International Political Economy 2104-ERASMUS-IPEC
This course is an introduction to the field of International Political Economy (IPE). It investigates the ways in which markets, societies, interest groups, private entities and states interact with each other within a context of growing international economic interdependence. The course begins with the examination of the genesis of IPE and its connection to other fields of social studies such as Economics, Political Science and International Relations. It explains the conventional theoretical concepts such as: Liberalism, Mercantilism and Marxism and then it talks about the construction of the postwar international economic order and the related institutions.
The next four parts cover a wide spectrum of themes and subjects: international trade, money and finance, development and globalization. Each topic discusses a variety of different topics from the international and domestic perspective. The part on International Trade starts with the description of the international trading system. It talks about the origins, characteristics and the liberal underpinnings of the contemporary world trading system; the economic case for free trade; the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), the Uruguay Round; and the foundation of the World Trade Organization (WTO); and the role of regional trade agreements (RTAs) in the multilateral trading system. Then it tackles the problems of domestic politics of international trade. It talks about the role of domestic interest groups in shaping the trade policy, the distributional consequences of trade policy, and the winners and losers of protectionism.
The part on Money and Finance examines the international monetary and financial system. It talks about the development of the postwar international monetary system; the fall down of the Bretton Woods system, the post-Bretton Woods arrangements and the European Monetary Union. It discusses the regulation of the international financial system and the latest international financial crisis – the subprime crisis. Then it treats about the politics of international and domestic monetary and financial relations. It looks at the role of multinational corporations (MNCs) as political and economic players and the connection between multinational corporations and the state. It describes the different types of foreign direct investment (FDI) and it explains its impact. It also discusses the role of domestic political factors in determining the exchange rate and monetary politics.
The part on Development discusses the main issues and debates of economic development. It talks about the different development approaches pursued by the developing countries and the role of the state in the process of economic development as well as the influence of the world economy on development. It describes the different development schemes which occurred in the Latin American and the East Asian countries and the ideas which accompanied them (the concept of the developmental state, dependency theory, the import-substitution industrialization in Latin America and the East Asian miracle). It also discusses the neoliberal reform and the Washington Consensus. Next it tackles the problem of inequalities of power and wealth in the world and the institutions of global governance. It investigates the ability of International Financial Institutions (IFIs) to affect policy and economic outcomes in the developing countries through conditionality and redistribution. It talks about the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank and their lending policies, the post-Washington Consensus, the politics of foreign aid and the latest efforts to manage the problems of world poverty.
Finally, the course explores the problem of globalization. It talks about the different economic, political and societal causes and consequences of globalization. It begins by trying to define globalization and by trying to assess whether the contemporary trends in the world which are labeled “globalization” are of a different nature from the trends which were present in the earlier times. It portrays contending explanations of globalization and it discusses the alternative viewpoints on the consequences of globalization on the nation state and the developing world.
1. Introduction to Political Economy and International Economics.
- Definitions
- History of economic development
- Theory and practice of trade
- International structure, facts & figures of Political Economy
2. Birth and development of Political Economy part. 1
- Pre-classic period
- Mercantilism
3. Birth and development of Political Economy part. 2
- Adam Smith
- David Ricardo
- Robert Malthus
- Jean Babtise Say
- John Stuart Mill
4. Marxism in Political Economy
- Communist vision of the world
- Social approach in epistemology
- Theory of communism
- Empirical verification
5. Keysnism and Neoliberalism in IPE
- Comparative approach in IPE: theory of economic thought.
- History of economic crisis: 1929, 2007.
- Washington Consensus.
6. Energy as tool of wealth and power
- Energy diplomacy
- IOCs vs. NOCs
- Energy security
7. Global energy governance
- OPEC
- IEA
8. Energy Revolution
- Unconventional gas and oil
- Environment protection and Renewable energy
9. Chinese Oil diplomacy
10. Gas market
- USA
- EU
- Asia
Prerequisites (description)
Course coordinators
Learning outcomes
The student acquires the knowledge of the field of International Political Economy and the contemporary issues which command the attention of IPE scholars; recognizes and understands a wide spectrum of problems and debates within IPE; understands the mechanisms that govern the functioning of the international trade system and the international monetary and financial system; understands the problems of international economic development; explains the causes and consequences of globalization.
Assessment criteria
Written Final Exam 100%
Bibliography
Required:
1. P.R. Krugman/ M. Obsfeld, International Economics. Theory and Policy, Boston […] 2009.
2. B. Ingham, International Economics. A European Focus, Harlow 2004.
3. R.C. Feenstra/ A.M. Taylor, International Economics, New York 2008.
4. R.J. Carbaugh, International Economics, Mason 2009
5. Ch. Van Marrewijk, International Economics. Theory, Application, and Policy, Oxford 2007
6. Oxford Institute for Energy Studies-> energy issues
7. Douglas J. Cumming, Geoffrey Wood, Igor Filatotchev, Juliane Reinecke (eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Sovereign Wealth Funds, 2018.
8. Thomas Oatley (2010), International Political Economy: Interests and Institutions in the Global Economy, 4th Edition, New York: Pearson Longman
9. Jeffrey Frieden, David Lake and Lawrence Broz (eds.) (2009), International Political Economy: Perspectives on Global Power and Wealth, 5th Edition, New York: W. W. Norton & Company
10. Robert Gilpin (2001), Global Political Economy: Understanding the International Economic Order, Princeton: Princeton University Press.
11. Benjamin Cohen (2008), International Political Economy: An Intellectual History, Priceton: Princeton University Press
12. Goldthau A., Witte J.M. (eds.), Global Energy Governance, the New Rules of the Game, Global Public Policy Institute, Berlin 2010.
13. Goldthau A. (ed.), The Handbook of Global Energy Policy, Wiley-Blackwell, London 2013.
14. Lesage D., Van de Graaf T., Westphal K., Global Energy Governance in a Multipolar World, Ashgate, Farnham 2010.
15. Maugeri L., The Age of Oil: The Mythology, History, and Future of the World’s Most Controversial Resource, Praeger, Westport 2006
Additional Literature
1. Benjamin Cohen (2007), Global Monetary Governance, New York: Routledge
2. Joseph Grieco and John Ikenberry (2003), State Power and World Markets: the International Political Economy, New York: W. W. Norton
3. Joseph Stiglitz and Narcis Serra (eds.) (2008), the Washington consensus Reconsidered: Towards a New Global Governance, Oxford: Oxford University Press
4. Segal P., „How to spend it: Resource wealth and the distribution of resource rents”, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, SP 2012, 25.
5. Mabro R., „The oil price crisis of 1998”, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, SP 1998, 10.
6. Oxford Energy Forum, 2014-2019.
7. Dale S., The New Economics of Oil, Oxford Energy Comment, Oxford Institute for Energy, Oxford 2015.
8. Fattouh B., Poudineh R., Sen A., „The dynamics of the revenue maximization–market share trade-off: Saudi Arabia’s oil policy in the 2014–2015 price fall”, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, WPM 2015, 61.
9. Fattouh B., Kilian L., Mahadeva L., The Role of Speculation in Oil Markets: What Have We Learned So Far?, www.personal.umich.edu/˜lkilian/milan030612.pdf, 2012.
10. Fattouh B., van der Linde C., „The International Energy Forum: Twenty Years of Producer-Consumer Dialogue in a Changing World”, IEF, Riyadh 2011.
11. Fattouh B., Mahadeva L., „OPEC: What difference has it made?”, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, MEP 2013, 3.
12. Fattouh B., „Oil Market Dynamics through the Lens of the 2002–9 Price Circle”, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, WPM 2010, 39.
13. Fattouh B., „An anatomy of the crude oil pricing system”, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, WPM 2011, 40.
14. Fattouh B., „OPEC pricing power. The need for a new perspective”, Oxford Institute for Energy Studies, WPM 2007, 31.
15. Baffes J., M.A. Kose, F. Ohnsorge, M. Stocker, The Great Plunge in Oil Prices: Causes, Consequences, and Policy Responses, World Bank Policy Research Notes nr 15/01, 2015.
16. Maugeri L., „Oil: The next revolution. The unprecedented upsurge of oil production capacity and what it means for the world”, Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Discussion Paper 2012, 10.
17. Bhattacharya A.K., The Myth of Petropower, Lexington Books, Toronto 1977.
18. Clayton B., Market Madness. A Century of Oil Panics, Crises, and Crashes, Oxford University Press, New York 2015.
19. Colgan J.D., Petro-Aggression: When Oil Causes War, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge 2013.
20. Karl T.L., The Paradox of Plenty, University of California Press, Berkeley 1997.
21. Chalabi F., Oil Policies, Oil Myths. Analysis and Memoir of an OPEC “Crisis Insider”, I.B. Tauris, London–New York 2010.
Additional information
Additional information (registration calendar, class conductors, localization and schedules of classes), might be available in the USOSweb system: