History of Thought & Public Choice EC 801 (Ph.D.)

Tuesday 4:30pm-7:10pm, Sawyer 1134

Final Exam December 9th 5:40pm-7:10pm

 

 

Dr. Benjamin Powell

Department of Economics

1 Bowdoin Sq. (6th Floor)

bpowell@suffolk.edu (best way to reach me)

617-573-8023

http://mail.beaconhill.org/~bpowell/

Office Hours: Tuesday and Wednesday 2pm-3:30pm and by appointment

 

This course combines a survey of the history of economic thought with an introduction to graduate level public choice research.  As such, it is impossible to fully cover many of the details of the history of all economic thought. So this course focuses on the history of political economy with an emphasis on the development of ideas that still have relevance to a modern applied public choice research program.  At the conclusion of the course students should have a broad understanding of the main thrust of the modern public choice research program as well as the history of where many of those ideas originated. 

 

Students enrolled in this course intend to become professional economists.  Professional economists not only consume and understand the knowledge other economists produce but they also take that foundation and build new knowledge for others through their own research.  In addition to teaching the formal material in this course an emphasis will be placed on learning how to become a professional economist yourself.  We’ll focus on teaching you how to “see” research ideas through the use of the readings in this course and students will be expected to produce a research paper of their own by the end of the semester.

 

Grading:

 

Midterm:                                              20%

Final Exam:                                           35%

Research Paper & Presentation:            35%

Participation:                                         10%

 

Books:

            Adam Smith                 The Wealth of Nations

            F.A. Hayek                  Individualism and Economic Order

            Dennis Mueller Public Choice III

            Mancur Olson              Power and Prosperity

            Bryan Caplan               Myth of the Rational Voter

 

 

 

 

Course Outline

 

1.  Scottish Enlightenment

 

Smith, Adam (1776) An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of

Nations. Liberty Fund. BK I, Ch. 1-3;  BK II, Ch. 3, 5, BK III, Ch. 1, 3-4, BK IV, Ch. 2.

Smith, Adam (1982 reprint) Lectures on Jurisprudence. (Handout pp. 331-339 and 577-

579). 

Smith, Vernon (1998) “The Two Faces of Adam Smith,” Southern Economic Journal 65

(1): 2-19.

Evensky, Jerry (2005) “Adam Smith’s theory of Moral Sentiments: On Morals and Why

They Matter to a Liberal Society of Free People and Free Markets.”  Journal of

Economic Perspectives 19 (3): 109-130.

 

2.  Classical Economics and the Marginal Revolution

 

Handouts. 

 

Ekelund, Robert and Robert Hebert (2002) “Retrospectives: The Origins of Neoclasscial

Microeconomics.”  Journal of Economic Perspectives 16 (3): 197-215.

 

3.  Calculation Debate

 

Mises, Ludwig Von. (1920)  “Economic Calculation in the Socialist Commonwealth.” 

Available at www.mises.org

Hayek, F.A.  (1948) Individualism and Economic Order.  Chapters 4, 7, 8, 9.  

Lerner, Abba (1934) “Economic Theory and Socialist Economy.”  The Review of

Economic Studies.  October: 51-61.

Lerner, Abba (1937) “Statics and Dynamics in Socialist Economics.”  The Economic

Journal 47 (186): 253-270.

Lerner, Abba (1938) “Theory and Practice in Socialist Economics.”  The Review of

Economic Studies 6 (1): 71-75.

 

4.  Methodology

 

Kirzner, Israel (1960) “Economics as the Science of Human Action” from The Economic

Point of View.  Pp. 146-185

Buchanan, James (1964)  “What should Economists Do?”  Southern Economics Journal

30: 213-222.

Rothbard, Murray (1957) “In Defense of Extreme A Priorism” Southern Economic

Journal 23 (3): 314-320.

Becker, Gary, (1976) “The Economic Approach to Human Behavior.” From The

Economic Approach to Human Behavior.  Pp. 3-14.

Friedman, Milton (1953) “The Methodology of Positive Economics.” From Essays in

Positive Economics.  Pp. 153-184.

Samuelson, Paul (1952) “Economic Theory and Mathematics – An Appraisal.” 

American Economic Review 42 (2): 56-66.

Rothbard, Murray (1976) “Praxeology, Value Judgements and Public Policy.”  In The

Foundations of Modern Austrian Economics.  Pp. 89-111.  

 

5.  Foundations of Public Choice

 

Buchanan, James (1979) “Politics Without Romance: A Sketch of Positive Public Choice

Theory and It’s Normative Implications.”  Handout from The Collected Works of

James Buchanan Vol. 1.

Tullock, Gordon (2004) “Economic Imperialism,” “Public Choice,” and “Public Choice

What I Hope for the Next Twenty Five Years.” Handouts from The Collected Works of Gordon Tullock Vol. 1.

Buchanan, James (1986) “The Constitution of Economic Policy” Nobel Prize Lecture. 

Available at: http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/economics/laureates/1986/buchanan-lecture.html

Mueller, Dennis (2003) Public Choice III.  Chapter 1.

 

6.  Origins of the State

           

Mueller, Dennis (2003) Public Choice III.  Chapter 2.

Olson, Mancur (2000) Power and Prosperity.  Chapters 1, 2, 3.

Buchanan, James (1990) “The Domain of Constitutional Economics.”  Constitutional

Political Economy.  Vol. 1 pp. 1-18.

Powell, Benjamin and Bart Wilson (2008) “An Experimental Investigation into

Hobbesian Jungles.”  Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. Vol. 66.

Rothbard, Murray (1973) “The State.” From For a New Liberty.  Handout. 

 

 

7.  Interest Groups and Rent Seeking

 

Olson, Mancur (2000) Power and Prosperity.  Chapters 4 and 5.

Mueller, Dennis (2003) Public Choice III.  Chapters 15 and 20.

Tullock, Gordon (1967) “The Welfare Costs of Tariffs, Monopolies, and Theft.”  Western

Economic Journal.  Vol. 5. No. 3: 224-232.

Kruger, Anne (1974) “The Political Economy of the Rent Seeking Society.  American

Economic Review.  Vol. 64. pp. 291-303.

Powell, Benjamin (2008) “The Rent Seeking Costs of Immigration Restrictions.” 

Working Paper.

 

8.  Bureaucracy

 

Mueller, Dennis (2003) Public Choice III.  Chapter 16.

Niskanan, William (1975) “Bureaucrats and Politicians.”  Journal of Law and

Economics.  Vol. 18.  pp. 617-643.

Mises, Ludwig Von (1944) Bureaucracy.  Chapters I, II, and III.  Available online at:

            http://mises.org/etexts/mises/bureaucracy.asp

 

9.  Federalism

 

Mueller, Dennis (2003) Public Choice III.  Chapter 10.

Buchanan, James (1965) “An Economic Theory of Clubs.” Economica.  pp. 1-14.

Tiebout, Charles (1956) “A Pure Theory of Local Government Expenditures.” Journal of

Political Economy.  Vol. 64.  No. 5.  pp. 416-424.

Powell, Benjamin (2004) “Competition and Monopoly Power in Local Government: An

            Extension of Caplan (2001).” Public Choice, Vol. 120. 2004.

Richard Wagner, “Self-governance, polycentricism and federalism,” Journal of

Economic Behavior & Organization, 57 (2) 2005: 173-188.

Nozick, Robert (1974) Anarchy, State and Utopia.  Book III. 

 

10.  Democratic Efficiency

 

Becker, Gary (1983) “A Theory of Competition Among Pressure Groups for

Political Influence.”  Quarterly Journal of Economics 98 (3): 371-400.

Wittman, Donald (1989) “Why Democracies Produce Efficient Results.” 

Journal of Political Economy 97 (6): 1395-1424.

 

11.  Political Economy of Voter Irrationality

 

Caplan, Bryan (2007) The Myth of the Rational Voter.

Menken, H.L. (1926) Notes on Democracy Chapter II.

 

12. Non Democratic Governance

Mueller, Dennis (2003) Public Choice III.  Chapter 18.

Olson, Mancur (2000) Power and Prosperity.  Chapters 6, 7 and 8.

Powell, Benjamin, and Edward Stringham (2008) “Public Choice and the Economic

Analysis of Anarchy: A Survey.” Working Paper.

Powell, Benjamin, Ryan Ford and Alex Nowrasteh (2008) “Somalia After State Collapse:

Chaos or Improvement.”  Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization.  Forthcoming.

 

13.  Future Directions of Political Economy Research

 

Readings TBA. 

 

14.  Research Presentations

 

Final Exam December 9th 5:40pm-7:10pm

 

Note: a class on Friday Nov. 14 makes up for Veterans Missed Class of Nov. 11.