Time Schedule:
Levis A Kochin
ECON 406
Seattle Campus
Provides the undergraduate student an opportunity to apply the tools of economic analysis in a critical examination of theoretical and empirical work. A list of topics is available in the departmental office. Prerequisite: ECON 200.
Class description
The history of the Jews can be traced back almost 4000 years and like all histories it has an economic dimension. . For over 1800 years until 1948 Jews were a minority in every country in which they lived. Our topics over the term. 1) The transformation of the Jews from an agricultural people into a mercantile minority in the first millennium. 2) Economic growth from 1815 to 1914 raised Jewish numbers and per capita incomes in Europe more than those of any other substantial European group. At the same time both numbers and per capita incomes were largely stagnant in the Middle East. 3) Jewish migration from East to West from Europe to the US and from rural areas to cities was one of the chief ways in which Jewish incomes rose between 1840 and 1914. 4) Jews and finance from the Middle Ages to the present day. 5) The economic causes and consequences of Zionism- the movement for a Jewish country which beginning as a large scale movement about 1880 created the State of Israel in 70 years. 6) T he conflict between Israel and its Arab neighbors which has helped make Israel a center of the high tech. 7) The interactions of the economics of education of language and of religion. Israel is the only country in the world which was recreated. Israel as a Jewish State is a product of a political movement-Zionism. The great majority of the Jewish adult population of Israel are themselves immigrants or are the children of immigrants. But most Jews are as genetic testing has revealed descendants of the ancient inhabitants of Israel. The distinctive economic institutions of Israel from agricultural collectives to the large role played by unions as founders and operators of industry until recently bore the strong impression of the ideas and methods of Zionism. Hebrew was the principal written language of the Jews through most of history but was not read or spoken by any considerable number of women from 300 to 1900 and so was during that time no ones mother tongue. Now it is the principal language of most Israelis. About half the course is devoted to the economic history of the Jews outside of the Land of Israel. Jews were for a thousand years a “mercantile minority” The Jews like the Chinese of Southeast Asia succeeded economically to an extent that aroused hostility and persecution. Violent examples of persecution against members of mercantile minorities can be found in many places. This year murderous riots have been directed against the Kikuyu in Kenya and the Chinese in Tibet. After a period of reduced tension in the middle 19th Century Anti- Jewish hostility intensified from 1880 until in the 1940s one third of the Jewish people were murdered. The threat to life was one of the chief forces impelling Jews to migrate to Israel from Europe and from Moslem countries.
Student learning goals
General method of instruction
Recommended preparation
Class assignments and grading
Unscheduled Quizzes Best 4of 5 10% of Term Grade Final Thursday June 10, 2010 40% of Term Grade TEXT: Readings Packet at Ram’s Copy Center 4142 University Ave.
Proposal A term paper proposal of 1 page with 3 references is due on with enough copies for all in the class Monday April 12 No Grade Extra Credit if 40 copies of the proposal are distributed to the class
A preliminary Term Paper of at least five pages with at least five references one chart or graph is due The marked proposal MUST be resubmitted with the preliminary term paper. Wednesday May 12 10% of Course Grade A Final Term Paper of at least 12 pages of text and at least two charts or graphs is due \ The marked preliminary term paper MUST be resubmitted with the final term paper.
Friday June 11 at Noon 40% of Course Grade NO CLASS Wednesday March 31 Monday April 5 Wednesday May 19 and Monday May 31 With the Exception of Items Marked * All Assigned Readings are in the Reader Introduction Monday March 29 Handed Out in Class *Thomas Sowell “ The Jews” Ch. 6 in Migrations and Cultures Basic Books 1996 *“Timeline” by Sheindlin Available online * “ Jewish History” and “Judaism” Wikipedia
NO CLASS Wednesday March 31
