Institutions of Modern Capitalism
This MIT OpenCourseWare course examines how the institutions underpinning modern capitalism, markets, firms, property rights, and regulatory regimes, took shape and changed over time. It takes an interdisciplinary political economy approach, drawing on economics, sociology, political science, history, geography, science and technology studies, and law to build analytic tools for assessing these institutions. Materials include the full syllabus, weekly readings, and assignments as published by MIT, letting a self-directed learner follow the same structure used in the classroom version of the course. There is no instructor interaction or certificate, but all course materials are freely downloadable under MIT's open license. The course suits learners interested in why capitalist economies are organized the way they are, and how legal, social, and political structures interact to produce different national varieties of capitalism.