Prof David Soskice

This course is available on the MSc in Comparative Politics, MSc in Development Studies, MSc in Global Politics, MSc in Political Science and Political Economy, MSc in Public Administration and Government (LSE and Peking University) and MSc in Public Policy and Administration. This course is available as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit.

This course is capped at 2 groups. Priority will be given to MSc Comparative Politics students. The deadline for applications is 1pm, Friday, 29 September 2017. You will be informed of the outcome by 12 noon, Monday, 2 October 2017.

To introduce politics students to basic economic theorising; to discuss the nature of markets; review contemporary discussions regarding the role of the state in the economy; provide a comparison of the relationship of states and markets in different political settings and historical contexts. Topics: The state and the institutional foundations of markets; states and markets in the Great Depression; domestic and international monetary institutions; varieties of capitalism and change in varieties of capitalism; economics and politics of market bubbles; politics and policy in the financial crisis of 2007-2009; the Eurozone crisis. 

20 hours of lectures and 20 hours of seminars in the LT.

There will be a reading week in Week 6 of the LT.

All students are expected to submit one non-assessed essay.

Block, "The Roles of the State in the Economy." Polanyi, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time. North. Institutions, Institutional Change, and Economic Performance; Gerschenkron. "Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective." Hall and Soskice, "An Introduction to Varieties of Capitalism." Lazonick and O'Sullivan. "Maximizing Shareholder Value: A New Ideology for Corporate Governance."

Exam (100%, duration: 2 hours) in the main exam period.