Assessment and Assignment for Heterodox Economics Module

This module follows the principles of the University’s Assessment Compact, developed in conjunction with the Student Union, to ensure good practice and transparency in assessment and feedback processes. The Assessment Compact can be found on your programme’s Brookes Virtual site.

This module is assessed 100% by coursework. There is one coursework assignment and it is an individual assignment. The assignment is worth 100% of total module marks.

Learning outcomes assessed

The assignment is designed to test your ability to

• Demonstrate an understanding of the importance of competing paradigms in economics, finance and international business
• Employ theories to understand contemporary issues and policy alternatives
• Critically evaluate the issues involved in testing differing paradigms and theories empirically and the role of economic and financial data in such tests
• Apply theoretical knowledge, the ability to interpret data and policy awareness to complex problems in the contemporary business world
• Critically evaluate how selected empirical models are built and data are used to inform policy decisions in both a public policy and a business context
• Recognise the importance of relevant theory in the area of business and finance to decision-making within business
• Recognise the importance of relevant theory in the area of business and finance to decision-making within business
• Demonstrate adequate self-management, learning, communication,  problem-solving and IT skills

Assignment

Write an essay of not more than 4,000 words following the instructions below

Choose ONE of the following five questions and carry out the following tasks

1. Answer the question using the theories and models available within orthodox economics (i.e. economics based in and developing the neo-classical tradition)
2. Write a critique of the approach taken by orthodox economics as defined above to the question from the standpoint of ONE of the major traditions within heterodox economics

When answering the question from both an orthodox and a heterodox perspective you should make sure you cover the following themes

• The main theoretical differences between the ways in which orthodox and heterodox writers would approach the question
• Any significant differences in the policy recommendations that orthodox and heterodox writers would propose either for governments or for businesses as a result of the issues raised by the question
• Any significant differences in the evidence that orthodox and heterodox writers might see as relevant to the question

The five questions are as follows

• How significant a problem is inequality between generations for the OECD (industrialised) economies? Have the outcomes of economic processes and decisions in recent years unfairly disadvantaged the young?
• To what extent can developing economies rely on free trade and openness to foreign investment as the basis for economic success? Compare twoof the following regions in your answer: Latin America, East Asia, the Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe, Sub-Saharan Africa
• Is the threat of technological unemployment a significant danger for OECD (industrialised) countries in the coming period?
• To what extent does industrial success and technological change depend on government support or can it be left up to the market?
• Do current ecological problems mean that we should abandon economic growth as a policy goal and adopt a `de-growth’ solution?

Reading for the Assignment

The reading provided for weeks one to three of the module will cover the central assumptions and modelling strategies of orthodox (neo-classical economics). The reading for weeks four and five looks at some of the main ways in which orthodox economics has been extended and developed by writers working from within the neo-classical tradition who are critical of certain aspects of that tradition. The reading for weeks six to eleven of the module covers the main heterodox criticisms of the neo-classical tradition. This reading should provide a general framework for approaching the assignment. Some more specific reading dealing with the five topics covered in the assignment will be given out as the module progresses but much of the task of finding such reading will depend on your own research during the module.

How to Approach the Assignment

The central purpose of this assignment is to encourage you to look at an important contemporary issue from the perspective of both orthodox and heterodox economics. We have chosen the topics for the following reasons

• Topic one (on inter-generational equity) looks at how economics deals with decisions over time
• Topic two (on external policies of developing economies) looks at how economics deals with spatial relationships
• Topic three (on technology and employment) looks at how economics deals with relations between sectors
• Topic four (on government support for innovation) looks at how economics deals with the relationship between the public and the private sector and at regulation
• Topic five (on de-growth) looks at how economics deals with the relationship between humanity and nature