Final Presentation - Topics

Final Presentation. 

Topics: 

 

1. Meiksins Wood’s critique of the “commercialization model”. 

 

2. The relationship between landlords and tenants, according to 

Brenner. (Also: “new rules for reproduction”). Why do they create 

a new historical dynamic? (Meiksins Wood: 51-55)

 

3. Brenner: Subjection to market imperatives; the difference between 

“compulsion” and “opportunity”; purely economic surplus 

extraction.  

4. Why did England transmit capitalism to the rest of Europe

 (and, eventually, to the rest of the world?)  

5. Commerce - Capitalism. 

6. French absolutism - British capitalism. 

        7. Marx’s concept of “estrangement”.  

8. The debate Keynes-von Hayek.

Piketty

 

Hayek

 

The Shock Doctrine

 

Mid-term

 

Introduction to Political Economy. Midterm Exam. 

Class: MONDAYS, from 8: 30 to 11: 30 AM. 

Policies:  

Deadline: March, Saturday 19, 2022, at 23H 59m. (11:59 PM.)

(BUT Please, try to start working on this essay as soon as

you can.)

You have to send your work via e-mail at upecenglish100@gmail.com 

Please send your document in WORD format. 

No other format will be accepted. 

Recommendations: 

 

The exam is INDIVIDUAL. One student=One exam 

(no work in groups is allowed at this point). 

Avoid writing the same exam with your classmate:

 If I receive 2 or more exams that look exactly the same 

(or even very similar), both exams will be graded with a 0.

The basic source for your work must be Meiksins Wood’s 

book, The origin of Capitalism.

You can also use other sources. Every quoted book has 

to be listed in your Bibliography. 

Avoid long quotations from the book: the phrasing 

(the construction of the argument) has to be yours. 

It has to be very clear when you are quoting, and when you 

are giving your own opinion. Your basic source must be the 

textbook used in class. Quotations must mention the page

 following the model: 

“Enclosure continued to be a major source of conflict in Early

Modern England” (Meiksins Wood 2017, 109). 

(In this quotation, the text between quotation marks has to be 

exactly the same text we can read in page 109 of Meiksins 

Wood’s book. We cannot change even a comma.)

Each quotation should not go beyond 3-4 lines: You have to 

demonstrate that you are able to control the text, to explain 

its components. In conclusion, you have to build your own 

argument. 

Take a look at the Rubric: it explains in detail how 

your exam is going to be evaluated. 

Extension: Between 3 and 5 pages 

(Times New Roman 12, double spaced). 

Avoid plagiarism: Your essay will be checked online. 

If your text shows 15% (or more) of coincidence with 

something previously 

written, your grade will be a 0 (zero). 

Question: Explain the emergence of Capitalism, according 

to Meiksins Wood. Explain the main components of the 

concept: the agrarian context in Britain, the property of 

the land, the commodification of the workforce, the 

market imperatives. Explain the interrelations between 

all these concepts. Explain why this concept of “capitalism”, 

offered by the author, opposes the “commercialization model”.

The political theory of John Meynard Keynes

The Political Theory of John Maynard Keynes.

 

1. What are the three explanations for unemployment 

given by Classical Economics?

2. How does the “free market” establish an equilibrium 

between the supply of labor and the demand of labor? 

3. What is the historical context of Keynes’ theory? Is there 

something new that Classical Economics cannot explain?

4. What is the real reason for unemployment, according to 

Keynes?

5. How will the demand for goods recover, according to 

classical theory?

6. (And, according to Keynes?)

7. How must the State react to an economic crisis?

8. Explain the “Multiplier Effect”. 

9. Explain, briefly, the neo-liberal critique of Keynes’ 

theory (Friedman, Hayek).  

The crack of 1929

 Debate: 

 

1. What are the main causes of the stock market crash?

2. What was the Great Depression? 

3. Analyze unemployment and its consequences.