This is a non-Booth course offered under the ECON 28620 course number. To register, Booth and non-Booth students will request interest by completing a poll which will open on November 11 at 5:00 pm. Enrollments for all students will be processed in timestamp order. Students will be emailed in Mid-December if they are enrolled into or waitlisted for the course. The poll will remain open through week 1, and will therefore act as the waitlist for the course. The deadline for enrollment processing will be the end of week 1 of winter quarter.
The economic system prevailing in most of the world today differs greatly from the idealist version of free markets generally taught in economic classes. This course analyzes the role played by corporate governance, wealth inequality, regulation, the media, and the political process in general in producing these deviations. It will explain why crony capitalism prevails in most of the world and why it is becoming more entrenched also in the United States of America. The course, which requires only basic knowledge of economics, welcomes undergraduates.