Introduction to Economic History: Economics 210A
Brad DeLong and Barry Eichengreen Spring 2014 :: University of California, Berkeley :: Wednesday 1:00-3:00 p.m. :: 597 Evans Hall
Introduction
Economics 210a is required of Ph.D. students in the first year of the graduate program. The course is designed to introduce a selection of themes from the contemporary economic history literature ( not to present a narrative account of world economic history). Emphasis is on the insights that history can provide to the practicing economist.
Class meetings consist of a mixture of lecture and discussion. Because discussion will focus on issues raised by the assigned readings, readings should be completed before class.
Your grade will be based 50 percent on one-page memos due at the beginning of each class meeting in the instructors' mailboxes at 5 PM Tuesday, and 50 percent on the research paper (where the latter 50 percent will be based both on the synopsis you submit prior to spring break and the paper you submit at the end of instruction). Extra credit will be given for informed, constructive classroom discussion.
Weekly Memos
A memo on each week’s readings is due at 5 PM the day before the class during which those readings are discussed. You will find the memo questions on Professor DeLong’s and Professor Eichengreen’s 210a subpages:
- http://delong.typepad.com/sdj/econ-210a-spring-2014/
- http://emlab.berkeley.edu/users/webfac/eichengreen/e210a_spring13/e210b.shtml
Typically the week’s question will be posted on the Thursday six days before the class meeting when your memo is due. The memo is due at the start of the class meeting.
Your memos should be one-page, and certainly no more than two pages (12-point type). They cannot be exhaustive or provide definitive answers. But they can explain why a question is important, and they can draw on assigned readings in an effort to answer it.
Readings:
Readings are available either on the web or, where there exists no web-based copy, at Graduate Services (http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/doemoff/grad/index.html) at 208 Doe Library. Access to readings available through JSTOR and other proprietary sources may require you to log on through a university-recognized computer and enter your Calnet ID. There can be high demand for the readings on reserve at peak times, and the library can make available only limited numbers of copies. In past years some students have found it useful to purchase some of the books from which material is assigned through their favorite online book seller and to assemble the materials for reproduction at a local copy shop.