Cleo Chassonnery-Zaigouche

This course is available on the BSc in Econometrics and Mathematical Economics, BSc in Economic History, BSc in Economics, BSc in Economics and Data Science, BSc in Economics and Economic History, BSc in International Social and Public Policy with Economics, BSc in Mathematics and Economics, BSc in Philosophy and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (with a Year Abroad), BSc in Politics and Economics, Erasmus Reciprocal Programme of Study and Exchange Programme for Students from University of California, Berkeley. This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course is available with permission to General Course students.

This course is capped. Places will be assigned on a first come first served basis

This course provides a historical overview of the evolution of economic ideas, theories and models from the beginning of economic thought to the latest developments in economics.

The course is based on reading and critical engagement with a corpus of primary sources. Using this corpus, we will examine how past economists approached fundamental questions, such as the origins of economic growth and crises, how markets work, the meaning of development, and the causes and remedies to poverty and inequality.

The course explores the significance and legacy of these ideas, from ancient and medieval economic thought to late 20th-century developments. We will place these ideas in their historical context — who conceived them, under what conditions, and how they were used to shape policy. Particular emphasis will be placed on continuity, changes, and breaks in the way that economists think.

The course is organised chronologically, focusing on debates and controversies rather than on schools of thought. The main objective is to equip students with the tools to think critically and independently about economic ideas.

10 hours of lectures and 8 hours of classes in the Autumn Term.
10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of classes in the Winter Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn and Winter Term.

During the course, students will be expected to discuss the assigned texts and produce three pieces of written work (formative assessments).

A reading list of original texts and secondary literature will be given at the beginning of the course.

For an introduction, students may read Robert L. Heilbroner, The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times and Ideas of the Great Economic Thinkers, 7th ed. (London : Penguin Books, 2000).

The textbook for the course is Roger E. Backhouse, The Penguin History of Economics, new and revised ed. (London: Penguin Books, 2023).

Essay (100%).

Final assessment is by a take-home exam worth 100%.