Preliminary syllabus 2026/2027

Version of 9 October 2026. Details, readings and grading weights will be confirmed before class 3 (23 October 2026).

Course: History of Economic Thought, 2400-FIM1HE, full-year course taught in English
Instructor: Michał Brzeziński, mbrzezinski@wne.uw.edu.pl, room B006
Office hours: Fridays 15:00–16:30, by e-mail appointment
Classes: Fridays, group 1 at 13:15, group 2 at 16:45, from 9 October 2026 to 4 June 2027

Please write e-mails with a greeting, a message and a closing. Attachments sent without a message will not be read. A short guide: How to e-mail your professor.

What the course is about

Economics rests on a few big ideas: people respond to incentives, exchange can coordinate millions of plans without a planner, economies tend towards some equilibrium, resources are scarce and must be allocated, and good policies must be feasible as well as desirable. None of these ideas was always obvious. Each was proposed by someone, attacked by others, and refined over time.

In this course we read the people who proposed them, from Aristotle to the behavioural economists, in short excerpts and in their own words. Every class asks one question that is still open today, such as "Will machines take the jobs?" or "Can an economy be planned, now that we have AI?". We read one classic text and one short modern text on the same question, and we spend most of the class arguing about them.

By June you should be able to:

1. Reconstruct an author's argument in your own words: the question, the assumptions, the steps and the conclusion.

2. Explain what in the author's world made the argument possible, and what has changed since.

3. Use a classic argument to judge a current debate.

4. State a view you disagree with in its strongest form before arguing against it.

5. Write a short academic paper that defends a thesis with academic sources.

How a class works

From class 4 onwards, every class has three parts.

1. Entry test, first 15 minutes. One short handwritten question on the reading for that day. No books, notes or devices. Only a printed dictionary between English and your native language is allowed, if you really need one.

2. Main activity, about 50 minutes. A short opening talk by two students followed by a discussion they lead, a debate between two teams, group work on a question and a current application, or a short classroom experiment.

3. Discussion and short lecture, about 25 minutes. Groups report back, and I explain what the readings leave out. My slides are posted on this page before the class.

Everyone speaks in every class. I will call on students by name, usually to say more about something they wrote or said in their group.

Readings and materials

• Weekly readings are short: one classic excerpt of about 10–20 pages and one modern text of about 5–15 pages. They are posted on this page at least a week before each class. Some texts are password-protected; ask me for the password.

• Background reading for most classes: one short chapter from a recent introductory book on great economists, announced with the readings.

• My slides are posted for every class and are part of the exam material.

• Reference books: Mark Blaug (1985), Economic Theory in Retrospect, Backhouse, R. (2002). The Penguin history of economics. London, Penguin. 

Materials for presentations and the course paper (these documents will be updated in October, including rules on using AI tools):

• Instructions for preparing presentations and writing course papers

• Formal requirements for course papers

• Common errors found in course papers

• Sample student papers (Student Economic Review, Trinity College Dublin)

• Effective prompts for AI: the essentials (MIT Sloan)

Requirements and grading (preliminary)

The final weights will be confirmed before class 3. The structure below will not change much. To pass the course, you must perform your speaking role and submit the course paper.

• Entry tests, about 25%. One question per class, classes 4–24; the best 17 scores count.

• Participation, about 15%. In each class from class 4 to class 24 you can earn 1 point for a substantive contribution: a point, question or objection that draws on the reading. 12 or more points give the full 15%; fewer points give a proportional share, for example 6 points give 7.5%.

• Speaking role, about 10%. One per student: a short opening talk in a pair, or leading a debate team.

• Course paper, about 25%. Outline, then the paper, then an individual consultation about it.

• Final exam, about 25%. Written exam in June. Students who score at least 85% on the entry tests (29 of 34 points from the best 17) and earn at least 12 participation points are exempt from the exam. For them, the other components count in the same proportions: entry tests 1/3, participation 1/5, speaking role 2/15 and course paper 1/3 of the final grade.

Entry tests

• Written by hand at the start of class, from 13:15 or 16:45 sharp, for 15 minutes. If you are late, you write in the time that is left. After 15 minutes no answers are accepted. No books, notes, phones or laptops; only a printed dictionary between English and your native language is allowed, if you really need one.

• One question that asks you to explain an argument from the reading, not to recall small facts. If there are two or more readings for a class, the question may be about any of them or may ask you to connect them, so read all of them.

• Scored 0, 1 or 2 points.

• No makeups and no resits. Instead, your four lowest scores are dropped, which covers illness and other absences.

• The test in class 2 (16 October) is a practice test and does not count.

Course paper

A short academic paper of about 6–11 pages on an economic topic of your choice, which must use at least three academic journal articles. It may, but need not, be about the history of economic ideas. Class 3 is a workshop on choosing a topic, finding sources and writing the paper.

• 30 November 2026: outline, with title, research question, structure and at least three journal articles.

• 1 April 2027: first full version.

• By 30 April 2027: my comments.

• 14 May, 21 May or 4 June 2027: individual consultation about your paper.

• 13 June 2027: final version with a list of revisions.

In the consultation you explain your paper and answer my questions about it. A paper whose author cannot explain its argument and sources is not accepted until it is revised.

One-semester (Erasmus) students

If you attend this course only in the winter semester, the same rules apply, with these changes: 

• Entry tests: your best 9 of 11 tests (classes 4–14) count. Participation: 6 points give the full score. At most 2 unexcused absences.

• Speaking role: in one of classes 4–14 (assigned on 23 October).

• Course paper: outline by Mon 9 November 2026; first full version by Mon 14 December 2026; my written comments by 8 January 2027; individual consultation on Fri 15 or 22 January 2027 during office hours (15:00–16:30); final version with a list of revisions by Sun 31 January 2027.

• Exam: a short written exam in the winter exam session (25 January–7 February 2027) on the topics of classes 2–14: answer 3 of 6 questions in 60 minutes. The date will be announced in December. Students with at least 16 of 18 entry-test points and at least 6 participation points are exempt.

Use of AI tools

AI tools are not allowed in entry tests or the exam. In presentations and the paper you may use them for searching, language checking and feedback, and you must state which tools you used and for what. Detailed rules will be in the updated instructions document.

Attendance

At most four unexcused absences are allowed during the year. Every absence also costs you that day's entry test and participation points.

Schedule and readings (preliminary)

Topics may still change. The links below are to texts used in this course in previous years. New texts will be added here at least a week before each class.

• Class 1, 9 October: Introduction to the course

  • Introductory slides

• Class 2, 16 October: This year's Nobel prize in economics: what was rewarded, and was it deserved?

  • Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences (2026), "Microfoundations deliver macro insights", popular science background on the prize

  • B. Bernanke (2013), "Communication and Monetary Policy", first three pages only (pages 2–4 of the PDF file)

  • N. Decker (2026), "Kevin Warsh Does Not Understand the Federal Reserve", Homo Economicus (blog)

  • For those interested: interview with Michael Woodford, The Region, Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis, September 2014

  • 2026 Nobel Prize in Economics - slides

• Class 3, 23 October: Workshop: how to write the course paper; assignment of speaking roles

  • Instructions for preparing presentations and writing course papers

  • Formal requirements for course papers

  • Further readings: to be announced

• Class 4, 30 October: Are there things money should not buy?

  • Aristotle, Politics (Book I) and Nicomachean Ethics (Book V, Part 5), excerpts – read pp. 5–12 (stop at “Book II, Part V”) and pp. 14–15

  • M. Sandel (2013), “Market Reasoning as Moral Reasoning: Why Economists Should Re-engage with Political Philosophy”, Journal of Economic Perspectives 27(4) – read pp. 127–128 and 132–139

  • L. Bruni and R. Sugden (2013), “Reclaiming Virtue Ethics for Economics”, Journal of Economic Perspectives 27(4) – read pp. 143–145 and 151–161

• Class 5, 6 November: Did the mercantilists get something right?

  • T. Mun, England’s Treasure by Forraign Trade (excerpt) – read Chapter 2 (PDF p. 3, up to “Chapter 3”) and Chapter 4 (PDF pp. 7–9, stop at “Chapter 10”)

  • D. Rodrik (2025), “What the Mercantilists Got Right”, NBER Working Paper 34353 – read sections 1, 2 and 6 (pp. 1–7 and 17–18)

  • Opening talk (presenters only): T. Schweinberger (2025), “Mercantilism 2.0: American and Chinese mass public opinions toward trade balances”, Review of International Political Economy – read pp. 1–5, 8–9, the paragraph on p. 11 that begins “This paper is not the first”, pp. 12–14, 17–20 (stop at “Follow-up study”) and 22–23

  • Opening talk (presenters only): A. Bellocchi and G. Travaglini (2025), “The Trade Deficit Delusion: Why Tariffs Will Not Make America Great Again”, Intereconomics 60(4): 227–234

• Class 6, 13 November: Does self-interest serve society?

  • A. Smith, The Wealth of Nations (excerpts) – read PDF pp. 4–9 (Book I, Chapters I–II, stop at “Chapter III”) and, on PDF p. 15, the two paragraphs from “But the annual revenue of every society” to “fancy himself fit to exercise it”

  • A. Smith, Self-interest and society: five short excerpts from The Theory of Moral Sentiments and The Wealth of Nations – read all (3 pages)

  • B. Weingast (2026), “What Every PhD Student Should Know About Adam Smith”, Annual Review of Economics 18 – read section 1 (pp. 648–650) and sections 5–6 (pp. 662–664)

  • Opening talk (presenters only): G. Akerlof and R. Shiller (2015), Phishing for Phools: The Economics of Manipulation and Deception, Princeton University Press – Introduction, up to the heading “Where We Go from Here” (copy from the instructor)

  • Opening talk (presenters only): A. Falk and N. Szech (2013), “Morals and Markets”, Science 340: 707–711, and F. Breyer and J. Weimann (2014), “Of Morals, Markets and Mice: A Comment on Falk and Szech”, CESifo Working Paper 4745 – read pp. 1–4

• Class 7, 20 November: Is population a problem, and in which direction?

  • T. Malthus, An Essay on the Principle of Population (excerpt) – read PDF pp. 4–10 (Chapters 1–2, stop at “Chapter 4”)

  • J. Fernández-Villaverde and P. Norrick (2026), “Terra Incognita: The Economics of a Shrinking World”, CESifo Working Paper 12997 – read the Introduction (pp. 2–5) and Section 5.1 (pp. 13–14)

  • Opening talk (presenters only): D. Bloom, M. Kuhn and K. Prettner (2024), “Fertility in High-Income Countries: Trends, Patterns, Determinants, and Consequences”, Annual Review of Economics 16 – read Sections 2.1–2.4 (pp. 162–166)

  • Opening talk (presenters only): D. Acemoglu, D. Autor, K. Beirne and A. Scott (2026), “Baby Busts and Growth Booms: Demographic Change and the Macroeconomy”, NBER Working Paper 35401 – read the Introduction (pp. 1–5); a short summary: NBER Digest, September 2026

• Class 8, 27 November: Does trade make everyone better off? (David Ricardo)

  • D. Ricardo, On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, ch. 7 “On Foreign Trade” – read 11 paragraphs, from “Foreign trade, then, though highly beneficial to a country” to “a more advantageous employment for their wealth in foreign nations”

  • P. Krugman (1996), “Ricardo’s Difficult Idea” – read the introduction (up to “1. You just don’t understand”) and section 3, “A harder concept than it seems”

  • Opening talk (presenters only): G. Rosalsky (2025), “Why economists got free trade with China so wrong”, NPR Planet Money

  • Opening talk (presenters only): X. Jaravel and E. Sager (2019), “The price effects of trade: New evidence from the US and implications for quantitative trade models”, VoxEU

• Class 9, 4 December: Will machines take the jobs?

  • D. Ricardo, On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation, ch. 31 “On Machinery” – read the first four paragraphs (to “its gross income would also increase”), the four conclusions from “If these views be correct, it follows, 1st” to the end of “4thly”, and the paragraph “The employment of machinery could never be safely discouraged in a State”

  • M. Blaug (1985), Economic Theory in Retrospect, 4th edition, section “The Machinery Question”, pp. 132–133 – read both pages; they explain Ricardo’s example

  • D. Acemoglu and S. Johnson (2024), “Learning from Ricardo and Thompson: Machinery and Labor in the Early Industrial Revolution, and in the Age of AI”, NBER Working Paper 32416 – read the Introduction (pp. 1–3) and the section “Ricardo’s Pivot” (pp. 5–7)

  • Opening talk (presenters only): D. Acemoglu and S. Johnson (2023), “Rebalancing AI”, Finance & Development, December 2023

  • Opening talk (presenters only): A. Imas and J. Schaal (2026), “Has AI impacted the labor market?” – read from the beginning to “Does the effect of AI differ across the globe?” and the section “Aggregate stability currently coexists with subgroup displacement”

• Class 10, 11 December: Should economic growth stop?

  • J.S. Mill, Principles of Political Economy (excerpts) – read the first paragraph of Book II, Chapter I (PDF p. 3) and Book IV, Chapter VI “Of the stationary state” (PDF pp. 18–20, stop at “Book V”)

  • B. M. Friedman (2005), “The Moral Consequences of Economic Growth”, talk at the Carnegie Council, 27 October 2005 – read the remarks (PDF pp. 1–5, up to the first “QUESTION”)

  • Opening talk (presenters only): S. Chinoy, N. Nunn, S. Sequeira and S. Stantcheva (2026), “Zero-Sum Thinking and the Roots of US Political Differences”, American Economic Review 116(3) – read the Introduction (pp. 1052–1059) and Figures 11–12 (pp. 1076–1077); an easy start: T. Harford (2025), “The zero-sum mindset is no mystery”, Financial Times

  • Opening talk (presenters only): B. Milanovic (2017), “The illusion of ‘degrowth’ in a poor and unequal world”, and J. Hickel (2017), “Why Branko Milanovic is wrong about de-growth”

• Class 11, 18 December: Which of Marx's predictions came true?

  • K. Marx and F. Engels, The Communist Manifesto, parts I–II

  • Further readings: to be announced

• Winter break, 21 December to 6 January

• Class 12, 8 January: Can we measure happiness, and should policy maximise it?

  • W.S. Jevons, The Theory of Political Economy (excerpt)

  • Further readings: to be announced

• Class 13, 15 January: Is the market distribution of income fair?

  • A. Marshall, Principles of Economics (excerpt)

  • Further readings: to be announced

• Class 14, 22 January: Can an economy be planned, now that we have AI?

  • F.A. Hayek (1945), "The Use of Knowledge in Society"

  • Further readings: to be announced

• Winter exam session; no exam in this course

• Class 15, 19 February: Does culture cause economic growth?

  • M. Weber, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (excerpt)

  • Further readings: to be announced

• Class 16, 26 February: Should we tax conspicuous consumption?

  • T. Veblen, The Theory of the Leisure Class (excerpt)

  • Further readings: to be announced

• Class 17, 5 March: Can markets get out of a depression by themselves?

  • J.M. Keynes, The General Theory (excerpt)

  • Further readings: to be announced

• Class 18, 12 March: Is rising inequality inevitable under capitalism? (Kuznets, Piketty)

  • Further readings: to be announced

• Class 19, 19 March: Should governments stay out of the economy?

  • M. and R. Friedman, Free to Choose, ch. 1

  • Further readings: to be announced

• Spring break, 25 to 30 March

• Class 20, 2 April: Do monopolies drive or block innovation? (Joseph Schumpeter)

  • Further readings: to be announced

• Class 21, 9 April: Who should govern common resources? (Hardin, Ostrom)

  • Further readings: to be announced

• Class 22, 16 April: Do institutions cause growth?

  • D. North (1991), "Institutions", Journal of Economic Perspectives

  • Further readings: to be announced

• Class 23, 23 April: Should the state "nudge" people?

  • S. Mullainathan and R. Thaler (2000), "Behavioral Economics"

  • Further readings: to be announced

• Class 24, 30 April: Who is the greatest economist of all time, and why does it matter? (final debate)

  • Further readings: to be announced

• No classes on 7 May and 28 May

• Classes 25–27, 14 May, 21 May and 4 June: individual consultations on course papers

• June: final exam in the summer exam session, 7–27 June 2027