Learning outcomes

The course will provide students with the knowledge and competencies necessary to understand and critically analyse past economic events, with particular attention to their interaction with political-institutional factors, by investigating the development processes and the crises in the European economy and worldwide during the last two centuries.

At the end of the course students will be able to:
- know the basic concepts necessary to analyse an economic system;
- describe the main determinants and manifestations of economic growth/development;
- compare the role played by institutions in the industrialization process of different countries/regions;
- outline the major turning points in the evolution of institutions (State intervention, international relations) in the last two centuries;
- explain the interaction between institutions and economic growth/crisis in the examined historical frameworks;
- apply to a specific case study the knowledge and competencies acquired during the course.

Program

Main topics:
1. Economic History: methodological issues and concepts
2. The Industrial Revolution in England and the role of institutions
3. The spread of industrialization in Europe and beyond: facts and interpretations
4. Second industrial revolution and first globalization (1870-1913): economic growth and inequalities
5. From WWI to the Great Depression: novel forms of economic regulation
6. Authoritarian regimes and economic dirigisme between two world wars
7. International cooperation and European recovery after WWII
8. Factors of growth during the Golden Age (1950-1973)
9. Economic integration and European institutions
10. Crises and instability during the "second globalization": from stagflation to the Great Recession

Classes will take place through traditional lectures, with recourse to didactic methods aimed at promoting classroom interaction, and seminar activities, consisting of individual presentations on specific topics.

Course references:
Besides the didactic material and the readings posted on line, the main textbook is Vera Zamagni, Perché l'Europa ha cambiato il mondo. Una storia economica, Bologna, Il Mulino, 2^ ed. 2015. For attending students: only the chapters related to the course topics. For non-attending students: all chapters.
The additional readings and the references for the seminar activities will be furnished at the beginning of the classes.

Examination Methods

For attending students: written exam with open questions (60%); assignment on a specific topic and individual presentation (40%); optional oral exam, which will change the final grade by +/-10%.
For non-attending students: written exam with open questions (70%); assignment on a specific topic (30%); optional oral exam, which will change the final grade by +/-10%.