Topics in Economics (MIM)

The course introduces students to several important and contemporary issues that relate to economics. Having already covered the key insights from Micro and Macroeconomics, we will go deeper into the frontiers of the discipline. Students will challenge their understanding of complex and controversial issues and develop their perspective on how to become managers of the future.

 Assessment

• 40% Group report (instructions here)
• 60% Final exam (to follow)

️ Content

Topic	Before	During	After
1. Prosperity	Activity: Global conditions quiz and America quiz Watch: The Magic Washing Machine Evans, Anthony J., 2020, Economics: A Complete Guide for Business, London Publishing Partnership (Chapter 12, Section 2) Pre-readings: Quiz	Lecture handouts	More resources
2. Growth	Activity: Soviet Planning and Largest cities Watch “Growth is like an iPhone” Krugman, P., 1994, The Myth of Asia’s Miracle. Foreign Affairs, 73(6), 62–78* Cowen, T., “The Case for the Longer Term“, Cato Unbound, January 9th 2019 Pre-readings: Quiz	Lecture handouts	More resources
3. & 4. Sustainability	Raworth, K., 2012, “A Safe and Just Space for Humanity: Can We Live within the Doughnut?” Oxfam Discussion Papers Nordhaus, W., “Why climate policy has failed” Foreign Affairs, October 12th 2021	Lecture handouts	More resources
5. & 6. Inequality	Activity: Thinking about wealth Watch: “$456,000 Squid Game In Real Life!” Mr Beast This lecture will also contain an extended discussion of the movie Parasite (2019), Bong Joon Ho Saez, E., and Zucman, G., 2020, “The Rise of Income and Wealth Inequality in America: Evidence from Distributional Macroeconomic Accounts” Journal of Economic Perspectives, 34(4):3-26	Lecture handouts	More resources
7. Stagnation	Activity: Transformative Innovations Watch “Steve Jobs – iPhone Introduction in 2007” (the first 17 minutes is sufficient) Eichengreen, Barry, 2015, “Secular Stagnation: The Long View.” American Economic Review, 105 (5): 66-70 Thierer, Adam, “How Many Lives Are Lost Due to the Precautionary Principle?” The Bridge, expert commentary, October 2019	Lecture handouts	More resources
8. Progress	This lecture will also contain an extended discussion of the movie The Greatest Showman (2017), Michael Gracey “We Need a New Science of Progress” by Patrick Collison and Tyler Cowen, The Atlantic, July 30th 2019 “Do we need a better understanding of ‘progress’?” by Garrison Lovely, BBC, June 16th 2022 Southwood, Ben, “Scientific slowdown is not inevitable“, Works in Progress, April 21st 2022 Dourado, Eli, “Notes on technology in the 2020s“, December 31st 2020	Lecture handouts	More resources

I thought it went without saying that economic growth is good, that America is a phenomenally rich country, and that capitalism is the reason why. But now I’m not so sure. So in this course, I say it!

Other lectures that could be added:

• Macro Trends – an overview of global growth prospects and a survey of the key challenges facing policymakers
• Macro Risk – a look at the key risk factors affecting the global economy, and a survey of which countries are best positioned to deal with macro shocks
• Macro Models – how macroeconomic models should integrate climate concerns
• The evolution of money: gold, fiat and crypto
• Central banks and digital transformation
• The Solow model, and how it relates to growth theory
• Sustainability Survey – how we are solving our environmental problems
• Nuclear power – we could have had it all
• Are humans special?

• Category: courses