UMUC-Europe Syllabus

ECON 380 Comparative Economic Systems (3) (Fulfills the international perspective requirement.) Prerequisite(s): ECON 201 and 203. A comparative analysis of the theory and practice of various types of economic systems, especially the economic systems of the United States, the former Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, Western and Eastern Europe, and less-developed countries.

Course Goals/Objectives:

After successfully completing this course, the student will be able to * distinguish among the different economic systems * explain how economic systems evolve over time * discuss the underlying theory of capitalism, socialism and market socialism * explain how the different economic systems (market capitalism, command economy market socialism, the European model, the Asian model) work in practice * describe transition economies (Russian and Eastern European economies) Cross Curricular Initiatives In addition to these learning objectives, this course also concentrates on UMUC's cross-curriculum initiatives, detailed below, designed to help UMUC students build skills to enhance their careers and overall effectiveness in their employment. Effective writing. There are numerous writing assignments throughout the semester. Those assignments are expected to reflect appropriate professional writing skills. That is, they will be evaluated on the basis of grammar, sentence structure, spelling, and overall sound writing principles. At least 10 percent of your grade on each writing assignment will be based on your proficiency in expressing yourself in writing. Information literacy. You will be expected to demonstrate proficiency at research activity through the library and use of online sources. Globalization. An important outcome of this course will be the realization that macroeconomic principles apply to global situations. Computerization. The computer has virtually altered the way macroeconomic research is conducted. This course will emphasize the increasing use of the computer in macroeconomics. Historical Perspective. This course will integrate the historical development of theory to provide the student with a context for current theories and practice.

Course Introduction:

Do you believe that the US has the best economy? What is a good economy and what are the criteria determining the performance of a good economy. Why are some economies better than others? Why are there different economic systems and why does their performance differ? These are some of the questions examined in a course of Comparative Economic Systems. Comparative economic systems, as a field in economics, has its origins in the cold war debate between capitalism, socialism and communism. Then, the primary focus was a comparison of the Soviet economy with the US and other western European economies. The collapse of the Soviet Union has shifted attention to the transition economies that emerged but also to "market socialism", a term used to mainly describe the Chinese economy. This course examines the major economic systems of the world (market capitalism, market socialism, the Asian and transition economies) in both theory and practice. The approach will generally focus on encouraging a general understanding of how economic systems work and how economic theory interacts with government policy to explain economic performance. Students find Comparative Economic Systems useful because it gives them an understanding of what economic systems are, because they can better evaluate economic systems through the use of different criteria and because they can develop a critical perspective at the major world economies. The forum for this course is through the online distance education program. The adoption of cutting edge technology gives an entirely new meaning to the learning process. Concepts and theories can be clearly demonstrated and presented in many different ways with the use of interactive features (animations, images, videos, graphs, online quizzes) whereas the existence of vast web and library resources in every subject matter of economics greatly facilitates research and encourages class participation.

Grading Information and Criteria:

The final grade will consist of the following activities: 40% proctored exam 20% final online exam 20% written assignment 20% participation Grading scale A: 90% - 100% - Outstanding Scholarship B: 80% - 89% - Excellent Work C: 70% - 79% - Good Achievement D: 60% - 69% - Marginal or Unsatisfactory Performance F(a): Below 60% - Academic Failure F(n): Failure for Non-Attendance W: Withdrawal

Other Information:

Statement of intent This course is not a competition between you and me. The idea is not that I should put in front you material that is both obscure and difficult in the hope that I can fail as many of you as possible. With reasonable efforts on all our parts, mine included, you not only will learn a great deal more about international economics than you already know, but you will, I hope, have fun doing so, and emerge in at the end of the course with greatly increased knowledge and a grade that we can be both be proud of. Submission of assignments Please be prompt in the submission of your assignments. Taking into account that most of you are either on active duty or working, a grace period of 48 hours is allowed. No further extension will be given unless the delay is due to reasons beyond your control (hospitalization, illness). After the end of the grace period, you will lose 10 points per late date. Your responsibility, when you think things are in danger of getting out of hand, is to keep me informed about what is going on, what the problem is, how long it is likely to interfere with your ability to concentrate on the course, and so on. I am certain that, in most cases, some sort of accommodation can be reached which will allow you to continue and, most importantly, to complete the course satisfactorily, but I must know what's going on. And I have to hear about such difficulties before any deadlines are reached, let alone exceeded. So contact me by e-mail, let me know what the problem is, and we can work something out. Whatever you do, please don't just drop out of sight. Anyone who fails to turn up over an extended period (say, a couple of weeks) without clearing the absence with me first and working out how to keep up with the class in the interim will be urged to withdraw. Since I, and I hope you, don't want this to happen, I repeat: It's up to you to keep in touch with me. Plagiarism Academic dishonesty and plagiarism are not acceptable and will lead to an F(a) grade. Academic dishonesty means (but is not limited to) getting someone else to prepare work for you, or helping another person with his/her assigned and examinable work. Plagiarism means passing off someone else's work as your own, and frequently involves copying reports or pages directly from other people's Internet sites. You can avoid this by giving credit where credit is due - record the sources of your work, learn how to quote properly, and cite the books, articles or web pages you have used for your information. It may sound like simple manners, but failure to live by the rules has serious academic consequences. Please read the "Academic Policies" module on your WebTycho interface. Conference participation Some students don't see the point of participating in conferences. "Bill and Mary and Richard have already said everything and no-one is interested in my opinion anyway and I don't see why I should have to participate...." I've heard it. Modern educational theory argues, however, that collaboration is the crux of the learning process. Research indicates that students learn more, and better, and retain knowledge longer, if the learning process is interactive, not just with the material or instructor, but also with peers. That is the heart of the matter. That is what the University as an institution is standing firm on. You will learn more and better when you do not just sit passively and soak up information like sponges; you need to be active participants in the learning process. I want to hear from you all, even if you think it has all been said before. There are different levels or types of interaction. First, you interact with the course material and subject matter. You also interact formally with the instructor. And you interact with your colleagues. To ignore one entire third of the process is not on. Interaction with others is part of the game plan. Articulating your ideas is a means of getting you to think critically about your work, your ideas, and other people's attitudes. Even if you believe Mary or Fred has said it all in his/her post, you should still post your own topic, for your own sake. Getting the idea out of your brain, down your arm, and onto the page is active learning, even if it's only to say "I agree with Fred". Besides "passing the course", you should have several broader objectives in mind - or at least be aware that faculty have these goals in mind: * Good writing, not just on assignments but in the conferences too, because we are looking for clear articulation of ideas. * Interaction, not simply for its own sake, but because replying to Bob or Cindy means thinking about their ideas, synthesizing those ideas, and creating your own ideas in response. * Participation in group efforts both as a means of developing research skills and as a way of developing broader management skills. Citation Proper documentation of all references with particular attention to copyright laws is an essential requirement in all assignments. Please make use of the APA style when citing references in your assignments. More information on APA style can be obtained from http://www.umuc.edu/library/guides/apa.html.

Project Descriptions:

Proctored and final exams The proctored exam covers the material from the start of the course until the day of the exam. The final exam covers the material covered from the midterm exam until the end of the course. Both exams consist of essay questions and the format of the final exam is "online take-home". I am looking for evidence that you have understood the material, and that you are capable of thinking critically about that information and applying the basic principles you have learnt. The essay questions are usually in the format of "Explain how..." or "Discuss..." or "What is (are)..." or "Why...". To the extent that clear, cogent explanations depend on language skills, your grammar and sentence skills will be taken into account. The proctored exam is in Week 7, but you must understand that this is not the end of the course. The online final exam will certainly include material covered in the remaining weeks, I will be assigning homework and I will expect lively discussions to continue. Thus, participation will be graded in these final weeks. Assignment The written assignment will consist of a term paper of approximately 1500 words on a topic of your choice but, naturally, relevant to the course. In order to avoid delays you should discuss with me the topic you have chosen during the first week of the seminar. The assignment is due at the last week of the course. Please read the section on Citation in "Additional Information" regarding citing of references. Participation Remember that there is a 20% component of the final course grade based on participation. Please, bare in mind that D.E. is not Independent Study. Apart from occasional additional assignments, you should pick up and respond to messages regularly every week. Your contributions needn't be lengthy essays: try to emulate how you would contribute to a conversation going on in a live classroom. I also look for/expect a substantive reply to someone else's work. I'd really like to see you working with your colleagues in the class rather than carrying out a dialogue with me. Simply listening to the conversations does not count as participation. You must write to get credit. Messages that are administrative in nature ("Can you repost message 16?", "When is our next assignment due?") do not count as substantive contributions to topics being discussed in class. And finally, "late" responses to class topics may not count as class participation. I shall move discussions on, in line with the class schedule, and will cut off discussions on earlier topics. You need to be on-line on a regular basis in order to participate in a timely manner.

Academic Policies:

Cases of plagiarism are handled consistent with current UMUC guidelines. See the UMUC policies at the following URL: http://www.umuc.edu/policy/

Course Schedule:

Week Session Dates Readings, Assignments and Due Dates 1 5 - 11 April 2004 Personal introductions, course management issues and introduction to comparative economic systems.. 2 12 - 18 April 2004 BASIC CLASSIFICATION OF ECONOMIC SYSTEMS Chapter 2 - Definition and Classification Chapter 3 - Evaluation of Economic Outcomes 3 19 - 25 April 2004 HOW ECONOMIC SYSTEMS CHANGE Chapter 4 - Reform and Transition: Evolution or Revolution? 4 26 April - 2 May 2004 THEORY OF ECONOMIC SYSTEMS Chapter 5 - Theory of Capitalism 5 3 - 9 May 2004 THEORY OF ECONOMIC SYSTEMS Chapter 6 - Theory of Planned Socialism Chapter 7 - Theory of Market Socialism 6 10 - 16 May 2004 ECONOMIC SYSTEMS IN PRACTICE Chapter 8 - The American Economy: Market Capitalism PROCTORED EXAM REMINDER: Make an early appointment at the site where you registered 7 17 - 23 May 20034 PROCTORED EXAM WEEK (Chapters 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) TERM BREAK: 24 MAY - 6 JUNE 2004 8 7 - 13 June 2004 ECONOMIC SYSTEMS IN PRACTICE Chapter 9 - The Soviet Command Economy: Structure & Performance 9 14 - 20 June 2004 ECONOMIC SYSTEMS IN PRACTICE Chapter 10 - China: Moving Toward Market Socialism? 10 21 -27 June 2004 ECONOMIC SYSTEMS IN PRACTICE Chapter 11 - The European Model: Variants of Industrialized Capitalism 11 28 June - 4 July 2004 ECONOMIC SYSTEMS IN PRACTICE Chapter 12 - The Asian Model 12 5 - 11 July 2004 ECONOMIC SYSTEMS IN PRACTICE Chapter 13 - The Command Economies: Performance and Decline (omit Appendix) 13 12 - 18 July 2004 TRANSITION ECONOMIES BASICS Chapter 14 - Transition 14 19 - 25 July 2004 TRANSITION ECONOMIES IN PRACTICE Chapter 15 - The Russian Economy in Transition Chapter 16 - Eastern Europe: Poland, Hungary & the Czech Republic ONLINE EXAM