Econ 260 Syllabus

Lansing Community College

Social Science Department
Section Syllabus - ECON 260 for Spring 2010

Course and Section Information:

Course Code:

ECON 260

Title:

Comparative Economic Systems

Semester:

Spring 2010

Class Meetings:

ONLINE - no face-to-face class meetings

Instructor & Contact Information:

Instructor:	Jim Luke
Office:	LCC Main Campus, A&S Building, Room 361E
Phone & Voice Mail:	517-483-5384 (office) 313-550-8884 (cell + text)
Email:	lukej@lcc.edu (preferred for all email. I discourage use of Angel email)
Office Hours:	T 2-4pm; Th 12n-4pm; others by appointment; check my schedule here for availability. Always best to call/email/text ahead for an appt.

I. Course Code Credit Lecture

Econ 260 3 48

II. Prerequisite

Reading Level 5

III. Course Description

A comparison of different global economic systems and their impact on economic growth, distribution of income and opportunity, and economic treatment of women and minorities. Theories, philosophies, historical development, and current practices will be examined.

IV. Instructional Materials

A. Required Textbooks:

One book is required for all students. It is Growth and Interaction in the World Economy: The Roots of Modernity by Angus Maddison. (AEI Press, 2005, ISBN: 084477173-2. It is not available in the bookstore. A free .pdf file of the book will be available to download in the course.It is approx 100 pages long, so if you don't want to print it yourself and you don't want to read it on your computer, then I suggest ordering a copy directly from the publisher for $15 using this link to AEI Press. There are other sellers listed with Amazon here, but they all seem to want charge $29 or more.
All students will also be required to read another book from a list of books provided in the course. These books are popular trade books, not traditional "textbooks". Students will have some choice as to which book they select. The list of books will be available on the Angel website. In general these books sell for $15-40 each. Some may be available at your library.

B. Required Other Materials and Resources -More information and instructions are provided in specific assignments online..

All course materials are delivered via the Angel, LCC online course managent system. Students must use Angel regularly.
Other online resources, including Jim's blog (econproph.com), Expertiza, Wikipedia, and other online resources are required. More information will be provided on Angel.
Several online videos (all free), including a 6 hour series of videos from PBS called "The Commanding Heights" are required. A book version of "The Commanding Heights" is available at bookstores, but it is completely optional.

V. Student Learning Outcomes

Upon completion of this course, the successful student will be able to:

explain why scarcity is a problem faced by every society and why, as a result of scarcity, each society must select and economic system that will provide a mechanism to determine what goods and services will be produced in that society, how they will be produced, and how they will be divided among the society's households.
explain the scharacteristics of pure capitalism, the philosophy behind it, and how pure capitalist system answers the questions of What? How? and For Whom?.
discuss the arguments for government involvement in a capitalist economy and the varieties of capitalism that exist in the world today.
explain the characteristics of pure socialism, the philosophy behind it, and how a socialist system answers the questions of What? How? and For Whom?
discuss the arguments for introduction of markets into a socialist economy and the varieties of socialism that exist in the world today
describe the economic systems of at least two countries with relatively high per capita GDP on different continents. Contrast the role of government and the free marekt in the economies fo these countries now and in the past.
compare the economic growth, the economic incentives, the distribution of income and economic opportunity, and the role of women and minorities in these countries and explain how any differences relate to the economic systems
compare the economic system of one country in Eastern Europe or the former Soviet Union under Communism to its current economic system in terms of economic growth, economic incentives, the distribution of income and economic opportunity, and the role of women and minorities.
describe the economic systems of at least two countries with relatively low per capita GDP on different continents. Contrast the role of the government and the free market in the economies of these countries nowand in the past.
compare the prospects for economic growth, the economic incentives, the distribution of income and economic opportunity, and the role of women and minorities in these countries and explain how any differences relate to the economic systems
describe the current disagreements between high income and low income countries, the causes of the problems, and the attempts to resolve these conflicts
use the Internet to collect economic statistics from countries with different economic systems and analyze those statistics

VI. Methods of Instruction

This course is entirely online. Three primary methods of learning are used.

Students will engage in online lectures, both written and videos, that present key concepts, ideas, and terms used in comparing economic systems. These lectures will be followed by short quizzes/tests and a final exam. Students will be expected to participate in discussion of these videos and online material.
Each student will read two books each regarding current topics and issues in comparative economic systems. Each student will summarize teh books for the other students.
Each student will prepare a "virtual research paper". A "virtual research paper" is a website/wiki page created by the students themselves that compares the economic status, systems, and prospects of two selected countries. These research "papers" will be peer reviewed.

VII. Methods of Evaluating Student Acheivement and Progress:

A. The following methods are used in this class:

Assignment	Points Possible	% of Course Grade
Online Quizzes (best of two attempts allowed for each quiz)	175 points	35%
Final Exam	100 points	20%
Book Assignment	75 points	15%
Project Research Paper ("website paper")	100 points	20%
Timeliness of Participation, Assignment Completion & Forum Postings	25 points	5%
Participation in Forums & Review Process	25 points	5%
Total for Course	500 points	100%

More detailed information about these assignments is available online on the Course Angel website.

B. Grading Scale:

The College Standard grading scale will be used:

Course Grade		% of Possible	Minimum Points Earned
4.0	Excellent	91-100%	455
3.5		86-90%	430
3.0	Good	81-85%	405
2.5		76-80%	380
2.0	Satisfactory	71-75%	355
1.5		66-70%	330
1.0	Poor	60-65%	300
0.0	No Credit	0-59%	0

VIII. Course Practices and Policies

College-wide policies are stated in the College Catalog and include those on attendance, withdrawals, and incomplete grades. The College Catalog is available on the Internet at http://www.lcc.edu/catalog/. Lansing Community College provides services to students with documented disabilities. If you need accomomdations, contact the Office of Disability Services at 517-483-1207 in room 2300 of Gannon Building to coordinate reasonable accomodations for your needs.

Additional course policies and practices for this course are:

Attendance Policy

Students are expected to be active online every week. Students who go more than two weeks without logging in online into Angel and without explanation or notification to the professor are subject to Administrative Withdrawal for non-attendance.

Late Assignments

Failure to complete assignments on time adversely affects yourself and other students because discussion and interaction of ideas is an important means of learning . There are five key deadlines:

end of the 1st week (Jan 17)
end of the 4th (Feb 7)
end of the 8 week (Mar 7)
end of the 12th week (Apr 11)
end of the 15th week (May 2)

Assignments will be due on these dates. Students completing all assignments for each deadline will receive 5 points. Students with partial or incomplete assignments (ex: completed the quiz but not the forum postings) may receive partial points. Late assignments may earn partial points depending upon how late they are (ex: completed 1 or 2 days late may earn 3-4 pts, but if completed 4 weeks later, no points will be awarded.

Drops

Students are advised to familiarize themselves with the LCC Withdrawal Policy. It is available on the Internet at http://www.lcc.edu/policy/policies_9.aspx#W_GRADE. Under this policy, students may withdraw themselves from the course until the end of the eighth week. Students who do not participate online, have extended unexcused absences from online activity, or who engage in uncivil activity are subject to Administrative Withdrawal.

IX. Detailed Outline of Course Content and Sequencing

Students should refer to the materials on the course site on Angel for specific information on the outline of course content, sequencing, and due dates of assignments.

X. Transfer Potential

For transferability information, please consult the Transfer Equivalency List located on the Internet at http://www.lcc.edu/transfer. For additional transferability information contact the LCC Counseling Services Department at 517-483-1255 and the college or university to which you intend to transfer. Econ 260 transfers to most four year colleges as economics credit. Few four year schools accept it as the equivalent of a specfic course. Econ 260 is in the LCC Social Science MACRAO list.

XI. Student Academic Integrity

The very nature of higher education requires that students adhere to accepted standards of academic integrity. Therefore, Lansing Community College has adopted a code of academic conduct and a statement of student academic integrity. These may be found in the Lansing Community College Catalog where violations of adademic integrity are listed and defined. Such violations include both cheating and plagiarism. It is the student's responsibility to be aware of behaviors that constitute academic dishonesty.

Classroom and online behavior that interferes with the instructional and learning processes is not tolerated. the consequences are addressed in the catalog under Administrative Withdrawal.