ECON 225 - Industrial Revolutions

Credits: 3
Planned Offering: Winter 2012 and alternate years.

Prerequisite: ECON 101. In the 18th century, the pace of long-run economic growth accelerated; in the end, for the first time in human history, social and economic change became visible within an individual’s lifetime. What are the roles of technical change and population growth in this transformation? Why did England industrialize first, and not China, which had a clear lead in technology in 1600? What is the impact of modern economic growth on society? Insights gleaned from Smith, Malthus, and Marx are applied to country and sectoral case studies; 19th-century novels trace the contemporary perception of social change; and class participation in iron smelting makes concrete the magnitude of technical change. Students are expected to present a major research project to the class. Smitka.