AMU2140 - States and markets - 2017

This unit examines the interaction between politics and the economy. Students will be introduced to both classic texts and recent research dealing with the impact of political forces and processes on economic policies and outcomes. No background in economics is required and economic concepts will be explained and discussed with the minimum use of jargon and mathematics.

Through lecture, online discussion, and tutorial participation, students will explore both political science and economic theories with an explicit focus on the practical trade-offs that exist when resolving competing values such as fairness, equality, and maximizing human welfare. These issues tend to be highly polarising and current trends in media and technology are reducing the ability of people to discuss and resolve these competing values. One explicit goal of this unit is for students to develop the skills necessary to identify the competing values associated with a particular economic policy and use empirically grounded theories to find practical solutions that best intermediate those values. These skills are incredibly valuable for society and unfortunately tend to be tragically under-developed.

Upon successful completion of this unit, students should be able to:

1. Apply key political economic theories to current issues and problems;
2. Explain the difference between the dangers posed by market failures and government failures;
3. Identify actors that are positively and negatively impacted by different types of economic redistribution;
4. Communicate ideas effectively in both face-to-face and online environments;
5. Assess the strengths and weaknesses in own and peer's writing;
6. Collaborate with peers on a major project using effective teamwork and online collaborative technologies;
7. Connect the theories covered in class to ongoing research by unit instructors and expert bloggers;
8. Identify and resolve divergent values in pursuing a particular economic goal.

Within semester assessment: 100%

Minimum total expected workload to achieve the learning outcomes for this unit is 144 hours per semester typically comprising a mixture of scheduled learning activities and independent study. A unit requires on average three/four hours of scheduled activities per week. Scheduled activities may include a combination of teacher directed learning, peer directed learning and online engagement.

See also Unit timetable information

Dr Joel D Moore

Global studies

Twelve credit points of first-year Arts units.

ATS2140