Course Overview

Professor Emeritus Edward F. Stuart takes you across three centuries to chart the history of modern economic thought and practice around the world.

All of the tradeoffs in competing economic systems—capitalism, socialism, and communism—are controversial. These systems and ideologies have undeniably shaped the way people view both the world today and modern history. But where does capitalism begin and socialism end? In short, it’s about choice and compromise.

Understanding and endeavoring to solve these perpetual dilemmas is the job of comparative economics. By looking at multiple economies around the world—their histories, failures, and successes—comparative economics attempts to uncover the influences, systems, and decisions that can do the most good for the most people.

Guiding you through this complex web of values and theories is Edward F. Stuart, a specialist in both comparative economics and Russian and Eastern European studies. With over 30 years of experience, Professor Stuart has taught and learned about these economic systems in various countries.

The enlightening 24 lectures of this course will show you the many ways the most influential modern economic theories were developed, how they function (or don’t), and how they interact both together and in opposition, from the rise of Soviet communism to the future of the European Union and beyond.

Video Lectures

• Gorbachev’s Hello and the Soviet Goodbye
  • Duration: 31 min
  • Overview of the USSR before its collapse and the restructuring known as perestroika.

• Adam Smith, Karl Marx, Keynes, and Friedman
  • Duration: 32 min
  • Examining the philosophies and influences of four influential economic thinkers.

• How to Argue GDP, Inflation, and Other Data
  • Duration: 31 min
  • Overview of various metrics for economic success and their interpretations.

• British Revolution: Industry and Labor
  • Duration: 30 min
  • The birthplace of industrial capitalism in Great Britain.

• American Capitalism: Hamilton and Jefferson
  • Duration: 30 min
  • Paradoxes in free market systems in the U.S. and the role of founding figures.

• Utopian Socialism to Amana Microwave Ovens
  • Duration: 29 min
  • Social solutions to alleviate worker conditions in a market economy.

• The Bolsheviks: Lenin, Trotsky, and Stalin
  • Duration: 28 min
  • The birth and troubled development of communism.

• Soviet Planning and 1,000 Left-Foot Shoes
  • Duration: 28 min
  • Exploring Stalin’s control of the Soviet economy and its complexities.

• Economic Consequences of European Peace
  • Duration: 29 min
  • How the end of World War I impacted capitalism and led to World War II.

• How FDR and Keynes Tried to Save Capitalism
  • Duration: 29 min
  • The origins of the Great Depression and recovery efforts.

• Social Democracy in Europe
  • Duration: 31 min
  • Exploring reforms within the capitalist system in European countries.

• Sweden’s Mixed Economy Model
  • Duration: 29 min
  • The balance between free market capitalism and government control.

• French Indicative Planning and Jean Monnet
  • Duration: 31 min
  • How French political upheaval shaped influential socialist theories.

14. British Labour Party and National Health
    • Duration: 30 min
    • Shifts between privatization and nationalization in the British economy.

• Social Welfare in Germany: Bismarck to Kohl
  • Duration: 30 min
  • The role of socialism in creating efficient workforces in Germany.

• Soviet Bloc: Conformity and Resistance
  • Duration: 31 min
  • The division of Europe and its economic implications after WWII.

17. Two Germanies: A Laboratory in Economics
    • Duration: 28 min
    • Comparing communist and capitalist enterprises in post-war Germany.

18. The Soviet Union’s Fatal Failure to Reform
    • Duration: 29 min
    • Attempts at reform in the Soviet system and their outcomes.

19. “Blinkered and Bankrupt” in Eastern Europe
    • Duration: 30 min
    • The replication of Soviet failures in Eastern Bloc nations.

• From Chairman Mao to the Capitalist Roaders
  • Duration: 30 min
  • The impact of Soviet communism on China’s industrialization.

• After Deng, China Privatizes and Globalizes
  • Duration: 32 min
  • China’s transformation from decline to global economic powerhouse.

• Asian Tigers: Wealth and State Control
  • Duration: 32 min
  • The transformation of South Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore.

23. European Union: Success or Failure?
    • Duration: 32 min
    • Evaluating the EU’s economic influence and mission.

24. Both Sides Now: Experiment in Slovenia
    • Duration: 34 min
    • Exploring economic evolution using Slovenia as a model.