Portuguese Economics

Objectives

The course treats the history of economics in Portugal from a long-range perspective, namely in terms of issues related to economic growth in contemporary Portugal. The course presents the history of Portugal from the Age of Discoveries to the present through the economic analysis of various thinker who reflected upon the causes of decadence in Portugal and the remedies necessary to save the country, thinkers who detected, from a long-term perspective, a dialectic between a policy of fixation and a policy of mobility, as well as an oscillation between a policy of European integration and a policy of Atlantic dimensions. After reviewing the History of Portugal, the course expands the students’ knowledge about the society and the economic situation of the country from the post World War II period to the present.

Program

1. Work and living conditions in Portugal (1850-1913)
2. Socioeconomic development during the First Republic (1910-26)
3. Period of Isolationism in the Portuguese economy (1926-60)
4. Opening Period of the Portuguese economy (1960-74)
5. Period of ruptures (1974-77)
6. The consolidation of openness (from pro-integration in the EEC to the present day)
7. The sovereign debt crisis and the recessive adjustment of the Portuguese economy imposed by the Troika (2011-2013)

Teaching Methodologies

The classes will be thematic, based on the bibliography proposed by the professor, with the presentation and discussion of the themes being carried out by the students. The tasks carried out by students, in groups and individually, occur within the scope of a calendar defined at the beginning of the semester.

Bibliography

Lains, P. (1986). Exportações portuguesas, 1850-1913: a tese da dependência revisitada. Análise Social, 22 (91), 381-419.

Mateus, A. (2013). Economia Portuguesa – Evolução no contexto internacional (1910-2013) (4.ª Edição). Princípia Editora.

Reis, J. (2018). A Economia Portuguesa: Formas de Economia Política Numa Perspetiva Persistente (1960-2017). Edições Almedina.

Reis, J., Rodrigues, J., Santos, A. & Teles, N. (2013). Compreender a Crise: A economia portuguesa num quadro europeu. Anatomia da crise: identificar os problemas para construir as alternativas. Centro de Estudos Socias, 13-67.

Reis, J. (1987). A industrialização num país de desenvolvimento lento e tardio: Portugal, 1870-1913. Análise Social, 23 (96), 207-227.

Reis, J. (1984). O atraso económico português em perspetiva histórica (1860-1913). Análise Social, 20 (80), 7-28.