This is the gateway course for the Philosophy, Politics, and Economics major. PPE is a major in political economy. Political economy is the integrated study of the relationships of government, political processes, property, production, markets, trade, and distribution. It involves the assessment of these arrangements with respect to their potential to promote the interests and progress of humanity. It explores the relations between individual action and collective outcomes as they shape and are shaped by environmental conditions, institutions, social norms, ideologies, and strategic and communicative interaction, paying special attention to the consequences of these relations for politics, law, economic policies, aggregate economic outcomes, and justice and human welfare. Political economists often use formal tools such as game theory and rational choice theory, and analytic frameworks, such as prisoner’s dilemmas and principal-agent problems, to analyze these relations. This course will introduce students to these tools and frameworks, exploring their powers and limitations.

Course Requirements:

Assignments for this course includes writing daily reading responses (in class), two short (1600 word) papers, and a final exam.

Intended Audience:

All students are welcome. You do not have to be a PPE major.

Class Format:

2hrs lecture & 2 hrs disc each week