Course Syllabus

Political Economy from Great Recession to Pandemic (Spring 2021)

We consider contemporary comparative political economy and macroeconomics of advanced industrial economies through the lens of the past decade and a half, bookended by the long recession kicked off by speculative bubbles and financial crisis, and the sharp, still evolving recession created by the COVID-19 pandemic. Throughout the period, massive technological change and widening inequality renewed debate on the appropriate role of government in managing the business cycle and addressing systemic disparities. In the shadow of a once-in-a-century public health crisis, the rich economies of the US and Europe face deep questions about the future of work in an era of automation, globalism in a time of xenophobia, and democracy under the rise of populism. We tackle three key questions through discussion of a mixture of popular and academic readings: What happened during the Great Recession, what political economic changes followed in its wake, and how will the pandemic shift these trends?

Important note: we will use my personal course page, not Canvas, for all course materials other than the reading reserve.