ECONOMICS 1540 -
ECONOMICS AND EVERYDAY LIFE - CHRISTENSEN - SPRING 2001
Office:
Soc.Sc. 1017, 251-6622,
kchrist52@aol.com. Hours: Thurs.
Texts:
1.
Required: Xeroxed packet, sold in class. Includes the required
chapters from Bowles/Edwards (B/E), Understanding Capitalism, Second
edition, 1993 (out of print).
2.
Required: Steven Brouwer, Sharing the Pie: A Citizen’s Guide to Wealth and Power in America, Owl
Books (Henry Holt, Inc.), 1998.
3.
Required for EC: Baiman, Boushey,
Saunders, ed., Political Economy and Contemporary Capitalism: Radical
Perspectives on Economic Theory and Policy, M.E. Sharpe, 2000.
4.
Highly Recommended: Folbre,
5.
Recommended: Korten, David, When
Corporations Rule the World, Kurmanian Books,
1995.
6.
Recommended: Harrison, Bennett, and Barry Bluestone, The
Great U-Turn: Corporate Restructuring and the Polarizing of
Approximate
Grade Breakdown:
10%
Attendance and participation in discussion and in-class exercises
30%
Reading questions on B/E and Brouwer: Due dates
below.
30%
Take-home midterm: Due date TBA, probably March 8.
30%
Take-home final: Due Tues., May 1 at
Policies
and Procedures
1.
Attendance: If you are late, you will receive one-half attendance credit
for that class session.
2.
Illness: If you have a respiratory infection (cold, flu, cough, etc.),
do NOT come to class! Leave me a message before class at 251-6622 and you will
be excused from attendance. If there are assignments due that day, email them
to me at kchrist52@aol.com by class-time. You are responsible for making up any
material you miss while absent.
3.
Class participation: I strongly encourage you to ask questions and to
participate in class discussions. To insure participation by the maximum
possible number of students, I may not always “call on” people in the order in
which they raise their hands.
4.
Email: You are expected to have a functioning email address and to check
it on a regular basis. You may use either the Purchase system or a commercial
provider. If you do not currently have an email address, so
to the
5.
Reserve: All required texts (including Bowles & Edwards) and many
recommended texts are on reserve.
6.
Typing: Type all assignments. Staple your paper and number the pages.
7.
Reading questions:
8.
Late papers: No late assignments or exams will be accepted. No
exceptions. If you are ill, email me the assignment at kchrist52@aol.com by
class-time.
9.
Incompletes: No incompletes granted except for medical emergencies. A
doctor’s note will be required.
10.
Extra credit: You may earn extra credit at any time during the semester
by writing a three-to-five-page summary of any article from Baiman,
Boushey, & Saunders. All EC papers due by Thurs.,
April 26,
*************************************************************************************
SCHEDULE
OF CONCEPTS AND ASSIGNMENTS
I.
Basic Definitions
A. Paradigm/Conceptual Framework -
Three major paradigms in economics today
B. Scientific Method
C. Capitalism
ASSIGNMENT: Reading questions on
B/E ch. 1 and 3 DUE Thurs., Jan. 25.
II.
A Brief History of Capitalism
A. Origins of capitalism in Western
Europe/Globally
B. Transition to capitalism in the
U.S.
C. The role of slavery in the
transition; The relationship of economic change to
racism
ASSIGNMENT: Reading questions on
B/E ch. 4 DUE Thurs., Feb. 1.
ASSIGNMENT: Reading questions on
B/E ch. 6 DUE Thurs, Feb. 8.
III.
The Political Economy Paradigm
A. Context for paradigm development
B. Definition of class society - Cornland!
C. Are capitalist societies class
societies?
D. The circuits of capital, amended
E. Determinants of wages; of bargaining
power; CJL (cost of job loss)
F. Labor and labor power; ULC (unit
labor costs)
G. Critique of paradigm
ASSIGNMENT:
ASSIGNMENT: Reading questions on
B/E ch. 11 and B/E ch. 15
(p. 357-369 only) DUE Feb. 22.
IV.
The International Economy
A. Balance of payments and currency
values
B. The Bretton
Woods System
ASSIGNMENT:
V.
Economic Inequality in the
A. Trends in wealth and income
inequality
B. The contribution of tax policies
to inequality
C. Poverty
ASSIGNMENT:
VI.
The Changing Nature of
A. Pay inequality within
corporations
B. “Financialization”
and short-run horizons
C. Unions under siege
D. Foreign investment: The search
for cheap labor
ASSIGNMENT:
ASSIGNMENT:
VII.
The Impact of Corporate Money on
A. Trends in “hard” and “soft” money
contributions
B. The alienated electorate
C. The social impact of de facto
one-party politics
ASSIGNMENT:
VIII.
Solutions/Responses
A. Are Western
European social democracies a model for the
B. The role of unions
C. How do we get there from here?
ASSIGNMENT: Reading questions on Brouwer ch. 17 (p. 131-133 only),
18, 19 DUE Thurs., April 19.
ASSIGNMENT: All extra credit
papers (from Baiman, et al.) due Thurs., April 26.
TAKE-HOME
FINAL EXAM
- DUE Tuesday, May 1 at
******************************************************************************
READING
QUESTIONS ON BOWLES & EDWARDS, SECOND EDITION
CHAPTER
1
1.Summarize the changes caused by the coming of capitalism.
CHAPTER
3
3.
Summarize the views of four major contributors to the political economy
paradigm.
CHAPTER
4
4.A. Define surplus, labor process, technology, division of
labor.
4.B. Define depreciation. Explain the relationship between
gross product, net product, surplus product, and depreciation.
CHAPTER
6
6.A. Define class; explain its relationship to property.
6.B. Define capitalism, commodity, and wage labor.
6.C. Distinguish wealth from income.
6.D. Define profit. What is the source of profits?
CHAPTER
10
10.A. Why do B/E say that a
capitalist economy involves command?
10.B. Define unit labor cost (ULC) & explain its determinants.
10.C. Use the concept of ULC to explain the conflict between K’ists and workers in the workplace.
10.D. What is meant by the extraction of labor from labor
power?
10.E. Define the cost of job loss (CJL). What is the
relationship between the CJL and the power of capitalists over workers?
CHAPTER
11
11.A. Define lockout, runaway shop, parallel plants. How do
they affect K’ists’ power over workers?
11.B. Describe the three major systems of labor control.
11.C. How is technical change
currently "biased"? Explain.
11.D. Describe deskilling. Why might employers deskill?
11.E. What is the purpose of unions? What percentage of the
11.F. Define profitability; efficiency. Critique the
neoclassical idea that profitability equals efficiency.
CHAPTER
15
(p. 357-369 only)
15.A. Explain the reasons for the high employment profit
squeeze.
15.B. Discuss the functions unemployment plays for US K'ists.
CHAPTER
7
7.A. Define accumulation.
7.B. Why are capitalists driven to change technology?
7.C. Define a social structure of accumulation. Briefly
describe the three major SSAs in
*****************************************************************************
READING
QUESTIONS ON BROUWER
CHAPTER
1
- “Sharing the Pie”
1.
Describe wealth distribution in the
CHAPTER
2
- “The Sinking Majority”
2.A. Describe income tends for most Americans in the past 20
years. Why has income for most American families not fallen more than it has?
2.B. Describe income trends for the very wealthy in the past 20
years. What is the source of most of their income?
CHAPTER
3 -
“Well-to-Do-Fare”
3.A. Describe the contribution of tax changes to increasing
income inequality.
3.B. Describe the differential impact of the mortgage tax
deduction.
3.C. Describe the financial impact of tax breaks/loopholes.
CHAPTER
4
- “Have Taxes Been Killing?”
4.A. Describe changes in the total tax burden vs. the
distribution of that burden in the past 20 yr.
4.B. Define capital gains. Who benefits from capital gains tax
reductions?
4.C. Describe the impact of a flat tax (in terms of income
inequality).
CHAPTER
5
- “Punishing the Poor”
5.A. Describe the changes in the percent of Americans in
poverty; of American children in poverty.
5.B. Why are the poor poor?
CHAPTER
6
- “Domination by the Corporation”
6.A. Since the 1950s, how have pay and job tenure changed for
ordinary workers vs. top executives at Fortune 500 corporations? How have
corporate profits changed?
6.B. Describe trends in industrial concentration since the
1960s.
6.C. Explain the philosophy of supply side economics. Does the
evidence support this theory?
CHAPTER
7 - “Merge,
Churn, Money to Burn”
7.A. What was the purpose of the corporate tax breaks of the
1980s? How was the money used?
7.B. Describe the impact of buy-outs (or threatened buy-outs)
on company policies.
7.C. Discuss the trends and potentially troubling implications
of concentration in the media and communications industries.
CHAPTER
8 - “War
Against Workers”
8.A. Where did industrial productivity rebound in the 1990s?
Why?
8.B. Describe the changing nature of work in
CHAPTER
9 - “Labor
Discipline”
9.A. Describe the business/labor “contract” of 1945-1975.
9.B. What event signaled the beginning of the modern assault on
unions?
9.C. How large is the union wage premium?
CHAPTER
10 - “Where
Have All the Good Jobs Gone?”
10.A. Describe the conditions in the maquiladoras
(and other areas of
10.B. Describe the impact of NAFTA on American workers; On the
balance of trade with
10.C. Are unskilled workers the only ones whose jobs are at
risk from globalization? Explain.
10.D. How has the history of authoritarian governments (and
CHAPTER
11 - “The
Triple Deficit Scare”
11.A. Define a trade deficit/surplus. Historically which has
the
11.B. Define a budget deficit. What caused the enormous
increases in the deficit in the 1980s?
11.C. Is a budget deficit necessarily bad? Explain.
11.D. Critique the idea that the Social Security system is in
crisis. Who advances this idea?
CHAPTER
12 - “The
Military-Industrial Complex”
12.
How has the Pentagon justified military spending since the end of the Cold War?
Who benefits?
CHAPTER
13 - “
13.A. How much has the S & L bailout cost taxpayers?
Explain the events/policies which led to this debacle. 13.B. Describe the
“financialization” of business.
CHAPTER
14 - “One-Party
Politics”
14.
Discuss the impact of corporate money on political discourse in the
CHAPTER
15 - “The
Maintenance of Privilege”
15.A. Describe the economic context for the relatively
democratic (for white men) polity in the early American colonies. How did this
context change in the late 1800s?
15.B. Describe some of the institutions by which elites ensure
their continued political influence.
CHAPTER
16 - “Authoritarian
Democracy”
16.A. Describe the rise of right-wing Christianity in the U.S.
Relate this to trends in the economy.
16.B. How does the judicial philosophy of states’ rights
increase corporate political power?
16.C. Comment on the significance of Buckley vs. Valeo.
CHAPTER
17
- “Working in a Fair Society” (p. 131-133 only)
17.
According to Brouwer, why is there no social
democratic movement in the
CHAPTER
18
- “Lessons form the Rest of the Advanced Capitalist World”
18.A. For the
18.B. Discuss the impact of a “carrot” vs. a “stick” approach
to labor management on productivity.
18.C. What does Brouwer see as the
main threat to social democracy?
CHAPTER
19 -
“Our Country is So Rich”
19.A. Describe standards of fairness re: income inequality in
19.B. Describe the attitudes of big campaign contributors vs.
ordinary citizens re: economic security and government’s proper role.
19.C. Describe voter turnout in the
19.D. Why is a political program
similar to Brouwer’s not offered by any political
party?
CHAPTER
20 - “If
We Decided to Tax the Rich”
20.What types of programs does Brouwer
advocate? How would he pay for them? How would be build political support for
his programs?
POLITICAL
ECONOMY - STUDENT INFORMATION - PLEASE PRINT CLEARLY
NAME
_______________________________________________________________
STUDENT
NUMBER (Social Security) _____________________________________
DO
YOU LIVE ON CAMPUS? ________
CAMPUS BOX NO. OR HOME ADDRESS:
______________________________________________________________________
CAMPUS
PHONE (HOME PHONE IF COMMUTER) _________________________
EMAIL
ADDRESS ______________________________________________________
PHONE
AFTER SEMESTER OVER ________________________________________
ADVISOR
_____________________________
MAJOR
(OR PROBABLE MAJOR) _______________________________________
RELATED
COURSES YOU'VE TAKEN ____________________________________
IS
ENGLISH YOUR FIRST LANGUAGE? ________
DO
YOU HAVE ANY LEARNING DISABILITIES? _____ EXPLAIN: ___________
______________________________________________________________________
WHAT
SOCIAL/POLITICAL ISSUES CONCERN YOU THE MOST? ______________
________________________________________________________________________
(ASIDE
FROM A GOOD GRADE), WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO GET FROM THIS
COURSE?______________________________________________________________
I
have read and accept the policies and procedures for this class listed on p. 1
and p. 2 of the syllabus.
Signed: