Introduction to International Political Economy

Fall 2020

Department of Political Science

Political Science 186

Professor Benjamin J. Cohen	Teaching Assistants:

3812 Ellison Hall	Matthew Rochat (mjrochat@ucsb.edu

jcohen@ucsb.edu	Ingmar Sturm (ingmar_sturm@ucsb.edu)

Office hours: Tuesday 2:00 - 4:00 pm

Description

The focus of this course is on the politics of international economic relations. The aim is to help you to comprehend and evaluate the current functioning of the global economy. With luck, by the end of this course you will be able to pick up a daily newspaper or click into a news website and actually understand what's going on across the world.

The content of the course is organized in two parts. The first part, lasting three weeks, will concentrate on the historical evolution of the world economy from the beginning of the industrial revolution in 18th-century England to the present day. Understanding of where we are now begins with an understanding of how we got here. The second part of the course will then explore major issues in the functioning of the world economy today, including foreign trade, money and finance, economic development, the environment, energy, and the multinational corporation. Finally, in the last week of the course, we will consider the all-important question: Where do we go from here?

Books, etc.

The following textbook is required for this course and is available for purchase at the UCSB bookstore, Amazon, or the publisher (Routledge):

David N. Balaam and Bradford Dillman, Introduction to International Political Economy, seventh edition (2019). [Hereafter referred to as BD.]

In addition to the textbook, additional readings are assigned from a variety of other sources. All these additional materials are provided by GauchoSpace, which you can access at your own pace.

All readings are required.

Course requirements/grades

Students are expected to attend all lectures (Monday and Wednesday, 3:30-4:45 pm Pacific Time) as well as one discussion section each week, all online via Zoom (see below).. You will also be required to take three exams – two mid-course exams and a comprehensive final exam – as well as periodic brief quizzes in your discussion sections. The mid-course exams will each be worth 20 percent of a student's final grade; the final examination will be worth 40 percent. The remaining 20 percent will depend on performance in class sections and quizzes.

The first mid-course exam is scheduled for Monday October 26. The second mid-course exam is scheduled for Monday November 23. Both will be open-book (take-home) exams. Each will include one or more short-answer questions and a longer essay. The first exam will encompass all the material covered in the first six lecture sessions of the course. The second will encompass all the material covered in the next six lecture sessions (October 28-November 18).

The final exam will include a long essay as well as one or more short-answer questions. This exam too will be open-book and will encompass all the material covered in this course from the beginning of the term (including the material covered by the two mid-course exams). The final examination will be scheduled during exam week at the end of the quarter.

Course Procedures

Because of COVID-19, the course will be taught entirely online. That includes all lectures and discussion sections as well as office hours, quizzes, and exams. Everything will be conducted synchronously (though recorded videos of the general lectures will also be available). General lectures will be presented live via Zoom at the appointed times every Monday and Wednesday, 3:30-
4:45 pm Pacific Time. Discussion sections and office hours will also be live via Zoom. Quizzes will be conducted regularly during sections to check your knowledge and understanding of key topics. The two mid-course exams and the final exam will also be conducted online.

An outline of topics to be covered in the general lectures is available on our GauchoSpace site, along with the PowerPoint slides that will accompany the lectures. Discussion sections with your teaching assistant will be structured to explore in greater detail the material covered in the lectures as well as in the readings. You will be expected to participate actively in discussions and to do all the reading for each week. As indicated, 20 percent of your final grade will depend on attendance and participation in these sections.

In addition, an effort will be made to integrate current world events into the content of the course by beginning each general lecture with a brief discussion of any new or developing issues in international political economy. Students are encouraged to keep abreast of relevant developments by reading some major newspaper or news magazine on a regular basis, by watching or listening to daily news broadcasts on television or radio, and/or by following global events online. One question on the final exam will be based on these class discussions.

Readings

October 5: Conceptual and Analytical Issues

BD, ch. 1.

*R. Gilpin, Global Political Economy (2001), ch. 4.

*P. Hirst, G. Thompson, S. Bromley, Globalization in Question (3rd ed, 2009), 1-21.

October 7: Alternative Perspectives

BD, chs. 2-4.

*M.R. Brawley, The Politics of Globalization (2003), ch. 2.

October 12: International Economic History -- Nineteenth Century

*T.D. Lairson and D. Skidmore, International Political Economy (3rd ed, 2003), 43-57.

*R. O'Brien and M. Williams, Global Political Economy (5th ed, 2016), ch. 4.

October 14: International Economic History -- Interwar Period

*T.D. Lairson and D. Skidmore, International Political Economy (3rd ed, 2003), 57-64. *C.P. Kindleberger, The World in Depression (1973), chs. 1, 14.

October 19: International Economic History -- Postwar Period

*R. O'Brien and M. Williams, Global Political Economy (5th ed, 2016), ch. 5.

*T.H. Cohn, Global Political Economy (7th ed, 2016), ch. 2.

October 21: The World Economy Today

*The Economist, "Picking Up the Pieces," August 4, 2018.

*H. Farrell and A.L.Newman, "Chained to Globalization," Foreign Affairs (January-
February 2020), 70-80.

October 26: Mid-Course Exam No. 1

October 28, November 2, 4: International Trade

BD, ch. 7.

*M. Krauss, How Nations Grow Rich (1997), ch. 3.

*I. Fletcher, Free Trade Doesn't Work (2nd edition, 2011), ch. 1.

*T.H. Cohn, Global Political Economy (7th edition, 2016), ch. 9.

*C.P. Bown and D.A. Irwin, "Trump's Assault on the Global Trading System," Foreign Affairs (September-October 2019), 125-x.

November 11: Veterans Day - university holiday

November 9, 16, 18: Money and Finance

BD, ch. 8.

*E. Helleiner, The Status Quo Crisis (2014), ch. 1.

*B. J. Cohen, Currency Power (2015), chs. 7-9.

*B. J. Cohen, Currency Statecraft (2019), ch. 7.

November 23: Mid-Course Exam No. 2

November 25: No class – Happy Thanksgiving

November 30: Economic Development

BD, ch. 11.

*J.E. Stiglitz, Globalization and Its Discontents (2002), ch. 1.

*J. Bhagwati, In Defense of Globalization (2004), ch. 5.

*Dani Rodrik, Straight Talk on Trade (2018), ch. 4 (pp. 79-93 only).

December 2: The Environment / Energy

BD, ch. 16

* B. Deese, "Paris Isn't Burning," Foreign Affairs (July 2017), 83-92.

*The Economist, "The New Power Superpowers," Special Report, March 17, 2018

December 7: The Multinational Corporation

BD, ch. 6.

*The Economist, "The Retreat of the Global Company," January 28, 2017.

December 9: Prospects for the Future

*D. Rodrik, The Globalization Paradox (2011), ch. 9.

*F. Hu and M. Spence, "Why Globalization Stalled," Foreign Affairs (July 2017), 54-63.

* The Economist, "Slowbalisation," Briefing, January 26, 2019.

*A. Tooze, "Can Anyone Hold the Global Economy Together?," New York Times, September 2, 2019.