Nick Hope
1. Approaches to Economic Development and International Development
Assistance
2. Policy Consensus and Paths to Growth
3. International Development Institutions: Role and Governance
4. The Development Experience of China
Erica R. Gould
States versus Markets: A Series of Seminars on International Political Economy
Class 1: Domestic Sources of Trade Policy Topics covered may include:
• What are the domestic drivers of trade policy? (Introduce three competing theoretical perspectives: interests, institutions and ideas.) • What are some key theoretical puzzles regarding trade politics and their policy implications?
• Why does agricultural exceptionalism persist?
Class 2: Trade and International Institutions Topics covered may include:
• Why have countries joined the GATT/WTO?
• How do international institutions increase free trade? Relatedly, why do countries comply with free trade agreements?
• Does the WTO increase free trade?
• Why did the Doha Round collapse and what are the prospects for the WTO after Doha?
• Is free trade fair trade? What are the remaining costs/benefits of free trade?
• Which areas still require government regulation? On what grounds? What makes them sacrosanct?
Class 3: Exchange Rates and Capital Mobility Topics covered may include:
• What drives exchange rate policy?
• What are the trade-offs associated with a fixed exchange rate? A flexible exchange rate?
• Who wins or loses from fixed or flexible exchange rates?
• Was the global move to openness inevitable?
• Can it be reversed? If so, how? (How can governments constrain
capital?) • Conversely, how does capital constrain governments?
Class 4: Global Governance and the International Monetary Fund Topics covered may include:
• What are some of the major insights from the academic literature on international institutions?
• What is the difference between the World Bank and IMF?
• How do their missions and activities today differ from when they were founded? • How is the IMF controlled?
• What should it be doing today? How should it be reformed?
• What is the best way to accomplish that reform?
• Why do states borrow from the IMF, despite criticism of its programs and advice?
• Are international institutions infringing on state sovereignty?