This course analyzes historical major economic, political, and social changes in the world economy. These include factors contributing to increases in economic performance, changes in the form of government, technological change (including industrialization), and episodes of integration and disintegration of the global economy. Emphasis is on institutional changes in how societies organize economic and political activities and variation in development among geographic regions.

Learning Outcomes

Upon successful completion, students will have the knowledge and skills to:

1. demonstrate an understanding of the various mechanisms by which economies develop
2. apply economic theory and analysis to historical and contemporary episodes of economic growth
3. critically assess academic articles in economic journals and reports, and those from other disciplines
4. write well-structured, coherent, and concise essays that synthesise and critically analyse economic ideas
5. work in teams to analyse and present key findings of academic research and their strengths, limitations and context in the wider fields of relevant inquiry

Research-Led Teaching

Theory and examples covered in the course are derived from research in the field of economics. In addition, students will have the opportunity to conduct their own historical analysis.

Recommended Resources

Kenwood, Lougheed and Graff 2013, Growth of the international economy, 1820-2015 (ebook ANU library)

Foreman-Peck, J. 1994, A History of the World Economy

Koyama, M. and Rubin, J. 2022, How the World Became Rich

Acemoglu, D. and Robinson, J., 2012, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity and Poverty, Random House. (ebook ANU library)

Gordon, C., 2023, Many Possible Worlds: An Interdisciplinary History of the World Economy Since 1800

Staff Feedback

Students will be given feedback in the following forms in this course:

• written comments
• verbal comments
• feedback to whole class, groups, individuals, focus group etc

Student Feedback

ANU is committed to the demonstration of educational excellence and regularly seeks feedback from students. Students are encouraged to offer feedback directly to their Course Convener or through their College and Course representatives (if applicable). Feedback can also be provided to Course Conveners and teachers via the Student Experience of Learning & Teaching (SELT) feedback program. SELT surveys are confidential and also provide the Colleges and ANU Executive with opportunities to recognise excellent teaching, and opportunities for improvement.

Other Information

I communicate in class and through Canvas. Please check Canvas regularly in case there are any new announcements.

Class Schedule

Week/Session	Summary of Activities	Assessment
1	Introduction and Industrial Revolution
2	Industrial Revolution, The Economic Development of the USA	Tutorial 1 and Online Quiz
3	The Economic Development of the USA, The Economic Growth of Europe	Tutorial 2
4	The Economic Growth of Europe, The First Global Economy (until 1914)	Tutorial 3 and Online Quiz
5	Imperialism	Tutorial 4
6	Mid-Semester Exam, includes material to the end of Tutorial 4	Tutorial 5 and Online Quiz, Mid-Semester Exam on Monday 25 August
7	World War I and the Interwar Years	Tutorial 6
8	World War II and the Post War Economy	Tutorial 7 and Online Quiz, Essay Due on Monday 22 September
9	Post War economy, Stagflation and Restructuring	Tutorial 8
10	Post restructuring, Asian Financial Crisis, Global Financial Crisis	Tutorial 9 and Online Quiz
11	Regional Economic Development	Tutorial 10
12	Regional Economic Development	Tutorial 11 and Online Quiz

Tutorial Registration

You are expected to attend and actively participate in a tutorial each week from Week 2 onwards. Lecture attendance is expected too.

ANU utilises MyTimetable to enable students to view the timetable for their enrolled courses, browse, then self-allocate to small teaching activities / tutorials so they can better plan their time. Find out more on the Timetable webpage.

Assessment Summary

Assessment task	Value	Due Date	Return of assessment	Learning Outcomes
Fortnightly Online Canvas Quizzes	10 %	*	*	1, 2, 3
Mid-Semester Exam	25 %	25/08/2025	15/09/2025	1, 2, 3, 4
Essay	25 %	22/09/2025	13/10/2025	1, 2, 3, 4
Final Exam	40 %	30/10/2025	03/12/2025	1, 2, 4

* If the Due Date and Return of Assessment date are blank, see the Assessment Tab for specific Assessment Task details

Policies

ANU has educational policies, procedures and guidelines , which are designed to ensure that staff and students are aware of the University’s academic standards, and implement them. Students are expected to have read the Academic Integrity Rule before the commencement of their course. Other key policies and guidelines include:

• Academic Integrity Policy and Procedure
• Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure
• Extenuating Circumstances Application
• Student Surveys and Evaluations
• Deferred Examinations
• Student Complaint Resolution Policy and Procedure
• Code of practice for teaching and learning

Assessment Requirements

The ANU is using Turnitin to enhance student citation and referencing techniques, and to assess assignment submissions as a component of the University's approach to managing Academic Integrity. For additional information regarding Turnitin please visit the Academic Skills website. In rare cases where online submission using Turnitin software is not technically possible; or where not using Turnitin software has been justified by the Course Convener and approved by the Associate Dean (Education) on the basis of the teaching model being employed; students shall submit assessment online via ‘Canvas’ outside of Turnitin, or failing that in hard copy, or through a combination of submission methods as approved by the Associate Dean (Education). The submission method is detailed below.

Moderation of Assessment

Marks that are allocated during Semester are to be considered provisional until formalised by the College examiners meeting at the end of each Semester. If appropriate, some moderation of marks might be applied prior to final results being released.

Participation

Details on the delivery of this course and expectations of student participation are outlined in further detail on the Canvas course site. Tutorials are a discussion-based class. Providing worked solutions would not effectively compensate for missing a tutorial. Students who, through unavoidable and unplanned occurrences, are unable to attend a tutorial class one week are encouraged to work through the problems and attend a consultation session for discussion and solutions. Lectures and tutorials are live face-to-face.

Examination(s)

The final examination will be held according to the published university schedule posted at http://timetable.anu.edu.au/. It is the student’s responsibility to be informed about changes to the examination timetable. The examination material of the final examination will be everything covered in the lectures..

Assessment Task 1

Fortnightly Online Canvas Quizzes

At the end of each fortnight, starting in week 2 there will be a Canvas quiz to be completed. The marks will be returned a week after the quiz is completed. There will be six quizzes which together will count 10 % toward the final mark. No quiz may be skipped. The quizzes will be an hour long, you have 24 hours to complete the quiz but once you begin you have an hour to complete.

Assessment Task 2

Mid-Semester Exam

An in person mid-semester examination will be held in week 6. It is the student’s responsibility to be informed about precise examination dates. The examination material of the mid-semester examination will be everything covered in the lectures including the last tutorial prior to the exam.

The exam will be approximately 90 minutes long.

More details will be announced in class two weeks prior to the exam.

Assessment Task 3

Essay

A 2500 word essay on a topic chosen from a list I will provide no later than 2 weeks before the due date. No late submissions will be accepted. Content beyond 2500 words will not be marked. Extensions for the essay must be applied for using the Extension Request Tool on Canvas.

Characteristics of a good Essay:

The essay will be marked according to achievement of the following characteristics.

1. Focus on question. You must show you know what the question is about and that you have answered it fully. This will involve analysing the question and deciding what is being asked for by such instructions as 'Discuss', 'Assess' and 'Compare'; the meaning of key words such as 'Why', 'What' and 'How'; and what is called for when you are asked to comment on 'importance' or 'significance'. Since the length of the Essay is quite short, you must be clear and concise as well as comprehensive.

2. Appropriate structure. The Essay should present a reasoned argument that the reader can easily follow and should be structured so that the argument you are making is clear (from the opening paragraph preferably, and certainly in the introduction) and signposted throughout so that the reader knows the stage the argument has reached and where it is going next. Your arguments must be supported by evidence drawn from your reading and presented in the relevant places in the essay. Your aim should be to convince the reader of the validity of your argument.

3. Research. Students are required to undertake their own research for the essays. Start with the suggested reading, including footnotes and references. A few references are suggested for each pair of essay questions, but students are encouraged to go beyond these. Use the library and the Internet to find further useful sources.

4. Presentation. The essay should be competently presented. Bad grammar, incorrect spelling and poor expression not only give an impression of incompetence, they also make it difficult for the reader to understand the point being made. Quotations from books and articles should be used sparingly in number and length. They should only be used to illustrate a point that you have already made and not as a substitute for your own words. Overall, quotations must not exceed 5 per cent of the essay.

5. References. Essays must be properly referenced. Students are expected to acknowledge the sources of ideas and information used in submitted work. Indeed, failure to do so is plagiarism. All direct quotations and statistics, as well as sections paraphrased or summarised in your own words, should be footnoted. The style adopted for footnotes should be clear, comprehensive and consistent. For books you should show author's name, title of the book, year of publication and publisher, and the pages you are referring to. For articles in journals, you should show the author, title of the article, title of the journal, year and volume of the journal, and the pages you are referring to. Internet addresses should be shown in full together with the date you visited them. Footnotes may be placed at the bottom of each page or at the end of the Essay (but do not use both of these methods at the same time) and should be numbered consecutively throughout the essay.

6. Bibliography. List all references cited in footnotes as well as other sources that provided you with useful information or significantly influenced your thinking in writing your essay, including lecture notes where appropriate. The style of the bibliography should be similar to that used for footnotes. Entries in the bibliography should be fully integrated - do not separate books and articles. Preferably, the items should be listed in alphabetical order according to the surname of the author. It is not necessary to specify in the bibliography which pages or chapters of a book you actually used.

Assessment Task 4

Final Exam

An in person final examination will be held according to the published university schedule posted at http://timetable.anu.edu.au/. It is the student’s responsibility to be informed about changes to the examination timetable. The examination material of the final examination will be everything covered in the lectures.

The exam will be approximately 2 hours long.

More details will be announced in class during week 10.

Academic Integrity

Academic integrity is a core part of the ANU culture as a community of scholars. The University’s students are an integral part of that community. The academic integrity principle commits all students to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support, academic integrity, and to uphold this commitment by behaving honestly, responsibly and ethically, and with respect and fairness, in scholarly practice.

The University expects all staff and students to be familiar with the academic integrity principle, the Academic Integrity Rule 2021, the Policy: Student Academic Integrity and Procedure: Student Academic Integrity, and to uphold high standards of academic integrity to ensure the quality and value of our qualifications.

The Academic Integrity Rule 2021 is a legal document that the University uses to promote academic integrity, and manage breaches of the academic integrity principle. The Policy and Procedure support the Rule by outlining overarching principles, responsibilities and processes. The Academic Integrity Rule 2021 commences on 1 December 2021 and applies to courses commencing on or after that date, as well as to research conduct occurring on or after that date. Prior to this, the Academic Misconduct Rule 2015 applies.

 

The University commits to assisting all students to understand how to engage in academic work in ways that are consistent with, and actively support academic integrity. All coursework students must complete the online Academic Integrity Module (Epigeum), and Higher Degree Research (HDR) students are required to complete research integrity training. The Academic Integrity website provides information about services available to assist students with their assignments, examinations and other learning activities, as well as understanding and upholding academic integrity.

Online Submission

You will be required to electronically sign a declaration as part of the submission of your assignment. Please keep a copy of the assignment for your records. Unless an exemption has been approved by the Associate Dean (Education) submission must be through Turnitin.

Hardcopy Submission

For some forms of assessment (hand written assignments, art works, laboratory notes, etc.) hard copy submission is appropriate when approved by the Associate Dean (Education). Hard copy submissions must utilise the Assignment Cover Sheet. Please keep a copy of tasks completed for your records.

Late Submission

• Late submission not permitted. If submission of assessment tasks without an extension after the due date is not permitted, a mark of 0 will be awarded.

Referencing Requirements

The Academic Skills website has information to assist you with your writing and assessments. The website includes information about Academic Integrity including referencing requirements for different disciplines. There is also information on Plagiarism and different ways to use source material. Any use of artificial intelligence must be properly referenced. Failure to properly cite use of Generative AI will be considered a breach of academic integrity.

Returning Assignments

2 to 3 weeks after submission.

Extensions and Penalties

Extensions and late submission of assessment pieces are covered by the Student Assessment (Coursework) Policy and Procedure. Extensions may be granted for assessment pieces that are not examinations or take-home examinations. If you need an extension, you must request an extension in writing on or before the due date. If you have documented and appropriate medical evidence that demonstrates you were not able to request an extension on or before the due date, you may be able to request it after the due date.

Resubmission of Assignments

None

Privacy Notice

The ANU has made a number of third party, online, databases available for students to use. Use of each online database is conditional on student end users first agreeing to the database licensor’s terms of service and/or privacy policy. Students should read these carefully. In some cases student end users will be required to register an account with the database licensor and submit personal information, including their: first name; last name; ANU email address; and other information.
In cases where student end users are asked to submit ‘content’ to a database, such as an assignment or short answers, the database licensor may only use the student’s ‘content’ in accordance with the terms of service – including any (copyright) licence the student grants to the database licensor. Any personal information or content a student submits may be stored by the licensor, potentially offshore, and will be used to process the database service in accordance with the licensors terms of service and/or privacy policy.
If any student chooses not to agree to the database licensor’s terms of service or privacy policy, the student will not be able to access and use the database. In these circumstances students should contact their lecturer to enquire about alternative arrangements that are available.

Distribution of grades policy

Academic Quality Assurance Committee monitors the performance of students, including attrition, further study and employment rates and grade distribution, and College reports on quality assurance processes for assessment activities, including alignment with national and international disciplinary and interdisciplinary standards, as well as qualification type learning outcomes.

Since first semester 1994, ANU uses a grading scale for all courses. This grading scale is used by all academic areas of the University.

Support for students

The University offers students support through several different services. You may contact the services listed below directly or seek advice from your Course Convener, Student Administrators, or your College and Course representatives (if applicable).

• ANU Health, safety & wellbeing for medical services, counselling, mental health and spiritual support
• ANU Accessibility for students with a disability or ongoing or chronic illness
• ANU Dean of Students for confidential, impartial advice and help to resolve problems between students and the academic or administrative areas of the University
• ANU Academic Skills supports you make your own decisions about how you learn and manage your workload.
• ANU Counselling promotes, supports and enhances mental health and wellbeing within the University student community.
• ANUSA supports and represents all ANU students