Socio-Economic Development

This subject is not offered in 2014.

120 hours

Admission to 097-AB Master of Development Studies or MC-IR Master of International Relations

For the purposes of considering request for Reasonable Adjustments under the disability Standards for Education (Cwth 2005), and Students Experiencing Academic Disadvantage Policy, academic requirements for this subject are articulated in the Subject Description, Subject Objectives, Generic Skills and Assessment Requirements of this entry.The University is dedicated to provide support to those with special requirements. Further details on the disability support scheme can be found at the Disability Liaison Unit website: http://www.services.unimelb.edu.au/disability/

This subject will analyse and evaluate the economic, financial and social strategies advocated during the last three decades by organisations such as the multilateral institutions. The topics to be covered include: the goals of socio-economic policy; neo-liberal strategies and the eclectic and pragmatic alternatives which are being tried; macroeconomic policies and their coordination; revenue policies and minimisation of tax evasion; external finance for development including official development assistance; sectoral issues – agriculture, mining, manufacturing and services; whether free trade is best for all; globalisation and democracy; equity, poverty reduction and social protection; conflict resolution and demilitarisation; and global economic governance. There will be rigorous evaluation of the orientation, extent of implementation, results and lessons learned from experience during the last three decades. The evolution of policies and proposals for innovation will be extensively discussed.

Upon successful completion of this subject, students will be expected to:

• Have strengthened their understanding of the choices involved in setting goals for development policy and their sense of priorities for national strategy formation;
• Have gained a thorough knowledge of the underlying assumptions, intellectual strengths and critiques of neo-classical economics;
• Have grown in understanding of the diversity of experience of developing countries through comparative case studies;
• Have increased their capacity to discern the political and economic forces driving various approaches to development strategy and of the means through which they work;
• Strengthened their analytical capacity to understand complex issues of national development strategy and to formulate more cost-effective steps towards equitable economic and social development; and
• Be able to write persuasively about conceptual and normative aspects of national and international political, economic, financial and social issues.

1. A 1000 word essay (20%) Due in the 4th week of semester;

2. A 2000 word essay (40%) Due at the end of the semester;

3. A 2000 word final essay (40%) Due during the examination period.

With permission, students will have the option of completing a 4000 word essay as their final piece of assessment in lieu of the 2 x 2000 word essays (80%) Due during the examination period.

Hurdle Requirement: Students are required to attend a minimum of 75% of classes in order to qualify to have their written work assessed. Regular participation in class is required.

Assessment submitted late without an approved extension will be penalised at 10% per working day. In-class tasks missed without approval will not be marked. All pieces of written work must be submitted to pass this subject.

Anthony Clunies-Ross, David Forsyth and Mozammel Huq, 2009, Development Economics, McGraw-Hill, Maidenhead, Berkshire

John Ravenhill, 2011, Global Political Economy, Third Edition, Oxford, OUP

Dani Rodrik, 2011, The Globalization Paradox: Democracy and the Future of the World Economy, W. W. Norton, New York

Joseph E. Stiglitz, 2007, Making Globalization Work, New York, W. W. Norton

This subject is not available as a breadth subject.

Students will be expected to grow in capacity for effective participation in class discussion, in small group work and in essay writing through:

• Undertaking an adequate amount of reading and research about the prescribed topics using appropriate material;
• Speaking and writing lucidly, relevantly and coherently, using appropriate material;
• Demonstrating comprehension of the material read and studied for class, and during preparation for essays;
• Showing evidence of imaginative, creative and principled thought;
• Identifying the main issues involved in a subject and to explain them comprehensively and effectively;
• Writing a succinct and clear introduction to an essay and developing the argument in a rigorous, logical and well organised manner;
• Completing essays with a justified and well expressed conclusion;
• Writing lucidly, with accurate spelling and grammar.