Political Economy (1 Viewer)

[BackCountrySnow]

How would you rate the course??
And to the people who also do economics, how does it differ?
i heard it is less mathematical and theoretical.

Im thinking of doing B economics / B arts (or social science) with political economy.

I'm quite interested in poltics. So is this the right course for me?

 

[Djarwan]

I don't really know bout the courses at any other uni apart from USYD where i do it but i assume they are similiar. Political economy focuses more on the socio-political outcomes, impacts and workings of economics rather than the actual mathematics of it which you would find in a straight economics course. U would prob find it an interesting subject if you have an interest in politics, sociology, legal studies, economics obviousley and other related areas. To give u an idea of wat u'd study the most recent asignment i've got is on the sustainability of capatilism and through this semester we've studied economic theories such as marxism, and keynisian ideas etc. I find the course enjoyable and i think most ppl enrolled in it do, atleast at USYD, the lecturer there that does the course is also reknown 4 being one of the best at the uni. Apart from that the course is a good grounding 4 heaps of careers in jobs focusing both on eonomics and the humanities. Hope that helped in short its a good course.

 

[BackCountrySnow]

ahok mad, i was thinking of doing that if i do a combined degree (economics & Arts)

 

[bringbackshred]

OK, I do this at New South..

It's a great course, although PECO1000 (the introductory subject) is more like a history of economic thought as opposed to actually theorising etc, but all of that stuff comes in 2nd and 3rd year anyway.

USyd's lecturer for this course is Frank Stilwell, who wrote the textbook we use. Unfortunately, he is the economic spokesman for the Greens party, so I've heard, which can allow for some inherent bias in his teachings, so make sure to watch out for that. George Argyous is the main course co-ordinator at New South and he is a close colleague with Stilwell, and they share similar beliefs. Already this year, we have been subjected to a rant on why drugs should be legalised and why it is the only way to go about drug policy, which is sad and disturbing.

There's a few economic concepts explored that we also cover in ECON1101 (which I also do), but they are only there to substantiate theories and to provide reasoning to things. My main essay question for PECO1000 this semester is "International trade and globalisation will be to the benefit of all countries which participate in these processes. Discuss with respect to at least two of the major schools of political economy that we have covered this year."

Also, I do POLS1018, which is the main introduction to Political Theory. This overlaps with Political Economy as well, obviously on the politics side. A lot of political concepts apply to Political Economy in the same way as economics, so it is a nice complement.

The lectures are ok, although two lecturers are somewhat boring.. One is monotonous and tangenital and the other reads straight from the slides with little variation. The third is the course co-ordinator and his lectures are free-flowing and engaging. The tutes are great, becuase we have organised debates every second week and discussion points on the other weeks to argue with the tutor.

The assignments aren't much at all. They consist of delivering a debate speech and the subsequent 1500 word debate report, as well as the essay mentioned above. Easy if you're good.

If you want to do politics as you mentioned, I recommend doing a POLS course, but PECO is also an excellent choice, as are the two together. POLS and PECO were my intended majors before I started my degree and they still are, so it's good.

 

[BackCountrySnow]

so what is Pols and what is PECOS?

 

[Josie]

POLS is Politics, and PECOS is Politcal Economy. I would assume.

 

[BackCountrySnow]

well imreally interested in politics.
If I only do economics willI still e able to take the politics eelective??

oh and btw, is politics the same as 'politics and int. relations'?

 

[bringbackshred]

well imreally interested in politics.
If I only do economics willI still e able to take the politics eelective??

oh and btw, is politics the same as 'politics and int. relations'?

If you do a B Economics, you won't be able to do Political Economy or Politics, because of the mandatory courses and the scope of your one elective. You may perhaps be able to do it in later years, however I'm not entirely sure about that. But you won't be able to do it in your first year.

If you do a B Arts, you can do all 3 (Politics, Economics, Political Economy), which is what I do. In a B Arts, you can choose all 4 of your subjects every semester, which is handy. So you can do any combination of subjects within that, although not in a BEc.

And yes, Politics and Int'l Relations is the same as Politics. That's just the long name for the school.

 

[BackCountrySnow]

If you do a B Economics, you won't be able to do Political Economy or Politics, because of the mandatory courses and the scope of your one elective. You may perhaps be able to do it in later years, however I'm not entirely sure about that. But you won't be able to do it in your first year.

If you do a B Arts, you can do all 3 (Politics, Economics, Political Economy), which is what I do. In a B Arts, you can choose all 4 of your subjects every semester, which is handy. So you can do any combination of subjects within that, although not in a BEc.

And yes, Politics and Int'l Relations is the same as Politics. That's just the long name for the school.

hmmm...
Well economics is my main aim. politics is just a side interest.
So i'm going to just stick to the plain B economics.
Shit!! economics with politics would have been awesome.

 

[Djarwan]

I'm pretty certain u can do political economy as a 1st yr elective in the Bachelor of Economics at USYD, or if ur interested in combining both economics and a politics major in ur degree maybe look into the course information about the Bachelor of Economics and Social Science at USYD, it seems pretty popular.

 

[bringbackshred]

hmmm...
Well economics is my main aim. politics is just a side interest.
So i'm going to just stick to the plain B economics.
Shit!! economics with politics would have been awesome.

Do either B Arts/B Economics at UNSW or a B Economic and Social Sciences at USyd. They're your best bets for what you want.

 

[sirfeathers]

I just got an email back from the Arts faculty at UNSW saying that Political Economy won't be offered as a major from 2008 onwards

But they suggested instead that I use the Arts degree to do a double major in Politics and Economics, and that I would then be able to study the same courses individually.

Can anyone verify this/ provide more info? It sounded like total crap to me because Politics + Economics doesn't = Political Economy

 

[xsjado]

I just got an email back from the Arts faculty at UNSW saying that Political Economy won't be offered as a major from 2008 onwards

did they say why?

 

[sirfeathers]

"Due to the restructuring of the Bachelor of Arts program, Political Economy is not being offered as of 2008"

 

[xsjado]

Only for 08ers?
because what about the people in their 2nd or 3rd year planning to major in it?

 

[sirfeathers]

I guess it would be for those doing first year in 2009 and onwards. The structure of the whole BA program is being revised, so I can't imagine it would apply to those who are already partway through the current program. But as I said, the implication of the email was that you could still study the individual units of the PECO course as part of the Politics/ Economics majors. I wish they'd put up more info about the new BA because I'm confused

 

[spence]

I'm planning on majoring in ECOP at USyd, I think it's great, although I've only done half of one subject in it. The lecturer for my current subject is pretty good, although I've heard Stilwell is amazing; and tutes are very good, always have good discussions.

I'm doing Economic and Social Sciences, it's def a good course for those interested in politics and economics. I was originally planning on an ECON major, but I much prefer ECOP (ECON is too mathsy for my liking)