- 2018 bCourses: https://bcourses.berkeley.edu/courses/1469149
- Brad DeLong's Office Hours: Th 10-12 Blum Hall 200G, and by appointment: send email to: delong@econ.berkeley.edu
2018 Course on Grasping Reality
- Jan 16: Organizational
- Jan 23: Robert Allen: Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction
- Jan 30: Joel Mokyr: A Culture of Growth
- Feb 6: Jan de Vries: The Industrious Revolution
- Feb 13: Robert Allen: The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective
- Feb 20: Ian Morris: The Measure of Civilization
- Feb 27: Phillip Hoffman: Why Did Europe Conquer the World?
- Mar 6: Claudia Goldin and Lawrence Katz: The Race Between Education and Technology
- Mar 13: Robert Gordon: The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living Since the Civil WarLinks to an external site.
- Mar 20: Peter Temin: The Roman Market Economy
- Apr 3: Sven Beckert: Empire of Cotton: A Global History
- Apr 10: Richard Baldwin The Great Convergence: Information Technology and the New Globalization
- Apr 17: Peter H. Lindert and Jeffrey G. Williamson: Unequal Gains: American Growth and Inequality since 1700Links to an external site.
- Apr 24: Barry Eichengreen: Hall of Mirrors: The Great Depression, the Great Recession, and the Uses and Misuses of History
- May 1: Richard Baldwin: The Great Convergence: Information Technology and the New Globalization
Course Requirements: http://delong.typepad.com/teaching_economics/great-books-course-requirements.html: This course aims to provide students with an introduction to interesting current debates in economic history by studying a curated list of recent books in the field.
We will undertake a critical reading of these books, focusing on both their strengths and weaknesses, while paying attention to the context—both historical and intellectual—of the books' arguments.
General questions will include the following:
- Does the topic justify a book-length treatment?
- Does the author successfully sustain his/her argument throughout the book?
- What is the role of books, as opposed to articles, in research in economic history (and in economics more generally)?
Supplementary readings will be provided as appropriate to focus this last question.
Many sessions will be student-led: students will take (some) responsibility for presenting the author’s argument and stimulating classroom discussion.
Requirements for the course are three. Grades for the semester will attach equal weights to the three components:
- Doing the readings, attending meetings and participating in class discussions.
- Leading an appropriate share of class meeting devoted to a book
- Submitting a 15-page memo at the end of the semester describing the literature about from one to three potential questions for a possible large future research project.
- Permalink: http://delong.typepad.com/teaching_economics/topics-in-economic-history.html
- Edit: http://www.typepad.com/site/blogs/6a00e551f08003883401b8d2c935d5970c/page/6a00e551f08003883401bb09e8ae17970d/edit
- Course Shoebox: http://delong.typepad.com/teaching_economics/course-shoebox-topics-in-economic-history-great-books.html
- 2018-01-15 version: Topics in Economic History