Wednesday, January 28, 2026 at 11:50 AM until Tuesday, May 19, 2026 at 1:10 PMEastern Standard Time UTC -05:00
Bard College
Politics and economics are closely related. In order to understand political processes, it is useful to know the laws of the economy. In this course, we will examine the economic foundations of authoritarian regimes. We will learn about economic growth, inequality, labor and capital, international trade, class coalitions, migration, skills and innovation, economic voting and collective action, welfare state, central banking, international organizations, and other topics of concern to economists. We will look at authoritarian regimes from the angle of these topics to explain the resilience of autocracies and their policy choices. By completing this course, students will be able to analyze the economic background of political processes in autocracies.
