ECON 1101 Economics through Film Fall 2021

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Syllabus

Note: It goes without saying that this syllabus is subject to change based on changes in University policies during the semester.

About the Course

Economics is a way of looking at the world — a lens, you might say. Economists see economic phenomena, and economic lessons, everywhere. So it shouldn’t be surprising that motion pictures are full of economic phenomena and economic ideas. This course will use movies as a way to introduce you to some of the basic concepts in economics and to evaluate critically how those concepts are embodied in specific movies. By the end of the course, you should have a good sense of what economics is and how economists think about the world. There may even be lessons for your own life along the way. After you’ve spent some time in the course, you may decide you really like Economics and want to take more of it — maybe even to major or minor in Economics. Students usually start out by taking Economics 1201 (microeconomics) and 1202 (macroeconomics), which are the prerequisites for upper-division courses in the major and also fulfill requirements in the Business School and elsewhere. Alternatively, you can take Econ 1200, which is a four-credit course that covers much the same material as 1201 and 1202 (both macro and micro) in a single semester. Econ 1200 fulfills all the same requirements as taking both ECON 1201 and 1202. For more information about Economics as major (or minor), click here.

Course Format and Requirements

We will watch 12 movies over the course of the semester. Each movie will raise a set of specific economic issues and illustrate specific economic concepts.

Here’s how it will work: Each class will consist of a lecture/discussion of the previous week’s movie, followed by a showing of a new movie.

Over the course of the semester, you will write six short reaction papers of two or three pages (double spaced) each in response to a prompt about a movie. I have randomly broken the class into two groups, so you will be assigned a movie to write about roughly every two weeks. This means you will write a paper about six of the 12 movies – but be sure to watch and think about all the movies. This is a course about how movies use and illustrate economic ideas, not a course about literary criticism or cinema as an art form; but you are welcome to think about the literary and cultural aspects of the movies in your papers, at least so long as you also talk about economics. This is not a W course, so you will not be graded on the writing per se — but part of what you will be graded on is the argument you make and how well you make it. You might want to look at my Notes on Writing and the resources there. You will upload your papers in the assignments area of the “My Groups” link of HuskyCT. They will be due just before the start of the class during which we discuss the movie you will have written about. The papers will be worth eight points each, amounting to 48 per cent of your grade.

The rest of your grade will be based on two multiple-choice exams. The first will take place in class on Wednesday, October 20. The second will be the final exam, which will take place in class at the official final exam time assigned by the Registrar.   Although you will take the exams in class, you will take them in HuskyCT — so you need to bring a suitable device with you.  It is possible to take the exams on a phone or tablet, but I strongly recommend bringing a laptop.

The midterm will cover material through the movie 42: the Jackie Robinson Story. The final will be cumulative, but will stress the material after the midterm. The exams will test your knowledge of the economic concepts we talk about in class, not just of the content of the movies. The midterm will be worth 25 per cent of your grade and the final 27 per cent.

 

Course Materials

There is no textbook for the course, but I have asked the bookstore to order Naked Economics: Undressing the Dismal Science, 3rd Edition, by Charles Wheelan. It is available cheaply on kindle. This is a breezy overview of basic ideas in economics. I will not refer to it (much) in class, but you should plan to read it as early in the course as you can, as it will help you understand the economics behind the movies. There may be a few questions on the exams that refer to this book. For each movie the syllabus links to short videos that go over important concepts and substitute for a textbook. There are also readings of various kinds, from articles in the New York Times to professional journal articles in economics to original writings by major historical figures, including Adam Smith, Louis Brandeis, and John Maynard Keynes. I don’t expect you to master the more difficult readings, and you won’t be tested on them. But I do expect you to look at them and grapple with them.

Course Grading Summary

Six reaction papers

48%
Midterm Exam

25%
Final Exam

27%

Grade

Letter Grade

GPA

93-100

A

4.0

90-92

A-

3.7

87-89

B+

3.3

83-86

B

3.0

80-82

B-

2.7

77-79

C+

2.3

73-76

C

2.0

70-72

C-

1.7

67-69

D+

1.3

63-66

D

1.0

60-62

D-

0.7

<60

F

0.0

Course Calendar

September 1

Introduction to the course and to economics.

Treasure of the Sierra Madre

Screening: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).

Concepts:

  • Rationality versus “greed.”
  • Institutions: trust.
  • Institutions: property rights.
  • Institutions: violence as dispute resolution.
  • Productive vs. unproductive rent seeking.

Materials:

September 8

Discuss The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948).

Dirty Pretty Things

Screening: Dirty Pretty Things (2002).

Concepts:

  • Gains from trade.
  • Opportunity cost.
  • Institutions: Illegal markets.
  • “Repugnant” transactions.
  • Economics of Immigration.

Materials:

September 15

Discuss Dirty Pretty Things (2002).

Hudsucker Proxy

Screening: The Hudsucker Proxy (1994).

Concepts:

  • Supply and demand.
  • Demand shifters: information and tastes.
  • Entrepreneurship and innovation — 1950s corporate edition.

Materials:

September 22

Discuss The Hudsucker Proxy (1994).

The Founder

Screening: The Founder (2016).

Concepts:

  • Entrepreneurship.
  • Innovation: the reverse Schumpeterian hypothesis.
  • Costs and production technology.
  • The division of labor.

Materials:

September 29

Discuss The Founder (1994).

Moneyball

Screening: Moneyball (2011).

Concepts:

  • Competition.
  • Profit maximization.
  • Marginal product of labor.
  • Measurement costs.

Materials:

October 6

Discuss Moneyball (2011).

42

Screening: 42 (2013).

Concepts:

  • Markets and discrimination.

Materials:

October 13

Discuss 42 (2013).

Dr. Strangelove

Screening: Dr. Strangelove (1964).

Concepts:

  • Game Theory.
  • Credible threats and self-binding.

Materials:

October 20

Midterm exam (through 42: the Jackie Robinson Story).

October 27

Discuss Dr. Strangelove (1964).

Wizard of Oz

Screening: The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Concepts:

  • What is money?
  • The quantity theory of money.
  • Inflation, deflation, and hyperinflation.
  • The gold standard.

Materials:

November 3

Discuss The Wizard of Oz (1939).

Wonderful Life

Screening: It’s a Wonderful Life (1946).

Concepts:

  • Financial intermediation.
  • Fractional-reserve banking.
  • Trust and expectations.
  • The Great Depression.

Materials:

November 10

Discuss It’s a Wonderful Life (1946).

Other People's Money

Screening: Other People’s Money (1991).

Concepts:

  • Debt (bonds and loans) versus equity (stocks).
  • Corporate governance.
  • The market for corporate control.

Materials:

November 17

Discuss Other People’s Money (1991).

Big Short

Screening: The Big Short (2015).

Concepts:

  • Financial markets and securities.
  • Bubbles vs. market fundamentals.
  • Short selling.
  • 2008 financial crisis.

Materials:

December 1

Discuss The Big Short (2015).

Wall-E

Screening: Wall-E (2015).

Part I: The environment.

Concepts:

  • Externalities.
  • The Tragedy of the Commons.
  • Institutions and environmental protection.

Materials:

Part II: Economic growth and automation.

Concepts:

  • Economic Growth.
  • Automation and technological unemployment.

Materials:

December 8

Discuss Wall-E (2015).

Summary and overview of what we’ve learned.

Office Hours
Richard N. Langlois
 My office hours are Wednesdays 9:00 to 11:00 or by appointment. I am also around other times, and I can usually talk for a while after class.

Office hours will take place in the class’s Blackboard Collaborate room — the same place you will watch the movies. Best to email me to set up a time to talk.

Talk to me if you have any problems or questions about the class. Also feel free to talk to me about other things, including economics or academics generally.

Richard.Langlois@UConn.edu

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Statement on Absences from Class Because of Religious Observances and Extra-Curricular Activities

Faculty and instructors are strongly encouraged to make reasonable accommodations in response to student requests to complete work missed by absence resulting from religious observances or participation in extra-curricular activities that enrich their experience, support their scholarly development, and benefit the university community. Examples include participation in scholarly presentations, performing arts, and intercollegiate sports, when the participation is at the request of, or coordinated by, a University official. Such accommodations should be made in ways that do not dilute or preclude the requirements or learning outcomes for the course. Students anticipating such a conflict should inform their instructor in writing within the first three weeks of the semester, and prior to the anticipated absence, and should take the initiative to work out with the instructor a schedule for making up missed work. For conflicts with final examinations, students should contact the Office of the Dean of Students.