ECONOMICS 470
SISJE 470 Monday and Wednesday 12:30PM to 2:20PM Savery 156
My Office: Savery 334 Office Hours: Tuesday 2PM to 4PM and by Appointment Tel
543-5845 This Version 1/7/13
lakochin@u.washington.edu
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) The 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. Assignments Examinations All in Savery 131
Unscheduled Quizzes Best 3 of 5
15% of Term
Grade
Midterm I
Wednesday February 13
15% of Term Grade
Midterm II
Wednesday March 13
20% of Term
Grade
TEXTS:
Thomas Sowell Migrations and Cultures A World View Basic Books 1996
Eli Berman Radical, Religious, and Violent: The New Economics of Terrorism
2011[Paperback]
3)Dam Senor and Saul Singer Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic
Miracle [Paperback]
Readings Packet at Ram’s Copy Center 4142 University Ave. by January
TERM PAPER
Proposal A term paper proposal of 1 page with 3 references is due on
with enough copies for all in the class
Wednesday
No Grade
Extra Credit if copies of the proposal are distributed to the whole class
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.
Preliminary Term Paper Due Wed. Feb. 20
Grade
In Class
Final Term Paper Due Tuesday March 19 2:30PM
10% of Course
40% 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.
With the Exception of Items Marked * All Assigned Readings are in the Reader
Introduction Mercantile Minorities Jewish History
Monday January 7 Wednesday January 9
*Thomas Sowell Migrations and Cultures Basic Books 1996 Assigned Text
Ch. 1 “ Migration Patterns” Ch. 5 “The Oversees Chinese”
Ch. 6 “The Jews of the Diaspora”
Available online
* “ Jewish History” and “Judaism” Wikipedia
Salo Baron “The Talmudic Era” and “The Moslem Middle Ages” Part I Chapters 4&5
Economic History of the Jews edited by Nahum Gross Shocken Books 1975
J. Goldberg, S.Tapuach, J. Brandes and H Avni “Agriculture” Part II Chapter 1
Economic History of the Jews edited by Nahum Gross Shocken Books 1975
The Jewish Role in Medieval Finance and International Trade
Monday January 14 Wednesday January 16
Salo Baron “Medieval Christendom” in Economic History of the Jews edited by
Nahum Gross Shocken Books 1975
Yoram Barzel, “ Confiscation by the Ruler: The Rise and Fall of Jewish
Lending in the Economic Growth and the Jews in the Middle Ages” Journal of Law
and Economics April 1992 pp1-13”
H. Kellenbenz “Banking and Bankers” and “Court Jews“ Economic History of the
Jews edited by Nahum Gross Shocken Books 1975
H. H. Ben Sasson “Moneylending” Economic History of the Jews edited by Nahum
Gross Shocken Books 1975
Avner Grief “Reputation and Coalitions in Medieval Trade: Evidence on the
Maghribi Traders” Journal of Economic History Dec. 1989 pp.857-882
Term Paper Proposal Due Wednesday January 23
Economic Growth, Migration and the Transformation of the Jews in 1815-1914
Wednesday January 23 Monday January 28
Mankiw “Economic Growth” Ch 4 Macroeconomics 3rd Edition pp. 80-122 and pp.
77-79
Robert E. Lucas Jr. “Some Macroeconomics for the 21st Century” Journal of
Economic Perspectives Winter 2000 pp. 159-168
S. Ettinger “ The Modern Period “ in A History of the Jewish People Edited
by H.H. Ben Sasson pp. 733-740, 790-799, 853-869 Harvard Univ. Press 197
Borjas, George “Labor Mobility” Ch. 9 Labor Economics McGraw-Hill 1996
Milton Friedman “A Bias in Current Measures of Economic Growth” Journal of
Political Economy Vol. 81 No.2 Part 1 (March-April 1974) pp.431-432
Arcadius Kahan “ Economic Opportunities and Some Pilgrims Progress: Jewish
Immigrants from Eastern Europe in the United States 1890-1914” Journal of
Economic History March 1978 Reprinted in A. Kahan Essays In Jewish Social
And Economic History Univ. of Chicago Press 1986
Arthur Godley “Enterprise and Culture: Jewish Immigrants in London and New
York” JOURNAL OF ECONOMIC HISTORY June 1994 pp. 430-432
Barry Chiswick “The Economic Progress of American Jewry From 18th Century
Merchants to 21st Century Professionals” IZA Discussion Paper No.4590 November
2009
The Economic Growth of Jewish Palestine during the British Mandate in
Palestine: 1917-1948
Wednesday January 30 and Monday February 4
Moshe Syrquin “Economic Growth and Structural Change” Ch. 2 The Israeli Economy
Edited by Ben Porath
Nadav Halevi and Ruth Klinov-Malul “Development of the Jewish Economy in
Palestine: 1920-1947” Ch. 2 in The economic development of Israel [by] Nadav
Halevi and Ruth Klinov-Malul New York, Praeger [1968]
Baruch Kimmerling Ch. 2 “Capital and Immigration Zionism and Economy Shenkman
Publishing Company Cambridge 1983
Yoram Ben Porath “The Entwined Growth of Population and Product” Ch 2 in Ben
Porath ed. The Israeli Economy: Maturing through Crises Harvard Univ. Press
1986
Levis A. Kochin “ The Fall of Cow: Real (estate) Booms and Busts from
1630-1997 ” UW 2002
Jacob Metzer “Economic Structure and National Goals- The Jewish National Home
in Interwar Palestine” Journal of Economic History March 1978
Jews and Arabs 1917-1948
Monday April 23 and Wednesday February Baruch Kimmerling Ch 3 “ Jews and
Arabs: The Economic Meeting” and Zionism and Economy Shenkman Publishing
Company Cambridge 1983
Baruch Kimmerling Ch. 4 “Economic Warfare” Zionism and Economy Shenkman
Publishing Company Cambridge 1983
Jacob Metzer and Oded Kaplan “Jointly but Severally: Arab-Jewish Dualism and
Economic Growth in Mandatory Palestine” The Journal of Economic History June
1985
Economic Growth and Immigration in Israel
Wednesday February 6 Monday February 11
Rachel M. Friedberg “ You Can’t Take It with You? Immigrant Assimilation and
the Portability of Human Capital ” Journal of Labor Economics 18(2) April 2000
pp.221-251
Rachel M. Friedberg “The Impact of Mass Immigration on the Israeli Labor
Market” The Quarterly Journal of Economics CXV (4) November 2001 pp.
1373-1408
Preliminary Term Paper Due Wednesday February 20 at the beginning of class
Marked Proposal MUST be Resubmitted with Preliminary Term Paper
Midterm Wednesday February 13
Jews and Arabs 1948-2010
Wednesday February 13 Monday February 18
E. Berglas “Defense and the Economy” Ch 8. The Israeli Economy, 1985-1998:
From Government Intervention to Market Economics Edited by Ben Porath
Razin and Sadka Ch. 5 ”The Economies of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip”
Razin and Sadka ed. The Economy of Modern Israel University of Chicago Press
1992
Presidents Day Monday February 18
Inflation and Deficit in Israel
Wednesday February 20 Monday February 25
Nadav Halevy “ Perspectives on the Balance of Payments” The Israeli Economy
Edited by Ben Porath
Milton Friedman “Chile and Israel: Identical Policies Opposite Outcomes”
Money Mischief Ch. 9 Harcourt Brace 1992
Stanley Fischer and David W.H. Orsmond “Israeli Inflation from an
International Perspective” Ch. 5 in Avi Ben-Bassat ed. The Israeli Economy
1985-1998: From Government Intervention to Market Economics MIT Press Cambridge
MA. 2002
Jewish Trades Ancient and Modern
Wednesday February 27 Monday March 4
G. Yogev “Diamond Trade and Industry” and H. Wasserman “Tailoring”
“Department Stores” Moshe Justman “Structural Change and the Emerges of
Israel’s High-Tech Sector” Avi Ben-Bassat ed. The Israeli Economy 1985-1998:
From Government Intervention to Market Economics MIT Press Cambridge MA. 2002
Barry Chiswick “The Rise and Fall of the American Jewish Ph.D.”IZA Discussion
Paper 3384 March 2008 Abstract
Barry Chiswick ‘The Earnings of American Jewish Men: Human Capital,
Denomination and Religiosity” IZA Discussion Paper 2301 September 2006 Abstract
The Economics of Education, Language, Literature and Religion
Wednesday March 6 Monday March 11
Edward P. Lazear “Culture and Language” Journal of Political Economy Dec. 1999
pp. S95-S126
Eli Berman “ Sect, Subsidy and Sacrifice: An Economist’s vies of Ultra
Orthodox Jews” Quarterly Journal of Economics August 2000
Dennis W. Carlton and Avi Weiss “ The Economics of Religion, Jewish Survival
and Jewish Attitudes toward Competition in Torah Education” The Journal of
Legal Studies
Jan. 2001
Lawrence R. Iannacone “Introduction to the Economics of Religion” Journal of
Economic Literature September 1998
MIDTERM II Wednesday March 13
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Final Term Paper Due Monday March 18 5PM
Suggested Term Paper Topics
Many others are possible
1) The settlement of the Israelites in Canaan and Wittfogel’s Hydraulic
Hypothesis 2) Were the Ancient Israelites Merchants? 3)
The Economic
Place of Jews in the Roman Empire
4) The Pharisees in the Class Structure of Judah 5)
The Economic
Place of Jews in Babylonia
6) The Jewish Economy in Western Europe before 1000
7) Jewish Lending and European Jewish Genes
8) The Economic Place of Jews in Spain 1000-1492
9)
Jewish Fiscal Communal Governance in Babylonia, or Islam or Medieval
Europe 10) The Growth of the Polish Jewish Community 1000-1648
11) Jewish Law and Jewish Commerce in Medieval Europe 12) The Economics
of the Expulsion of Jews from England or France or Spain 13) The
Resettlement of Jews in England 14)
The Economic Place of Jews in the
Middle Ages in Central Europe
15) The Maghribi Traders 16)
Jews and Christians as Mercantile
Minorities in Medieval Islam
17) The Economic Place of Jews in 17th Century Holland
18) Welfare dependence among Jews in 17th and 18th Century Holland 19)
The economics of Jewish settlement in the British Colonies 20) Jews as
competitive Mercantile Minorities in the Turkish Empire 1492 to 1914
21) The Demographic Revolution among the Jews and or Arabs 1800-2008
22) Armenians as a Minority in the Turkish Empire 1492 to `1914
23) Greeks as a Mercantile Minority in the Turkish Empire 1492 to 1914 24)
The Jews and the Department Store in the US in Germany or the UK 25) The
Jews and the Garment Industry in the US and or Australia or the UK
26) Jewish Physicians in the Middle Ages
27) Jewish Junk Dealers 28)
The Jews and the Movies in the US and
or Germany
29) T he growth and decline of Jewish Prominence in Natural Science or
Economics or in any other academic area in Germany or the US or the USSR or
the US 30) Jews in Professions in Germany or UK or Hungary or US or UK
or Canada or Imperial Russia or the USSR
31) Quotas on Jewish University Students in Imperial Russia, USSR, Poland
and the US 32) Zionist Finance 1880-1914
33) The Economics of the Revival of Hebrew 34) Zionist Finance
1920-1948
35) The Priority of Agriculture in Zionist Economic Planning 36) The
Economic Role of the Hebrew Labor Federation in Mandatory Palestine 37) The
Kibbutz as a Zionist Instrument 38) Parallels between 19th Century Utah and
Mandatory Palestine
39) The Import Surplus and the Balance of Payments of Mandatory Palestine
40) Arab Immigration to Mandatory Palestine
41) The Growth of Jewish Incomes 1880 to 1971 in the US and or Canada 42)
The Role of the Yishuv (The Jewish Community of Palestine in the Allied War
Effort in WWII
37)The Economics of Mass Murder
38) Anti Jewish Discrimination in the 1930s in Germany or Poland, or Hungary,
or Romania or the US or Canada
43) The Jewish Boycott of Nazi Germany
44) Jews and or Chinese in South Africa 1900-2000
45) The Rise and Fall of the Yiddish Press in the US 41) Jewish Charity in
the US
42) The Economics of Jewish Worship
43) The Economics of the Rabbinate
44) Who is better paid Rabbis or Protestant Ministers? Why?
45) Chinese or Japanese or Vietnamese or Korean or Greek or Irish or German
or Armenian Americans and American Jews Similarities and differences
By Education, Income, Family Composition and Entepreneurship
46) The role of market forces in lessening the impact of discrimination
47) The clash of Jews and Arabs in Mandatory Palestine
48) Immigration, Instability and Growth in Mandatory Palestine or Israel
or the US Frontier or Seattle (1880-1914) , or Spain since 1990 or Canada
(1880-1914)
49) Christian, Jewish and Moslem acquisition of modern skills in the Middle
East 1800-2000
50) The Economic Impact of the Immigration of German Jews on Mandatory
Palestine
51) The Economic Impact of former Soviet Jews on Israel 1980-2000
52) The Burden of Defense on the Israeli Economy
53) American Aid to Israel
54) The Economics of Water in Israel and its Neighbors
55) Why did Israel grow rapidly 1948-1970
56) Inflation in Israel 1948 to 1967 or 1967 to 1986 or 1986 to 2008
57) The Israeli Recession of 1965-1967
58) Globalization in Israel
59) Economic Inequality in Israel
60) Ricardian Fiscal Neutrality in Israel
61) Jews in the wholesale Diamond Trade in Holland or Belgium or the US
or Israel
62) Jewish Jewelers
63) Dentistry Surgery and the Jews in the US
62) Why were there so few Jewish car dealers and so many Jewish
Haberdashers?
63) The Economics of Teaching Torah
64) Israel in the Great Recession
65) Evangelical Preachers, Imams and Rebbes: Entrepreneurship and
Inheritance
66) The Economics of Martyrdom
67) The role of Religion in Economic Growth in 19th Century Germany or
the US, or Israel or Japan
68) Discrimination against Jews in America (College Admission or Employment
or…)
69) Jews in (one of) Academia, A Science, Medicine, Dentistry, Literature,
Politics, Law or Economics
70) A Jewish Economist choose either David Ricardo,Karl Marx, Jacob Viner,
Don Patinkin, Eli Heckscher, Aaron Director or any Jewish winner of the Nobel
Prize for Economics
71) A Jewish Economist David Ricardo, Eli Hekscher, Jacob Viner, Don
Patinkin, Ben Shalom Bernanke, Simon Kuznetz, Milton Friedman, Kenneth Arrow
Gary Becker or any Jewish winner of the Nobel Prize in Economics.
72) American Immigration restrictions in the 20th Century and their effect on the growth of
the Jewish settlement in the Land of Israel