IEF 339 - Economies of Islamic Countries

The class will focus on the economies of leading Muslim countries in the field of Islamic economics. Those same economies, such as Malaysia, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, and Turkey, are also leading in economics generally, which makes them benchmarks for other Muslim countries. We will start our class with a review of the state of the economy during the early Islamic state; that will be a benchmark for part of our analysis. The second benchmark is contemporary. Economies of Muslim countries will be analyzed based on progress and innovation in sectors that contribute to their development, and based on factors driving growth in the Islamic finance industry. Sectors such as Halal Food, Islamic Finance, and Fashion – Factors such as Quantitative development, Governance, Awareness, and CSR. Ultimately, the class discussion aims to focus on the way forward for countries behind, or countries that seek to perform better.     

Week 1:

• Introduction to class
• Students invited to select a country to represent and report on

Week 2:

• Chapter 4: “The Public Treasury (Baitul Mal) and the  Governing System”
  • “The Economic System of the early Islamic Period: Institutions and policies” (Hossein Askari, Dariush Zahedi)
• Final Student country selection

Week 3:

• Chapter 5: “Fiscal Policies in Early Islam”
  • “The Economic System of the early Islamic Period: Institutions and policies” (Hossein Askari, Dariush Zahedi)
• Chapter 7: “The Markets in the Early Islamic Era”
  • “The Economic System of the early Islamic Period: Institutions and policies” (Hossein Askari, Dariush Zahedi)

Week 4:

• CHAPTER 6: Financial and capital market policies
  • “Challenges in Economic and Financial Policy Formulation - An Islamic Perspective” Hossein Askari, Zamir Iqbal, and Abbas Mirakhor

Week 5:

• CHAPTER 7: Fiscal and Monetary Policy in Islam
  • “Challenges in Economic and Financial Policy Formulation - An Islamic Perspective” Hossein Askari, Zamir Iqbal, and Abbas Mirakhor
• Role of the central bank in Islam

Week 6:

• CHAPTER 8: Developing Social Capital*
  • “Challenges in Economic and Financial Policy Formulation - An Islamic Perspective” Hossein Askari, Zamir Iqbal, and Abbas Mirakhor

Week 7:

• CHAPTER 9: Financial Inclusion: Implications for Public Policy
  • “Challenges in Economic and Financial Policy Formulation - An Islamic Perspective” Hossein Askari, Zamir Iqbal, and Abbas Mirakhor

Week 8:

• Midterm Exam

Week 9: 

• State of the Global Islamic Economics and Finance
  • State of the Global Islamic Economy Report 2020/21 “Thriving in Uncertainty”
  • ICD-REFINITIV Islamic Finance Development Report 2020 “Progressing Through Adversity:”
  • Student country selection for report writing.
• Foundations of an Economy (overview) (topics to consider in student reports)
  • The institution of the household
  • The private sector
  • The public sector
  • Central bank & Financial institutions
  • Markets – money, stock, sukuk, capital markets

Week 10:

• The Case of Malaysia (As Benchmark)
  • Introduction and overview of national economic structure
  • The detailed legal structure
  • How expansion in Islamic economics and finance happened in the country

Week 11:

• CHAPTER 10: Environmental and Natural Resource Policies
  • “Challenges in Economic and Financial Policy Formulation - An Islamic Perspective” Hossein Askari, Zamir Iqbal, and Abbas Mirakhor
• Discussion on selected economies (Gulf Countries- Others)
  • The way forward for leading Islamic economies
  • Mechanisms for increasing competitiveness

Week 12:

• CHAPTER 11: Benchmarking Islamic Finance–Enabling Policies
  • “Challenges in Economic and Financial Policy Formulation - An Islamic Perspective” Hossein Askari, Zamir Iqbal, and Abbas Mirakhor
• Discussion on selected economies (Turkey- Others)
  • The way forward for economies planning for expansion

Week 13:

• CHAPTER 12: Policy Challenges: Building Institutions
  • “Challenges in Economic and Financial Policy Formulation - An Islamic Perspective” Hossein Askari, Zamir Iqbal, and Abbas Mirakhor
• Student final presentation

Week 14:

• Final presentations
• Final Exam general review

Week 15:

• Final exam