EC147: Globalisation and the History of Western Capitalism

Module code: EC147

Module provider: Economics; School of Philosophy, Politics and Economics

Credits: 20

Level: Level 1 (Certificate)

When you'll be taught: Semester 2

Module convenor: Professor Mark Casson, email: m.c.casson@reading.ac.uk

Pre-requisite module(s):

Co-requisite module(s):

Pre-requisite or Co-requisite module(s):

Module(s) excluded:

Placement information: NA

Academic year: 2024/5

Available to visiting students: Yes

Talis reading list: Yes

Last updated: 23 May 2024

Overview

Module aims and purpose

Globalisation has been a major influence on the economic growth of the Western World (Europe and North America), It encourages international trade and investment and creates mass markets; it also stimulates economic migration, foreign investment and technological innovation. But the world has been globalised before – in the Age of High Imperialism, 1870-1914. Antecedents of globalisation can even be detected in the Age of Discovery, c.1450-1600.

This course examines how the world economy ‘got to where it is today’ by charting the evolution of international economic activity from 1200 to the present. It begins with the development of the great port cities and concludes with a description of the modern ‘networked global village’.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the module, it is expected that students will be able to: 

1. Appreciate the importance of carefully defining key terms such as ‘globalisation’ and ‘capitalism’
2. Evaluate primary and secondary sources of information on the history of Western economies critically
3. Search for evidence on their own initiative; much of the evidence is available on the web in digitised form (either print or picture)
4. Appreciate the importance of economic theory and statistical technique in interpreting evidence they have collected for themselves

Module content

Topics include, but are not limited to: Growth, income and equality in the modern global economy; Reformation, renaissance and the growth of trade; the Industrial Revolution; the rise of modern management; the emergence of boom and bust.

Structure

Teaching and learning methods

Lectures introduce key concepts and topics that are further developed in student-led seminar groups.

Study hours

At least 20 hours of scheduled teaching and learning activities will be delivered in person, with the remaining hours for scheduled and self-scheduled teaching and learning activities delivered either in person or online. You will receive further details about how these hours will be delivered before the start of the module.

Please note the independent study hours above are notional numbers of hours; each student will approach studying in different ways. We would advise you to reflect on your learning and the number of hours you are allocating to these tasks.

Semester 1 The hours in this column may include hours during the Christmas holiday period.

Semester 2 The hours in this column may include hours during the Easter holiday period.

Summer The hours in this column will take place during the summer holidays and may be at the start and/or end of the module.

Assessment

Requirements for a pass

Students need to achieve an overall module mark of 40% to pass this module.

Summative assessment

Penalties for late submission of summative assessment

The Support Centres will apply the following penalties for work submitted late:

Assessments with numerical marks

• where the piece of work is submitted after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): 10% of the total marks available for that piece of work will be deducted from the mark for each working day (or part thereof) following the deadline up to a total of three working days;
• the mark awarded due to the imposition of the penalty shall not fall below the threshold pass mark, namely 40% in the case of modules at Levels 4-6 (i.e. undergraduate modules for Parts 1-3) and 50% in the case of Level 7 modules offered as part of an Integrated Masters or taught postgraduate degree programme;
• where the piece of work is awarded a mark below the threshold pass mark prior to any penalty being imposed, and is submitted up to three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline), no penalty shall be imposed;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension to the deadline): a mark of zero will be recorded.

Assessments marked Pass/Fail

• where the piece of work is submitted within three working days of the deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): no penalty will be applied;
• where the piece of work is submitted more than three working days after the original deadline (or any formally agreed extension of the deadline): a grade of Fail will be awarded.

The University policy statement on penalties for late submission can be found at: https://www.reading.ac.uk/cqsd/-/media/project/functions/cqsd/documents/qap/penaltiesforlatesubmission.pdf

You are strongly advised to ensure that coursework is submitted by the relevant deadline. You should note that it is advisable to submit work in an unfinished state rather than to fail to submit any work.

Formative assessment

Formative assessment is any task or activity which creates feedback (or feedforward) for you about your learning, but which does not contribute towards your overall module mark.

Reassessment

Additional costs