the instructor as F or NP, depending on
the type of grading in the particular course.
Requests for approval of a make-up should be made within a
Missing an Exam
week of the specified date of the exam. The requests will be
approved for medical situations only if the appropriate medical
excuse presented to the guidance office is deemed valid by the
instructor.
All lost sessions will be made up. The specific date and time
Lost session due to
will be determined by the instructor.
instructors absence

LAU School of Business | Course Syllabus

Withdrawal Policy

WI (Early Withdrawal) indicates withdrawal from the course, after the Late Registration
Period and until the end of the 5th week of the Fall and Spring semesters, and until
the 10th day of the Summer modules. It has no quality points. It does not count in
the GPA, and no credits will be added to the students record.
WP (Withdrawal Pass) indicates withdrawal from the course, after the 5th week and
until the end of the 10th week of the Fall and Spring semesters, and from the 11th
day of classes until 18th day of the Summer modules. It has no quality points. It
does not count in the GPA, and no credits will be added to the students record.
WF (Withdrawal Fail) indicates withdrawal from the course, after the 5th week and until
the end of the 10th week of the Fall and Spring semesters, and from the 11th day of
classes until 18th day of the Summer modules. It has no quality points. It does not
count in the GPA, and no credits will be added to the students record, but is
counted as repeat.
A Withdrawal Form must be submitted to the Registrars Office.

G. Additional University Policies

Student
Code
of The provisions and stipulations of LAU Student Code of Conduct are applicable to all
students taking courses in the School of Business, regardless of whether or not they are
Conduct
pursuing a degree in the School. Refer to LAUs website for the complete policy
http://www.lau.edu.lb/governance-policies/policies/student_code_of_conduct.pdf
Copyright laws

Refer to LAUs policy on Copyrights and Patents on the web or the academic catalogue
http://www.lau.edu.lb/governance-policies/policies/copyright_patent_policy.pdf

Academic Dishonesty Students are expected to conduct themselves in accordance with the highest standards of
academic honesty. Academic misconduct for which a student is subject to penalty
and Plagiarism
includes all forms of cheating, forgery, or plagiarism. Plagiarism is defined as the use of
someone elses ideas, words, or work, as if it were ones own, without clearly
acknowledging the source of that information. Any student found cheating in an exam,
fabricating, falsifying, or using any other form of academic dishonesty in the preparation
of a paper or a project, shall receive a zero on that exam, project or paper and will be
issued a Disciplinary Warning. A student found plagiarizing or cheating for a second
time shall receive an F grade for the course, as well as a second Disciplinary Warning.
Refer to the policy on academic dishonesty on LAUs website
http://www.lau.edu.lb/academics/arp/g/rules_procedures.php
Policy on Incompletes

Course Evaluation

A grade of "I" indicates incomplete work. This grade is exceptionally given by the
instructor when a student, with a valid excuse, did not sit for the final exam, and/or did
not present the final project. Students will not be entitled to an I grade, unless they
have a passing grade of the completed material, throughout the course, and so long as
they have not exceeded the allowed number of absences. Not completing the course or
not sitting for Final exam does NOT entitle you for a grade of "I". A student will have to
complete a request form for an Incomplete Grade and submit it to the School Academic
Council with the necessary input from the instructor of the course.
Completion of the online course evaluations is required.
Students will not be able to access their course grades
until they have completed the course evaluations.

LAU School of Business | Course Syllabus

7
For Fall and Spring terms, the online course evaluations,
by students, shall begin ten days before the end of
classes and continue till end of reading period; for the
Summer modules, said evaluations shall start three days
before end of classes and continue till end of reading
period.