Unit name | Inequality, Crisis and Prosperity: How to Make Sense of the Global Economy |
---|---|
Unit code | UNIV10003 |
Credit points | 20 |
Level of study | C/4 |
Teaching block(s) |
Teaching Block 1 (weeks 1 - 12) Teaching Block 2 (weeks 13 - 24) |
Unit director | Professor. Birdi |
Open unit status | Open |
Pre-requisites |
None |
Co-requisites |
None |
School/department | Centre for Innovation |
Faculty | Faculty of Arts |
This unit introduces students to the global economy through a practical based work using global economic data. It develops key data analytical skills and introduces students to basic economic models with an emphasis on models that are applied and policy-oriented. The analysis strongly emphasises three broad themes. These are:
The unit will develop the skills of basic data literacy, the representation of data, the distinction between causation and correlation, the use of natural experiments, survey and experimental data and other key aspects of a mature understanding of data. The unit also introduces some basic analytical modelling frameworks and tools that economists use to understand the global economy such as game theory, asymmetric information and incomplete contracts. The unit is based around group-based exercises that develop a familiarity with data handling and presentation through Excel. There are no pre-requisites for the unit as it is aimed at students with no prior experience in these areas.
The aims of the unit are:
By the end of the unit, students will
The course will be taught in three 3-week blocks each devoted to a single theme: sustainability, innovation and inequality.
Week 1 of the course consists of a general orientation to the themes, the methods of delivery and an introduction to data methods.
There are then three 3-week blocks which have the following format:
For each block a number of multimedia resources will be made available at the outset of week A. These comprise: a video about the overall theme, a reading list for the online text, and one or more short videos helping students to read the online text and to work on the exercises.
Then each week, a short audio podcast about that week’s work will be produced. In addition, ad hoc video content will be produced as clarifications for aspects that students find difficult.
Students will engage with these online resources and then participate in activities as follows in each of the the three 3-week blocks.
Week A and B : There is a 2 hour workshop for those in attendance mode. Other students will replace this contact with multimedia resources and remote group work. The workshop itself (and the online work for the remote groups) is based on step-by-step data-based exercises. It is expected that all students (face to face and online) will work in groups to receive peer feedback and support. There will also be a common webinar for all students which will be recorded for those students not in attendance mode. There will also be Skype or Collaborate-based office hours each week.
Week C: The mode of delivery is the same as weeks A and B except that no new material is introduced. The purpose of this week is to help students work on their assessments which require them to use the output and results from week B and create a report or other outputs which is aimed at reporting the significance and importance of the results to a specific audience.
Much of the material will be online and students can use the online MCQ quizzes to self-assess and gauge progress.
Students complete three assignments. The summative assessment for the unit is a group project (50%) and an individual project (50%) which is selected from two assignments that the students complete in the unit.
The assignments involve students producing either a video podcast, BBC style news article or a blog article which explains the importance and relevance of the outputs they have produced using the data analysis, together with some underlying economic theory, to various audiences.
The main text for the unit will be the freely available CORE online text, Economy, Society and Public Policy based on the original specialist course at www.core-econ.org.
Other useful reading
Acemoglu, D and Robinson, J (2012) Why Nations Fail. The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty. Crown Publishers, New York. Coyle, D. (2014) GDP: A Brief but Affectionate History. Princeton University Press. Seabright, P (2010) The Company of Strangers: A Natural History of Economic Life. Princeton University Press.