DESCRIPTION: Why do governments adopt the economic policies they do? This course serves as an introduction to the subfield of international political economy (IPE). We will study how politics and economics interact in an increasingly globalized world and identify the causes and consequences of evolving economic relations. More specifically, this course examines economic relations in trade, investment, finance and development. We will utilize theoretical insights from both economics and political science to develop a way of thinking critically about how international economic interactions affect the incentives faced by political actors and how it explains the behavior of voters, interest groups, politicians, firms, institutions and countries. 

COURSE LEARNING OBJECTIVES: By the end of the course students should be able to: 

• Use economic and political theories to identify the distributional consequences of economic policy and predict the winners and losers 
• Evaluate how political institutions aggregate interests and determine policy 
• Synthesize competing explanations and develop unique arguments for the success or failure of global economic infrastructure

Download the full syllabus here. 

MEMO ASSIGNMENTS

• Memo #1: Should the US leave NAFTA? 
• Memo #2: Should Greece leave the Eurozone? 
• Policy Memo Rubric

SLIDES

• 1- Why trade?
• 2- Who has influence? 
• 3- Can we govern international trade? 
• 4- Why do multinational corporations exist? 
• 5- Why are MNCs political? 
• 6- Why do exchange rates matter? 
• 7- Why does the balance of payments matter?
• 8- What is the role of the IMF in financial crises? 
• 9- Does globalization lead to inequality? 
• 10- Does foreign aid help?