Economic Development of China, India and/or Asia
                          Summer 2005
Economics 3355,  Section   - various        Thomas R. DeGregori
Economics 6397, Section    - various            Office: 209 M
4 to 6 PM MTWTh                                                   
Office: 209D M
Email: trdegreg@uh.edu

One has the option of registering for it in any of the summer sessions since it is entirely a independent study course. The course will meet on the first day indicated in the schedule for the class assignments.

THERE WILL BE NO EXAMS OR QUIZZES.

It is also available as a graduate course, Economics 6397.

Those who wish to sign up for the China Study Abroad Program (see Dr. Yali Zou, FH 450, ext 34982. For more details and application forms, click-on or go to - http://www.uh.edu/aasc  and http://www.uh.edu/aasc/studyabroad.htm. ). The India Study Abroad Program will not be available in 2005. It will take place every other year starting summer 2006 (see Dr. Saleha Khumawala, MH 360A, ext 3-4829).

Required reading for all students (all the books are paperbacks except one):

Rhodes Murphy, A History of Asia, Addison, Wesley, Longman paperback.
Thomas R. DeGregori, Bountiful Harvest, Cato Institute paperback.
Thomas R. DeGregori  Origins of the Organic Agriculture Debate, Blackwell Professional.
D. Bigman, ed. Globalization and the Developing Countries, Oxford University Press paperback

All students must select a course focus and do the reading for it. These books will be listed in the Bookstore as recommended to avoid the likely confusion of students thinking that they are required to buy all of them.

1) China - Patricia Buckley Ebrey, The Cambridge Illustrated History of China, Cambridge University Press.
Ross Garnaut & Yiping Huang, eds. Growth Without Miracles: Readings on The Chinese Economy in the Era of Reform, Oxford University Press.

2) India - Stanley Wolpert, A New History of India, Oxford University.
Meera Nanda, Prophets Facing Backward, Rutgers University Press.
 
Recommended Reading or Substitutes for other Readings with prior permission of instructor or Dr. Zou or Dr. Khumawala. For those going to China or India, it is strongly recommended that you make use of these books on your trip, possibly joining with others to buy them. For long plane trips, reading can be useful.

Assignment:

You are to write four short papers of  (very) roughly 8 to 10 pages each. You have considerable latitude as to the length of each paper as long as the total for all four is about 30 to 40 pages. However, you may combine papers and topics into larger papers or paper as long as each topic is adequately covered.

The following topics are required:
1) Asian history and culture as basis for understanding Asian economies today (paper may be solely on India or China). Or Asian Culture, Geography & Politics to understand Asia economies today (paper may be solely on India or China).
2) Global Agriculture including Asia

Other suggested topics are:
1) What is economic development?
2) Asian (or China or India) Economic Development since 1950.
3) Asian (or China or India) Economic Development since 1979.
4) Poverty and inequality in Asia and what can be done about it.
5) Major issues in Asian Development: IMF, Debt etc.
6) The Asian Development model: What is it and what is its future?
7) Economic Development of China
8) Economic Development of India
9) What role do women play in economic development?


In each of the above suggested topics, you may substitute East Asia or China for Asia. In other words, you may take this as an Asian Economics Course, an East Asian Economics Course or a China or India Economics Course or Economic Geography. All study abroad students will do at least 2 of their papers on China or India.

ALL PAPERS HAVE TO INCLUDE SUBSTANTIAL CITED MATERIAL FROM THE ASSIGNED READINGS AND A SOURCE MUST BE IDENTIFIED FOR ALL MATERIAL PRESENTED. YOU MAY USE OTHER RESEARCH MATERIAL AS WELL. THINK OF YOUR PAPERS AS A KIND OF FINAL EXAM FOR THE COURSE. IF YOU TOOK A FINAL  IN ANOTHER COURSE AND MISSED HALF OR MORE OF THE QUESTIONS BECAUSE YOU READ OTHER THAN THE ASSIGNED SOURCES, I DOUBT THAT YOU WOULD GET MUCH SYMPATHY. SELECT TOPICS THAT ALLOW YOU TO USE THE ASSIGNED SOURCES AND IF ONE OF YOUR TOPICS IS NOT ON THE LIST, SEND ME AN EMAIL REQUESTING PREMISSION TO WRITE ON IT.

MY HOME PAGE ( http://www.uh.edu/~trdegreg). PLEASE GIVE AS COMPLETE A CITATION AS POSSIBLE INCLUDING THE URL. - SEE POSTED SUPPLEMENTARY INSTRUCTIONS FOR MORE DETAILS.

I am enforcing these rules more firmly than in previous offerings. It is strongly recommended that you make extensive use of the assigned material throughout each paper. I have returned papers or given Cs & Ds because they did not follow the basic requirements and will do so whenever necessary.