Notes for "Introduction to 210a": Why Are We Here?
Why Assign Readings? Why Ask You to Write?
- Why not just dump a bunch of data on you, and ask you to make sense of it?
- Why assign these readings? How should readings be chosen?
- Why ask you to write about the readings—briefly, briefly—before class?
- Why a big paper rather than a midterm and a final exam?
Why Gather Us All Here W 1-3?
- Self study/distance learning/MOOCs—why aren’t we doing that?
- The 10-40-80 Rule…
- That means you gotta talk—or this course is going to be much less useful than it could and should be…
- The instant-correction-of-misapprehensions principle…
Boilerplate I
Boilerplate II
- Economics 210a is required of Ph.D. students
- Emphasis is on the insights that history can provide to the practicing economist.
- Class meetings consist of a mixture of lecture and discussion.
- Readings should be completed before class.
- Your grade will be based 50 percent on one-page memos due
at the beginning of each class meetingin the instructors' mailboxes at 5 PM Tuesday, and 50 percent on the research paper - Extra credit will be given for informed, constructive classroom discussion.
Boilerplate III
- A memo on each week’s readings is due at the beginning of the class
Boilerplate IV * Your research paper is due on Friday May 9th. * The paper should not exceed 25 pages. * The deadline will not be changed * Plan in advance. * Discuss your paper topic during office hours * Submit a brief paper prospectus before spring break
An Economic History Paper
What Is an Economic History Paper? * Not a summary * Method of economics, question of history * What is “historical substance” anyway? * What is the economic past? * One answer is a period when economic institutions were significantly different from today. * You, as author and researcher, have to make the case. * Comparisons of past and present are fine).
Types of Papers:
- Comments
- Historical roots or parallels
- Find a dataset
- Test a hypothesis
- An interesting event
