| Economics 372 | Marietta College |
| Spring 2005 | Dr. Delemeester |
Course: Comparative Economic Systems
Text: Comparative Economics in a Transforming World Economy by J. Barkley Rosser and Marina Rosser (2e, MIT Press: 2005)
Office: 118 Thomas Hall (phone: 376-4630)
Office Hours: MTWTh 2:00 – 3:00pm
Email: delemeeg@marietta.edu
Course Home Page: http://www.marietta.edu/~delemeeg/econ372
Prerequisite: Economics 211 and 212.
Course Description and Objective
All economic systems are designed to address the fundamental economic questions posed by the existence of scarcity. Among these are (1) what goods to produce, (2) how to produce them, and (3) for whom to produce. The economic systems we shall examine run the gamut along the capitalism - socialism continuum. Most countries do not fit neatly into one or the other of the above "isms". Rather, they are a mixture of elements from along the continuum with each country's political, historical, and cultural environment determining the particular weights attached to each element. It will be our task to examine how various countries have dealt, not only with the scarcity problem, but also a variety of other national objectives.
Much change has happened in the world in the past several years. So much change, as a matter of fact, that many of the textbooks written for a course in comparative economic systems seem grossly outdated. Consequently, you will be required to keep abreast of world events by reading newspapers and magazines, in addition to the chosen textbooks and readings. You may wish to keep a scrapbook of articles concerning a particular country to help with your research paper discussed below.
Upon completing this course you should be able to:
Responsibilities
I see my primary responsibility to lead, guide, and motivate a group of committed and dedicated students in the learning process, and to determine the extent to which students have mastered the material covered in this course. I am committed to this task. By signing up for this course, you have accepted the responsibility of being an active learner and of participating in the classroom discussion. Most importantly, students are expected to be committed to learning the subject matter. If you are not open to new ideas, or are not committed, expect your grade to reflect this.
Finally, I would like you to help me make this a better course. I have provided a lecture evaluation form on my web page [http://www.marietta.edu/~delemeeg] for you to complete after every lecture. The form provides you with an anonymous means of communicating to me your impression of the day's lecture. Please take the time to fill out the form as it will help me understand which topics may require more in-depth discussion or elaboration.
Course Requirements and Policies
1. There will be four exams given. Exams will consist of a variety of objective and subjective questions. Make-up exams will not be given. If you miss an exam the weight of the missed exam will be added to the next exam.
2. There will be four problem sets distributed. These will form the basis of in-class assignments and homework. Several exam questions may come directly from the problem sets.
3. Rhetorical Paper. See details below.
4. Course Blog. You will be required to contribute thoughtful dialogue to our class blog. See details below.
5. There will be two market lab experiments required. Details to follow.
6. Class Attendance and Participation. You are allowed two free skips. Any additional missed classes will reduce your Exam average grade by 1 percentage point per missed class. An active learning approach is essential to doing well in this course. Consequently, you should expect to actively ask and answer questions during class.
7. Academic dishonesty is a breach of the trust that the instructor and your fellow classmates place in you and will not be tolerated. Academic dishonesty includes cheating, plagiarism, theft, or improper manipulation of laboratory or research data or theft of services. A substantiated case of academic dishonesty may result in disciplinary action, including a failing grade on the project, a failing grade in the course, or expulsion from the College" ( Marietta College Undergraduate Programs, 2004-2005 Catalog, p. 132). All suspected cases will follow the procedures outlined in the Marietta College Catalog. Copyright violations are also quite serious breaches of the law. Please visit the MC copyright tips page for further details.
8. Academic support services and resources are available at Marietta College's Academic Resource Center (ARC) located on the third floor of Andrews Hall. Students with documented disabilities should notify the instructor and the Academic Resource Center to discuss their individual needs for accommodation in a timely manner.
9. Co-curricular probation for those on academic probation is in effect. Please refer to the college catalog for details (Marietta College Undergraduate Programs, 2004-2005 Catalog, p. 138).
10. Your grade will be determined as follows:
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Grades are allocated as follows:
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Purpose: To develop skill in economic explanation and experience in writing to an audience that is somewhat unfamiliar with economic terminologies and theories.
Mechanics: In terms of paper format, please use the following guidelines: double-spaced, page numbers, references, no title page, one-inch margins, 12-pt font. Staple the pages together in the upper left corner. Do not use any hand-drawn charts or figures--use the drawing features of Word or Excel.
| Your Assignment: Choose a country
that is in the process of (or requires) substantial market reforms. Your
choice of a country should be one other than is discussed in Rosser &
Rosser. Outline the current (and recent past) economic situation in your
chosen country; describe both macro- and micro-economic features. Explain
clearly what problem(s) motivated your chosen country to implement market
reforms. Describe and critically evaluate the reform process. Give attention
to specific measures of economic success/failure. Finally, make a
recommendation to improve the market reform process.
Rhetorical Situation: You are a staff economist working for the International Monetary Fund or a think tank (such as the Heritage Foundation, the Cato Institute, or the Brookings Institution). The paper should be aimed at a general audience with very little knowledge of your chosen country and little background in economic analysis. |
A blog for this class has been set up at http://mariettaecon.blogspot.com/. Blogging is an interactive process between writers and readers. Readers may not agree with the opinions you express, and are free to tell you so. This includes me, although I attempt to stick to assertions, facts, and conclusions that are within the mainstream of economics. Please try not to be offended at any blog comments I may make, but please do inform me if I do offend you.
A post is a new contribution on a topic of your choice. All posts must include at least one hyperlink to material from outside the class blog, and they must be related to what we study during the course of the semester. A comment is a new contribution to a pre-existing post intended to extend or clarify the discussion. You may also ask questions requiring clarification or explanation from me or the student who wrote the original post. Posts must be factual at their core. You may support those with what you learn in class about economics, or with opinions about economic issues. Comments need not include new facts. They must have some foundation in economics. They should not be purely opinion. I want to see discussion and debate, not contradiction.
You will receive credit for posts and comments. A full score is worth 40 points. The course is divided into four sections, each culminating with an exam. Within each of the three sections, you will receive 4 points for your first post. After that, each additional post receives 1 point less, to a minimum of 1 point. Your first comments within each section is worth 2 points each and each additional comment receives 1 point. From those amounts I may subtract points for errors of fact, spelling, grammar, or style. Comments on your own posts will not be awarded credit, unless they are replies to earlier comments.
Completion of a blog post or comment will be evaluated by the time stamp attached to the e-mail notification I receive from Blogger noting your post or comment. I will count all posts and comments that arrive with a time stamp before 9:00am on Exam day. Later posts or comments will count fully, but for the following period. The deadline for all section 4 posts/comments is 9:00am April 24, 2005.
The implications of this system are that: 1) the minimum amount of work to get 40 points is to do three posts and two comments in each of the four sections, 2) there is no limit to the number of points you can earn, and therefore 3) it is possible to earn extra credit from blogging.
In order to begin posting to the blog you must first complete the free registration with Blogger. In order to do this, I will need your email address so that I can send an invitation to you to join the blog. Once you receive the invitation via email, simply follow the instructions to create your account.