History of Economic Thought

This course provides an overview of the historical development of economic thought and thereby places the theory learned in mainstream economics courses within a broader perspective. It consists of a sampling of the theories of prominent individual economic thinkers as well as schools of economic thought. Topics include the following: a brief review of pre-modern economic thought; Mercantilism; Physiocracy; the classical political economy of Smith, Malthus and Ricardo; socialist economic thought and Marx; utilitarianism, marginalism and the rise of neoclassical economics; the German historical school: Keynes and Keynesian economics; and an introduction of heterodox schools of thought, such as evolutionary, institutionalist, post-modern and ecological approaches.

Assessment: Coursework: 50%; Exam: 50%. The course outline will detail the breakdown for submission weightings and variation for exemptions and absences.

The University of Cape Town awards credits based on the National Qualifications Framework (NQF) to determine course and contact hour recommendations per course. 1 NQF credit represents roughly 10 notional hours of work which includes study time, assignments and examinations. Notional hours may very per courses depending on the course level and modality therefore, CEA recommends using NQF credits as a basis to determine U.S. equivalencies (1 NQF=.222 semester credits)