In the last decades economics developed into a powerful and influential science. Following the neoclassical approach to individual optimisation and decision making, it provided the foundations of the current economic order, that is to say capitalism. You have familiarised yourself with the mainstream economic theories in courses like Microeconomics & Institutions and will continue to do so in the advanced courses. You will learn and understand the powerful toolkit of mainstream economics, which enables you to analyse individuals and society and the logic of capitalism.
However the mainstream economic view on individual behavior and social order is not the only view. Existing business  and economic practices have shown some constraints and drawbacks. These constraints and drawbacks has been analysed for long, but the financial crisis that occurred in the last decade makes the need for reflection even more urgent.
In this course we present a number of subjects as capita selecta to present a range of critical and alternative views on economic theory and economic order.

In that sense it typically follows the multidisciplinary approach that we take at the Utrecht University School of Economics and therefore in its bachelor programme to broaden your perspective on economics and society. It continues the approach taken in Multidisciplinary Economics, assuming that you have developed sufficient knowledge of the basics of economic thinking. In this course we learn you to reflect upon this knowledge and discuss some alternative approaches.

Format
In order to reach the main objective of this course, provide you with a critical view on economic theory and economic order, the subjects will be presented in lectures and be supported by literature. For that reason all lectures are compulsory. The literature attached should be studied before the lecture takes place, to reach a better and more efficient understanding of the content of lecture. Both the content of the lecture and the literature will be assessed in the written exam.
To support your understanding of the lecture and the literature we scheduled some discussion sessions during the course. During these sessions we intend to give you the opportunity to discuss content with a lecturer and your colleague students. These discussion sessions are tentative; you are most welcome, but these are not compulsory.
Next to the content objectives of the course, we intend to give you the opportunity to improve your writing skills. This is the essay assignment.
 
Assessment method
•      Written exam (open questions) covering all lectures and literature (70%).
•      Essay, individual or (if preferred) in pairs (30%).
Analytical skills
•   Being able to evaluate evidence in text and presentations for more complex problems
 
Social responsibility
• Being able to reflect critically on the position and ethics of economic theory, institutions and behaviour.

In case online access is required for this course and you are not in the position to buy the access code, you are advised to contact the course coordinator for an alternative solution. Please note that access codes are not re-usable meaning that codes from second hand books do not work, as well as access codes from books with a different ISBN number. Separate or spare codes are usually not available.