Boston University

 

International Political Economy

 

CAS IR 390/PO 355

Fall 2008

MWF 10-11:00 a.m.

KCB 106

Strom Thacker	Office: 152 Bay State Road, No. 446
Email: sthacker@bu.edu	Telephone: 617.353.7160
Course web site: http://www.bu.edu/sthacker	Office hours: Tues., 9:00a.m.-12:00p.m.; & by appt.

Objectives:

            This course introduces students to the study of international political economy (IPE). It addresses the reciprocal, interactive relationship between politics and economics in the historical and contemporary international system by exploring the effect of political factors on international economic relations as well as the impact of economic factors on domestic and international politics. The course first introduces the general historical and theoretical frameworks that guide the study of IPE. It then applies these frameworks to the relations between the principal state and non-state actors in a variety of issues in IPE, including international trade, foreign investment flows, international monetary relations, economic development, currency crises, and global environmental affairs. The course concludes with a consideration of the challenges that globalization presents to the political management of national and international markets.

 

Prerequisites:

            EC 101 and EC 102 or their equivalents are prerequisites for this course. Students requesting an exception should see the instructor upon entering the class.

 

Requirements:

            Grades will be based on 1) a series of unannounced (or “pop”) quizzes on the day’s assigned readings, 2) a 3-4 page paper, and 3) a final exam. You will not do well in this class if you do not attend class and do the reading. You will be allowed to drop one (1) quiz score. The final exam will cover readings, lectures, class discussions, films and all other course requirements. Instructions for the paper will be handed out the first week of class, or can be found at http://www.bu.edu/sthacker/390paper.htm.

 

Academic integrity

All work for this class is expected to be individual, i.e., not the result of collaboration or a group project. You are not required to use outside sources for the paper, but any outside sources used must be cited properly. It is imperative that students understand and follow the guidelines of proper source citation. For guidance, see the guideline for source citation on page three of this syllabus or at http://www.bu.edu/sthacker/source.htm, and the CAS Academic Conduct Code (available at CAS or at http://www.bu.edu/cas/academics/programs/conductcode.html). Cases of academic misconduct will be referred to the Dean’s office.

Grading:

•     40%        Reading quizzes (unannounced—approximately 10-15 total quizzes)

•     20%        Paper, due at the beginning of class on the assigned date

•     40%        Final exam: Friday, December 19, 3:00-5:00 p.m.

•     Borderline grades will be rounded up or down according to the level and quality of the student’s class participation.

Grades are calculated on a 100-point scale, converted to letter grades as follows:

 

93-100          A	90-92            A-	87-89            B+	83-86            B	80-82            B-
77-79            C+	73-76            C	70-72            C-	60-69            D	Below 60      F

 

Absences and late work:

            Students are expected to attend all class sessions and to take all quizzes and the exam at their scheduled times. No make-ups will be given without documentation excusing an absence for medical, religious or personal reasons, or for official university business. Students must notify the instructor as soon as possible (preferably in advance) of the reason for the absence. Late papers will be penalized five (5) points for the first day late, and three (3) points each day thereafter.

 

Important Dates

• October 6:          Last day to drop without a ‘W’
• November 10:     Last day to drop with a ‘W’
• December 19:     Final exam, 3-5:00 p.m.

 

Readings:

            Students are required to complete all reading assignments before class. Quizzes and frequent class discussions will require a thorough understanding of the readings.

 

            The following required texts are available for purchase at the Boston University Bookstore and on reserve at Pardee Library, School of Management, 595 Commonwealth Avenue (call numbers in parentheses):

 

•     Gilpin, Robert. 2001. Global Political Economy: Understanding the International Economic Order. Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 978-0691086774. (HF1359 .G5516 2001)

•     Oatley, Thomas. 2008. International Political Economy: Interests and Institutions in the Global Economy, Third Edition. New York: Pearson Longman. ISBN 978-0205559916. (SMG1 IR390/PO355 PC1 OS)

•     Oatley, Thomas, ed. 2005. The Global Economy: Contemporary Debates. New York: Pearson Longman. ISBN 978-0321243775. (HF1359 .G573 2005) Referred to below as “Reader.”

 

            The following text is recommended (not required) and available at the same locations as above. The required selections from this text will be available via courseinfo (see below):

 

•     Frieden, Jeffry and David Lake, eds. 2000. International Political Economy: Perspectives on Global Power and Wealth, Fourth Edition. New York: St. Martin’s Press. ISBN 978-0312189693. (HF1411 .I51757 2000)

*Other readings are available on-line via http://courseinfo.bu.edu/courses/08fallcasir390_a1/ (click Course Documents, then Course Packet) and marked by an asterisk (*).

Periodicals:

            In order to stimulate lively and timely class discussions, students are required to read the section dealing with issues of international economics of one of the following publications on a regular basis (i.e., daily for newspapers, weekly for magazines):

 

New York Times	Christian Science Monitor
Wall Street Journal	The Economist
Financial Times (London)

 

            Discounted subscriptions to The Economist are available at https://www.economistacademic.com/subscribe_single.cfm?facid=1304.

USE OF SOURCE MATERIALS*

 

Correct use and acknowledgment of source materials is vital to any research project. Only through accurate documentation can the reader distinguish the writer’s original contribution from those of others. This allows the reader (1) to consult the source of a fact or opinion if he or she so desires and (2) to assign credit or blame judiciously — to the writer or to the writer’s sources. Moreover, failure to acknowledge source material properly constitutes plagiarism and is subject to the appropriate penalties.

 

The basic rule is this: If you use material drawn from something beside your own first-hand experience, and the material is not “common knowledge,” that is, something that “everybody knows,” give credit to your source.

 

If you quote directly, even a word or phrase, use quotation marks and footnote.**

 

If you paraphrase (i.e., take the ideas and put them into your own words), footnote.

 

If you organize material in the unique manner of someone else, give that person credit in the text and, usually, in a footnote as well.

 

A good rule of thumb is to ask yourself: “Could a reader who consulted the works listed in my bibliography recognize in my paper sentences, phrases, and even striking words; patterns of organization; interpretations or attitudes or points of view or whole ideas or facts, as deriving from any one of these sources?” If the reader could, you must footnote those passages. Any clear parallels between your paper and any of its sources that a reader would discover from consulting these sources, you should already have told him or her through footnotes or informal acknowledgments.

 

If you borrow everything in your paper, footnote everything in your paper!

 

Once your paper is turned in, the reader has the right to assume that whatever appears in the paper, unless otherwise indicated, is your own work or is “common knowledge.”

 

It should be noted that a paper that is merely a patchwork of other people’s words and ideas is a poor paper. Because of the particular slant on the topic you have been asked to consider; because of the particular combination of sources you have consulted; because of the independence of your own creative mind, your paper should be organically different from any of the various sources that have contributed to it.

 

COURSE OUTLINE

ANALYTICAL FRAMEWORKS

Sep. 3: Introduction to the course

Sep. 5: What is international political economy?

•Gilpin, Preface, Chapters 1, 2

•Oatley, Preface and pp. 1-7

Sep. 8: Neoclassical approaches

•Gilpin, Chapters 3

•Oatley, pp. 7-12

Sep. 10: New approaches

•Gilpin, Chapters 5, 6

Sep. 12: IPE theories and the Liberal International Economic Order (LIEO)

•*Frieden & Lake, Introduction

•Gilpin, Chapters 4

•Oatley, pp. 12-21

•Reader, Preface and Introduction

Sep. 15: National systems

•Gilpin, Chapter 7

INTERNATIONAL TRADE RELATIONS

Sep. 17: Trade simulation

Sep. 19: The GATT and WTO trading system

•Oatley, pp. 22-34

•Gilpin, pp. 217-21

•Reader, Chapter 4

•* “The Doha Round…and Round…and Round.” The Economist 31 July 2008. http://www.economist.com/finance/PrinterFriendly.cfm?story_id=11848592.

•*Bergsten, C. Fred. “China and the Collapse of Doha.” Foreign Affairs. (Author update from foreignaffairs.org, August 27, 2008). http://www.foreignaffairs.org/20080827faupdate87576/c-fred-bergsten/china-and-the-collapse-of-doha.html.

Sep. 22: Challenges to the GATT and WTO

•Oatley, pp. 34-46

•Gilpin, pp. 221-33

•Reader, Chapter 6

Sep. 24: Free trade and protectionism

•Oatley, Chapter 3

•Gilpin, pp. 196-206

Sep. 26: Statist explanations of trade politics

•Oatley, Chapter 5

•Gilpin, pp. 206-217

•*Frieden & Lake, Chapter 1 (Krasner)

 

Sep. 29: Societal explanations of trade politics

•Oatley, Chapter 4

•*Frieden & Lake, Chapter 20 (Rogowski)

Oct. 1: The New Protectionism and regionalism

•Gilpin, Chapter 13

•Reader, Chapter 7

•*Frieden & Lake, Chapter 24 (Cox)

Oct. 3: Is free trade good for you?

•Reader, Chapter 1

FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT

Oct. 6: The multinational corporation (MNC) and FDI

•Gilpin, pp. 278-292

•Oatley, pp. 166-76

Oct. 8: The origins of FDI

•Oatley, pp. 176-84

•*Frieden & Lake, Chapter 9 (Caves)

Oct. 10: Strategic trade and investment policies

•*Frieden & Lake, Chapter 12 (Hart and Prakash)

Oct. 14: The new multinationalism

•Gilpin, pp. 292-304

•*Frieden & Lake, Chapter 4 (Strange)

Oct. 15: FDI policy

•*Reich, Robert. 1992. “Who is Us?” in International Politics: Enduring Concepts and Contemporary Issues, 3rd edition, ed. Robert J. Art and Robert Jervis, New York: Harper Collins.

•Reader, Chapter 10

Oct. 17: The impact of FDI

•Oatley, pp. 184-90, Chapter 9

•Reader, Chapter 8

INTERNATIONAL MONETARY RELATIONS

Oct. 20: The Bretton Woods monetary system

•Gilpin, pp. 234-248

•Oatley, Chapter 10

Oct. 22: The post-Bretton Woods monetary (dis)order

•Oatley, Chapter 11

•Gilpin, pp. 248-260

•Reader, Chapter 11

Oct. 24: Monetary union in Europe

•*Frieden & Lake, Chapter 15 (Cohen)

•Reader, Chapter 12

Oct. 27: Statist explanations of monetary politics

•Oatley, Chapter 13

•*Frieden & Lake, Chapter 14 (Eichengreen)

Oct. 29: Societal explanations of monetary politics

•Oatley, Chapter 12

•*Frieden & Lake, Chapter 16 (Frieden)

DEVELOPMENT AND NORTH-SOUTH RELATIONS

Oct. 31: LDC development strategies

•Gilpin, pp. 305-312

•Reader, Chapter 17

Nov. 3: North-south trade relations

•Oatley, Chapter 6

•Reader, Chapter 3

Nov. 5: FDI in the developing world

•Reader, Chapter 9

Nov. 7: Film: Outsourcing: White Collar Exodus

•*Drezner, Daniel W. 2004. “The Outsourcing Bogeyman.” Foreign Affairs 83(3): 22-34.

CRISIS AND RECOVERY (times two)

Nov. 10: The debt crisis

•Gilpin, pp. 313-16

•Oatley, Chapter 14

•Reader, Chapter 16

Nov. 12: Economic reform and recovery

•Gilpin, pp. 316-40

•Oatley, Chapter 7

•Reader, Chapter 2

Nov. 14: Film: Frontline: The Crash

•Reader, Chapter 13

Nov. 17: The Mexican peso crisis and tequila effect

•*Edwards, Sebastian. 1997. “Bad Luck or Bad Policies? An Economic Analysis of the Crisis,” in Mexico 1994: Anatomy of an Emerging Market Crash, ed. Sebastian Edwards and Moisés Naím, Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment.

•Reader, Chapter 14

Nov. 19: Currency crises in Asia

•Oatley, Chapter 15

•Reader, Chapter 15

 

GLOBAL ENVIRONMENTAL RELATIONS

Nov. 21: Film: Too Hot Not to Handle

•*Browne, John. 2004. “Beyond Kyoto.” Foreign Affairs 83(4): 20-32.

•*Bales, Carter F. and Richard D. Duke. 2008. “Containing Climate Change: An Opportunity for U.S. Leadership.” Foreign Affairs 87(5).

Nov. 24: The political economy of environmental degradation and protection

•*Frieden & Lake, Chapter 29 (Butler)

•Reader, Chapter 5

Dec. 1: Film: After the Warming, Part I

•*Scheve, Kenneth F. and Matthew J. Slaughter. 2007. “A New Deal for Globalization.” Foreign Affairs 86(4): 34-47.

•*Abdelal, Rawi and Segal. 2007. “Has Globalization Passed Its Peak?” Foreign Affairs 86(1): 103-14.

GLOBALIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS

Dec. 3: Globalization and the nation-state

•Gilpin, Chapter 14

•Reader, Chapter 18

Dec. 5: Film: After the Warming, Part II

Dec. 8: Managing globalization

•Oatley, Chapter 16

•Reader, Chapter 19

Dec. 10: Governing the global political economy?

•Gilpin, Chapter 15