AMERICAN POLITICAL
ECONOMY
AMST 413—Fall 2007
Topic-Oriented
Seminar
Colin S. Cavell, Ph.D. Course Room No.: S17-229
Class MW:
Office Hours: By appointment Office No.: S17-263
VOICE: 17438775 (W) 17729091 (H)
Economics (“oikos” or household plus
“nomos” or management), according to Aristotle, entailed the management
of a household which, for him, included master
and slave, husband and wife, father and children. It also entailed the acquisition of property,
for, he says, “no man can live well, or indeed live at all,
unless he be provided with necessaries.”
Foremost amongst the items of property for Aristotle were slaves. Slavery was a natural phenomenon to Aristotle
who justified it thusly when he asks:
“But is there any one thus intended by nature to be a slave, and for whom such a condition is expedient and right, or rather is not
all slavery a violation of nature? There is no difficulty in answering this
question, on grounds both of reason and of fact. For that some should rule and others be ruled
is a thing not only necessary, but expedient; from the hour of
their birth, some are marked out for subjection, others for
rule” (The Politics, 350 B.C.E., Book I, Part V). That some humans are forced to labour for
others gave rise to a division in society, an estrangement from the natural
community of love, affection, and trust, replacing these feelings with
alienation, mutual enmity, or indifference.
Slavery and other unfree forms of labour were significant, for as M.I.
Finley argues, the first articulation of the concept of personal freedom was
linked to the rise of slavery as the main dependent labour force in ancient
Grading
Policy: 20% for Attendance*; 20% for the Class
Presentation; 20% for the Midterm Exam; 20% for the Research Paper; and 20% for
the Final Exam. A Guidelines sheet will be distributed outlining the
requirements for your Class Presentation and for your Research Paper.
Grading
Scale: 93-100=A; 90-92=A-; 88-89=B+; 83-87=B;
80-82=B-; 78-79=C+; 73-77=C; 70-72=C-; 68-69=D+; 63-67=D; 60-62=D-; 0-59=F
Attendance
Policy*: Attendance in class is mandatory. It is the student’s responsibility to sign
the attendance sheet each day of class; failure to sign the attendance
sheet—even if in attendance—will be counted as an absence. If your unexcused absences exceed 25% of the
total number of lectures of the course in this semester, you will be
automatically withdrawn from the course and be given a grade of (WF) which will
be counted towards your GPA. As well,
you are expected to follow the syllabus and accordingly be prepared for each
day's class. This means that you must
read the pre-assigned readings before class so that you will be prepared to
discuss and debate in class the subject matter scheduled for that day and
answer questions related to the issues being covered.
* Absence from class may be made up by preparing a two-page, typed (i.e. using maximum 12 point font size and maximum
double-spaced text with one-inch margin on all sides), summary on the missed material scheduled to be covered the
day(s) of your absence. The summary must
be in your own words and must not be copied material from the text(s),
the internet, or any other source(s). All
summaries must be turned in to me by the last day of classes if you want credit
for your absences.
Cell
Phone Policy: TURN OFF all cell phones during class. Any student whose cell phone rings, sounds
alarm, or makes any noise whatsoever during class must immediately leave
the classroom for that day. This policy
applies to any electronic device students carry with them.
Required Texts:
Wolff, Richard D. and Stephen A. Resnick. 1987. Economics: Marxian versus Neoclassical.
InfoUSA: Information
Sept. 17: Introduction to Political Economy [Ramadhan—
Sept. 19: Introduction to American Political Economy [Ramadhan—
Sept. 24: The
Neoclassical Tradition [Ramadhan—
Sept. 26: Market
Values: The Analytics of Supply and
Demand [Ramadhan—
Sept. 27: [Last day for dropping courses]
Sept. 30-Nov. 22: Withdrawal Period with (W)
Oct. 1: Market
Values: The Analytics of Supply and
Demand [Ramadhan—
Oct. 3: Market Values: The Analytics of Supply and Demand [Ramadhan—
Oct. 8: Market Values: The Analytics of Supply and Demand [Ramadhan—
Oct. 10: Market Values: The Analytics of Supply and Demand [Ramadhan—
Oct. 13-15: Eid Al-Fitr holidays 1428—[no classes]
Oct. 17: Market Values: The Analytics of Supply and Demand
Oct. 22: Market Values: The Analytics of Supply and Demand
Oct. 24: Market Values: The Analytics of Supply and Demand
Oct. 29: Efficiency and Markets: Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand”
Oct. 31: The Challenge of Keynes
Nov. 5: The Challenge of Keynes
Nov. 7: Midterm Exam
Nov. 11-15: Mid-Semester
break holidays—[no classes]
Nov. 19: The Marxian Tradition and Its Theories
Nov. 21: The Logical Structure of Marxian Theory
Nov. 26: The Logical Structure of Marxian Theory
Nov. 28: The Marxian Concept of Class
Dec. 3: The Marxian Concept of Class
Dec. 5: The Capitalist Fundamental Class Process and
Commodities
Dec. 10: The Capitalist Fundamental Class Process and
Commodities
Dec. 12: Capitalists and Laborers
Dec. 16-17: National Day of Bahrain holidays—[no classes]
Dec. 19: Arafh holiday—[no classes]
Dec. 20-22: Eid Al-Adha holidays 1428—[no classes]
Dec. 24: Capitalists and Laborers [Research Papers
Due]
Dec. 26: Capitalist Economies and Social Development [Last Day for In-Class Presentations]
Dec. 31: Capitalist Subsumed Classes
Jan. 2: Marxism versus Neoclassical Theory
Jan. 7: Analytical Consequences of Contending
Theories
Jan. 9: Political Consequences of Contending Theories
Jan. 10: Al-Hijra New Year holiday 1429—[no classes]
Jan. 14: Which Theory Do We Choose?
Jan. 16: Last day of classes; Review
Jan. 27: Final Exam
Feb. 3: Last day for
submitting grades
Feb. 1-