Economics

The course provides the basic elements of Value, Capital, Growth and Accumulation within Classical and Post-Keynesian Economics.

The course will be held partially on a seminar basis. Students will be evaluated also on the basis of their presentation to seminars, but the issues dealt with on a seminar basis will not be compulsory even if the students who have not delivered a talk in a seminar have to choose a number of issues for the exam.

Students must be familiar with the standard tools of microeconomics, elementary algebra, and elementary mathematical analysis. Some knowledge of models of economic growth is recommended, but is not required.

Students will be evaluated also on the basis of their presentation to seminars, but the issues dealt with on a seminar basis will not be compulsory even if the students who have not delivered a talk in a seminar have to choose a number of issues for the exam. The compulsory part includes: pricing; income distribution (wages, profits and rent); theory of growth of a closed economy, of a small open economy, of the world economy both for Classical and Post-Keynesian Economics.

Syllabus
Ricardo Theory of Growth and Accumulation: The one-sector model; The two-sector model; The small open economy; The Wold Economy.
Theory of Production: Production with capital and labour without land; Capital theory and criticism of Neo-Classical theory of distribution.
Post-Keynesian Theory of Growth and Distribution: Origin; Dual and Neo-Pasinetti Theorems; Existence of a Two-class economy; Public Sector and International Trade.

Bibliography
Neri Salvadori, Ricardo’s theory of growth and accumulation. A modern view, London: Routledge, 2020.
Kurz, H.D. & Salvadori, N. (2001) Production Theory: An Introduction”, Indian Economic Journal, 2001. Reprinted in Kurz, H.D. & Salvadori, N. (2003). Classical Economics and Modern Theory: Studies in Long-period Analysis, London and New York: Routledge; pp. 238-255.
Kurz, D. H. and N. Salvadori, Theory of production, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1995; Chapters 2, 3, and 14.
Panico C. & Salvadori, N. (a cura di) (1993), Post Keynesian Theory of Growth and Distribution, Aldershot (U.K.): Edward Elgar.
Commendatore P., S D'Acunto, C Panico (2003), Keynesian Theories Of Growth, in N. Salvadori (a cura di) The Theory of Economic Growth: A ‘Classical’ Perspective. Cheltenham (U.K.): Edward Elgar; pp. 103-160.

Assessment methods
The students who have delivered a seminar within the course will be evaluated on the basis of their performance plus a short exam on the part of the course which is taught though traditional lectures by the professor. The students who have NOT delivered a seminar within the course will be evaluated on the basis of a longer exam with the addition of two further issues to be chosen by the students from an issue topic pool.

The aim of this course is to introduce students to the main topics of economic methodology, linking philosophical issues with practical problems that economists face in the confrontation of models with data. The course focuses on forms of explanation in economics; foundational issues of probability, statistical and causal inference; the role of models and their appraisal; issues in decision theory and the methodology of experimental economics.