Intermediate Economics: A Heterodox Approach

REVISED

Fall 2011 quarter

Faculty

Tom Womeldorff economics

Fields of Study

economics

Preparatory for studies or careers in

economics, political economy, history, public administration, and business.

Prerequisites

principles of microeconomics AND principles of macroeconomics or other economic theory.

Description

This program is designed for students who are interested in critically studying economics beyond the introductory level.  We will complete the equivalent of textbook intermediate microeconomics while critically assessing the boundaries of its usefulness and its ideological role in legitimating market solutions to complex social problems. 

We will survey two additional schools of economic thought: Marxist political economy and institutional economics.  Our goal is not to choose the "right" school of thought.  Instead, we will be guided by the belief that complex and diverse questions require diverse tools; no one school of thought will be sufficient.  In the process, we will learn to be self-critical scholars, always asking of each approach: What does it illuminate and what does it obfuscate?

In seminar, we will emphasize the close reading of challenging texts by authors such as Thorstein Veblen, John Kenneth Galbraith, Robert Heilbroner, Geoffrey Hodgson, Stephen Resnick, Richard Wolff, and Samuel Bowles. 

Program activities will include lectures, workshops, exams, short papers, and seminar.

Location

Olympia

Online Learning

Enhanced Online Learning

Books

Greener Store

Offered During

Day

Program Revisions