ECON 378
Long-Run Perspectives on Economic Growth Spring 2010
Division II Quantitative/Formal Reasoning
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The world today is marred by vast inequities, with about a hundred-fold difference in per capita income from the poorest country to the most affluent. Similar differences exist between rates of growth in different countries. What explanations do economists have to offer for these differences in levels of prosperity and rates of growth? Are the explanations to be found in underlying differences between countries during the past few decades? The past few centuries? Or the past few millennia? If modern differences in economic affluence have origins that are hundreds or thousands of years in the past, what scope exists for policies to reduce global inequality? Can we expect these inequalities to be reduced gradually over time through natural economic processes, or are they likely to persist unless action is taken to reduce them? This course will present a unified theory of economic growth for thinking about these and related questions, along with a review of the evidence that has been examined by scholars and is emerging concerning the applicability of the theory. Examples of issues to be covered include, amongst other topics, the importance of human capital formation in the process of industrialization, the role of colonialism, slavery and ethnic fractionalization in shaping modern institutions, and the long-lasting effect of geography through its impact on the emergence of agriculture in early human societies.
The Class: Format: lecture/discussion
Limit: 25
Expected: 25
Class#: 3572
Grading: yes pass/fail option, yes fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: at least one exam, a research paper and a class presentation
Prerequisites: Economics 251 and 252 or permission of instructor, familiarity with econometrics will be helpful but not essential
Enrollment Preferences: senior Economics majors
Distributions: Division II Quantitative/Formal Reasoning

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