ECOP6101 Political Economy: A Primer

How ECOP6101 is assessed

Students are expected to attend 90% of classes. If attendance falls below 50%, a student may be referred to the Examiner’s Board, which decides whether the unit of study is passed or failed; the referral therefore means the student may fail the unit of study.

What ECOP6101 covers

Start with Why Study Political Economy?; use Keynes, Effective Demand and Uncertainty as the turning point; finish by bringing the course together in Environment, Race and Inequality.

It is positioned as Political economy primer unit of study.

The unit of study is organised as a plural comparison of traditions rather than a single model sequence, and assessment requires comparative writing, weekly retrieval and an interactive oral defence.

Assessment in ECOP6101 is distributed as follows: 50% Comparative essay, 30% Interactive oral, 20% Lecture quizzes

The operational assessment conditions matter here.

The Interactive oral is an individual oral exam scheduled in the formal examination period; the current official timetable controls the appointment.

What makes ECOP6101 demanding is concrete: Comparison requires reconstructing each tradition on its own assumptions, applying common criteria and defending a qualified conclusion orally without collapsing disagreement into a list of theorists.

Students are expected to attend 90% of classes.

Attendance below 50% may be referred to the Examiner’s Board, which decides whether the unit of study is passed or failed; the referral therefore means the student may fail the unit of study.

For enrolment planning, Confirm current course-map and enrolment rules in the official handbook

Start with Why Study Political Economy?; use Keynes, Effective Demand and Uncertainty as the turning point; finish by bringing the course together in Environment, Race and Inequality.

Worked example · free

Compare two explanations

Key terms

Political Economy

The study of how economic organisation, political power and social relations shape one another historically.

Economic Explanation

A reasoned account of how specified institutions, incentives or social relations produce an economic outcome.

Theoretical Pluralism

The deliberate comparison of different explanatory traditions without treating them as interchangeable vocabularies.

Capitalism

A historically specific system organised around private control, markets, wage labour and capital accumulation.

Economic System

A set of institutions that organises production, allocation, ownership, work and distribution.

Institutional Variation

Differences in rules and organisations that make one economic system operate differently across places or periods.

Classical Political Economy

A tradition examining production, distribution, value and social classes in the emerging capitalist economy.

Division of Labour

The organisation of production through specialised tasks whose coordination affects productivity and dependence.

Distribution

The process and outcome through which income, wealth and economic claims are allocated among social groups.

Historical Materialism

An approach that explains social change through material production, class relations and historically changing institutions.

Class Relation

A structured relationship between groups occupying different positions in production, ownership and control.

Surplus Value

The part of newly created value appropriated beyond what labour receives under capitalist production.

Neoclassical Economics

A tradition explaining allocation through individual choice, scarcity, marginal reasoning and market coordination.

ECOP6101 FAQ

Questions students ask in each ECOP6101 chapter

Which common basis lets a student compare what different political-economy traditions make visible in the same economic problem?

Compare what different political-economy traditions make visible in the same economic problem. The opening seminar treats the reason for studying political economy as a substantive question and introduces competing ways of explaining economic life. Chapter 01 · Why Study Political Economy?

Where should the reasoning begin when students analyse capitalism as an institutional system and compare how its forms vary across historical settings?

Analyse capitalism as an institutional system and compare how its forms vary across historical settings. The second seminar places capitalism beside other ways of organising economic life and invites institutional rather than purely definitional comparison. Chapter 02 · Capitalism and Economic Systems

Which links need evidence when students connect production and specialisation to questions about classes, dependence and distribution?

Connect production and specialisation to questions about classes, dependence and distribution. The classical seminar and Smith reading connect the organisation of production with wider questions of value, classes and distribution. Chapter 03 · Classical Political Economy and the Division of Labour

When is it appropriate to use Marxian concepts to explain production, exploitation and conflict as historical social relations?

Use Marxian concepts to explain production, exploitation and conflict as historical social relations. The Marx seminar and associated readings centre historical change, class relations and the organisation of surplus in capitalist production. Chapter 04 · Marx, Class and Surplus

How does Neoclassical Economics help a student reconstruct a neoclassical explanation from individual choice through price adjustment to equilibrium?

Reconstruct a neoclassical explanation from individual choice through price adjustment to equilibrium. The neoclassical seminar presents the tradition and places critical readings beside it, supporting reconstruction before evaluation. Chapter 05 · Neoclassical Economics and Market Coordination

What has to be made explicit to explain how spending expectations and uncertainty can produce economy-wide unemployment or instability?

Explain how spending expectations and uncertainty can produce economy-wide unemployment or instability. The Keynes seminar and General Theory reading foreground effective demand, expectations and uncertainty as coordination problems. Chapter 06 · Keynes, Effective Demand and Uncertainty

What has to be made explicit to explain how rules, organisations and historical sequences structure economic behaviour and feasible change?

Explain how rules, organisations and historical sequences structure economic behaviour and feasible change. The institutional seminar shifts attention from isolated choice to rules, habits, organisations and historically embedded economic action. Chapter 07 · Institutional Economics and Path Dependence

Which common basis lets a student compare two schools of thought through a shared problem, explicit criteria and a thesis that survives counterargument?

Compare two schools of thought through a shared problem, explicit criteria and a thesis that survives counterargument. The essay-writing seminar, guide and example make comparison itself a taught political-economy skill rather than an administrative add-on. Chapter 08 · Comparative Essay and Theoretical Evaluation

Where should the reasoning begin when students analyse how paid production depends on gendered unpaid work and institutions of social reproduction?

Analyse how paid production depends on gendered unpaid work and institutions of social reproduction. The gender and work seminars connect labour-market analysis with unpaid work and the reproduction of households and workers. Chapter 09 · Gender, Work and Social Reproduction

Which links need evidence when students connect environmental limits and racialised institutions to the production and distribution of economic inequality?

Connect environmental limits and racialised institutions to the production and distribution of economic inequality. The closing seminars bring ecological limits, race and inequality into the political-economy frame as connected but non-interchangeable structures. Chapter 10 · Environment, Race and Inequality

How to study for the exam

reconstruct a theoretical tradition, compare its assumptions and mechanism with a rival account, then qualify the historical and distributional conclusion

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