NOTE: Most required readings will either be from the Gros and Steinherr text or can be downloaded (most in pdf format). In addition, I have assigned a novel.
 

Main text:

Daniel Gros and Alfred Steinherr, Economic Transition in Central and Eastern Europe: Planting the Seeds. Cambridge University Press, 2004.

Other readings for lectures:

Åslund, Anders, "10 Reasons Why the Russian Economy Will Falter," Moscow Times, Sept 3, 2008. (Aslund 1)

Åslund, Anders, "The West Should Use Economics to Rein in Russia," Financial Times, Sept 5, 2008. (Aslund 2)

Bornstein, Morris, "The Comparison of Economic Systems" in Morris Bornstein (ed.) Comparative Economic Systems: Models and Cases, 6th ed. Richard D. Irwin, Inc., 1989.

Neuberger, Egon, "Classifying Economic Systems," in Morris Bornstein (ed.) Comparative Economic Systems: Models and Cases, 6th ed. Richard D. Irwin, Inc., 1989.

Leeson, Peter T., and William N. Trumbull, "Comparing Apples: Normalcy, Russia, and the Remaining Post-Socialist World."  Post-Soviet Affairs 22, no. 3 (July-Sept., 2006)

Lucas, Edward, "The Fall and Rise and Fall Again of the Baltic States: A recessionary tale from Europe's new basket cases."  Foreign Policy, June 22, 2009.

Smith, Tom Rob, Child 44. Grand Central, 2008. (Novel available from Amazon.)

Russia's Economy: Smoke and Mirrors, Economist, March 1-7, 2008.

For the threaded discussion, read the Wall Street Journal every day (available free at the entrance to the B&E Building).  Look for articles on any of the former Soviet or Soviet-block countries.

One exam, a Web-based threaded discussion, a daily journal written in the Czech Republic, and a research paper. Note special requirements for International Studies majors enrolled in INTS 488: International Studies Capstone Experiences. 

By the end of the course, students will be able to:

• identify the characteristics of capitalism, planned socialism, and market socialism
• assess the performance of economic systems
• identify the major tasks of transition from planned or market socialism to capitalism
• evaluate the experiences of the transitional economies of Europe
• interact with citizens of transitional economies with an understanding of the essential characteristics of socialism and the elements of transition from socialism to capitalism

Although the name of the course is the Transitional Economies of Europe, we will study the politics of the transitional economies, their history, and their culture, as well as the economics.  Thus, you can expect a highly integrative learning experience in which you will study the transitional economies from several disciplinary perspectives, you will learn the material from the perspectives of both American and Czech scholars, and you will experience the situation for yourself when we take our field trip there in March.

Lectures:
My own lectures on the Transitional Economies of Europe will begin with an introduction to comparative economic systems. We will study three economic systems: capitalism, planned socialism, and market socialism. The former Soviet Block transitional economies, which are the ones we will focus on, were planned socialist economies, although there were elements of market socialism in some, including Hungary.  Yugoslavia was a market socialist economy.

Having discussed the various types of economic systems, we will undertake a review of the transitional period, from about 1989 to the present.

There are various readings that support the lectures.  One of these (Gros and Steinherr) is a fairly advanced text and, if you are not an economics major, you might have a hard time with parts of it.  Do the best you can and don't worry, I will not be testing you on technical details.  Please complete the assigned readings BEFORE we cover these topics in class.  You will get so much more out of the classes if you do and dealing with the midterm will be so much less traumatic.

One of the readings is a novel, Child 44, by Tom Rob Smith, which I recommend you read over the winter break.  You may have already read it, as it was a  best seller last year.  This is pure fiction but it does a great job of illustrating the repressive character of socialism.  I think you will enjoy it.  When you get to the Czech Republic, talk to people who lived during the socialist period in the Czech Republic and see if the kinds of behaviors depicted in Child 44 as responses to the repression in Russia at the end of the Stalin regime (the setting of the novel) were at all similar to the Czech Republic in the '90s.  We will discuss the book in the class scheduled for March 15.

Threaded discussions:
Throughout the course you will participate in a Web-based threaded discussion. This is a very important component of the course, and I have arranged to have experts on transition and the Czech Republic participate with us in the discussions.  I will post the first discussion topic a couple weeks into the course. To prepare, you should start reading the Wall Street Journal every day, as this will be one source for my discussion postings.  Free copies of the WSJ are yours for the taking at the entrance to the B&E Building.

Exam:
The exam will be right before the trip. It will cover all the readings and all the lectures. I will post the questions on the Vista Exam tool at 5PM on March 6 and you are to post your answers by 8 AM on March 19 and it will close at midnight, March 22.

Journal:
While in the Czech Republic, you are to write a daily journal. This journal will include your DETAILED notes from the lectures and field trips. It should also record what you learned each day, your impressions of the Czech Republic, its people, culture, economy, religion, politics, race relations, music, art, language, and anything else that interests you. Your task is to convince me that you are an informed and astute observer of the Czech scene. After your return to the U.S., you will type up your journal (double spaced) and submit it to me, along with any supplemental material you may wish to include (such as drawings, if you are an artist) by midnight, April 12.

Research paper:
For the research paper, you will have almost complete freedom concerning your topic. Your task is to demonstrate to me that you know something about the transitional economies, that you can analyze transition from the perspective of an economist. This is to be a major project and I cannot imagine how you could do it justice in anything less than fifteen pages (double spaced, 12 point font). You should be thinking about your topic well before the trip and you should discuss it with me. I expect that you will do most of the work on the paper after the trip, but the more you can get done before the trip, the easier it will be for you. We will have no classes after the trip, so you should have plenty of time to work on your project. The paper will be due midnight, May 3. On matters of writing style, you might find it useful to consult a classic guide at http://www.bartleby.com/141/index.html. Another useful site is http://www.dailywritingtips.com/.

What I generally expect on this research paper is a case study of transition in a particular European transitional economy.  DO NOT CHOOSE the Czech Republic!  I want the research paper to expose you to another country.  You should begin with a very brief history, mostly of the socialist period and the conditions leading up to the collapse of the socialist system.  Describe each element of transition, such as macroeconomic stabilization, price liberalization, privatization, the institutions of a market economy and of democracy, taxation, foreign trade (including currency convertibility), and the construction of a social safety net.  Then conclude with an assessment of where the country stands now in its transition and prospects for the future.

Another possibility for the research paper would be a cross-country comparison of one aspect of transition, say, for example, privatization.  You may even want to do an especially detailed and rigorous investigation of an aspect of transition in a single country but, if so, it had better be substantial.  In any event, you should clear your topic with me well in advance.

For International Studies majors enrolled in INTS 488:
Those of you who are taking this course in conjunction with the International Studies Capstone Experience (INTS 488) will have additional requirements for the research paper and journal. In particular, you must employ an explicit multi-disciplinary approach in your research paper in which you examine the historical, political, social, and other relevant aspects of the topic as well as the purely economic. Professor Hagan and I will both grade your paper with this additional requirement in mind. We will also jointly evaluate your journal on how well you integrate these various disciplinary approaches in your daily observations of the Czech Republic.

Attendance:
I do expect you to come to every class in Morgantown. Skipping these classes will affect your participation grade. Please read the assigned materials before we cover them so that you can participate in discussions, answer the many questions I will ask in class, and do well on the exam.

You absolutely must attend every event in the Czech Republic, including classes and field trips. For every event you miss, you will lose half a letter grade. Falling asleep during a lecture will also cost you half a letter grade. Being late will cost you points, depending on how late you are. I want you to have a good time in the the Czech Republic (I sure plan to!) but the academic program comes first.

Neuberger (1989).

Gross & Steinherr, Ch 1 and 2.

Comparative economic systems (cont.)

Leeson&Trumbull

Russia's Economy: Smoke and Mirrors

Aslund 1

Aslund 2

Aslund 3

Aslund 4

Transition in Central Europe: The Baltics