MIB Chinese Economy

 Course Description

The rise of China is no doubt one of the most important events in world economic history since the Industrial Revolution. Mainstream economics, especially the new institutional theory of economic development based on a dichotomy of extractive vs. inclusive political institutions, is highly inadequate in explaining China’s rise. This course offers a radical reinterpretation of the history of the Industrial Revolution and the rise of the West (as incorrectly portrayed by the new institutional theory), to shed light on China’s growth miracle and explain why the determined rise of China is unstoppable despite its apparent “backward” financial system and political institutions. Conversely, we will show that China’s rapid transformation from an impoverished agrarian society to a formidable industrial powerhouse sheds considerable light on the fundamental shortcomings of the new institutional theory and mainstream neoclassical economic models, and provides more-accurate reevaluations of historical episodes such as Africa’s enduring poverty trap despite radical political and economic reforms, Latin America’s lost decades and frequent debt crises, 19th century Europe’s great escape from the Malthusian trap, and the Industrial Revolution itself.

 Course Purpose & Objectives

This course will help the students understand not only China’s economic growth with Chinese characteristics, but also the British Industrial Revolution and Europe’s rise since the Renaissance. In addition, students will be trained to analyze the poverty trap facing Africa and the middle income trap facing Latin American countries. Students are required to read the textbooks and selected research papers assigned in class to build their abilities to interpret economic history and the nature of industrialization.

 Reference Books

1.     Yi Wen, 2016, The Making of an Economic Superpower―Unlocking China’s Secret of Rapid Industrialization, World Scientific. ISBN-13: 978-9814733724, ISBN-10: 9814733725.

2.     Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson, 2012, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty. Currency; Reprint edition.

3.     Isabella M. Weber, 2021, How China Escaped Shock Therapy: The Market Reform Debate. Routledge; 1st edition.

4.     Barry J. Naughton, 2007, The Chinese Economy: Transitions and Growth, MIT Press.

5.     Kenneth Pomeranz, 2021, The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy. Princeton University Press.

6.     Robert C. Allen, 2009, The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective. Cambridge University Press.

 TEACHING APPROACH/ INSTRUCTIONAL METHODS

Instructor’s teaching is followed by students’ discussion.