Curricular Unit:			Code:
Political Economy			1142EPOL
Year:	Level:	Course:	Credits:
2	Undergraduate	Political Science and International Relations	6 ects
Learning Period:		Language of Instruction:	Total Hours:
Winter Semester		Portuguese/English	78
Learning Outcomes of the Curricular Unit:
(i) To integrate methods, concepts, theories and knowledge concerning political economy and economic policy, with an emphasis on the Eurozone crisis and reform and the challenges stemming from the Covid-19 pandemics; (ii) To develop interactive skills allowing students to participate in debates on contemporary political-economic events; (iii) To select methods of information management that guide students in selected readings on the Eurozone crisis and reform; (iv) To improve oral and written communication skills; (vi) To develop critical analysis of the Eurozone crisis and reform.
Syllabus:
Chapter I – Theoretical framework: the position of economics within social sciences Chapter II – Foundations of European monetary integration Chapter III – The origins and the evolution of the Eurozone crisis Chapter IV – Political Economy of the crisis and the reform of the Eurozone (I): the orthodox approach Chapter V – Political Economy of the crisis and the reform of the Eurozone (II): the heterodox approach Chapter VI – Economic and Monetary Union and the Covid-19 pandemics.
Demonstration of the Syllabus Coherence with the Curricular Unit's Objectives:
Chapter I – Discussion about the position of economics within the realm of social sciences and the manifold links with other social sciences. Chapter II – Foundations and functioning of Economic and Monetary Union. Chapter III – Events that gave rise to the Eurozone crisis (financial crisis, economic crisis, sovereign debt crisis), providing students with factors that influenced the Eurozone crisis. Chapter IV – Students’ awareness of the orthodox approach to the crisis and the reform of the Eurozone (at the level of economics and political-economic decision-making). Chapter V – Students’ awareness of the heterodox approach to the crisis and the reform of the Eurozone (at the level of the alternative, non-orthodox causality of events that triggered the crisis as well as on alternatives remedies to it). Chapter VI – Understanding and discussion of Covid-19 economic implications and awareness of the mechanisms devised by the European Union to address the pandemics crisis.
Teaching Methodologies (Including Evaluation):
Teaching methodology includes lecturing, research, readings and discussion of European monetary integration contemporary issues, as well as critical reflection. Assessment is continuous and based on two written tests (50% coefficient each).
Demonstration of the Coherence between the Teaching Methodologies and the Learning Outcomes:
Theoretical exposition of the contents the scientific area; discussions in the classroom; integration of methods, concepts, theories and knowledge in the scientific area; developing interactive competences in the classroom; demonstration of oral and written communication skills of expert assessment contents; selection of methods of information management.
Reading:
Acocella, Nicola (2020), The European Monetary Union: Europe at the Crossroads, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. De Grauwe, P. (2020), Economics of Monetary Union, 13.ª ed., Oxford University Press. Gonçalves, J. R. (2019). O Euro: Balanço e Perspetivas, Coimbra: Almedina. Mody, A. (2018), Euro Tragedy: A Drama in Nine Acts, Oxford University Press. Morson, G. S. and Schapiro, M. (2018), Cents and Sensibility: What Economics Can Learn from the Humanities, Princeton: Princeton University Press. Randall Henning, C. (2017), Tangled Governance: International Regime Complexity, the Troika, and the Euro Crisis, Oxford University Press. Raworth, K. (2017), Doughnut Economics: Seven Ways to Think Like a 21st-Century Economist, Penguin. Stiglitz, J. E. (2016), The Euro: How a Common Currency Threatens the Future of Europe, W. W. Norton. Vila Maior, P. e Camisão, I. (2022), The Pandemic Crisis and the European Union: COVID-19 and Crisis Management, London: Routledge.
Lecturer (* Responsible):
Luísa Vasconcelos (lvasc@ufp.edu.pt)