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Edozie Syllabus: Spring 2007
Tuesday’s and Thursday’s: 10:20-11:40am, Room 339 South Case Hall
Dr. Rita Kiki Edozie
Assistant Professor of International Relations, Michigan State University
MC 221:001
International Political and Economic Relations
Course Summary
Welcome to our International Political Economy course forum this semester! As we set out to discover the link between international economics and politics, throughout our study, we are concerned with the enduring questions of the relationship between the global production of wealth and the human condition. In essence, our goal is huge: we are interested in a lasting explanation of the underlying causes of political-economic change in the international arena. In this respect, our examination of international political and economic relations more directly addresses ways in which economic forces alter the international distribution of political power and resources. To achieve our goal, MC221 applies political-economy methodology to the international arena for the purpose of exposing students to the core and current issues that affect this sub-field of International Relations. We will begin our survey by examining contemporary issues in the IPE (economic globalization) using a close-to-home and globally important case study- the US in the IPE. Next, we’ll examine the main structures of the IPE including its history and theory, international trade, international money and finance, and technology. After the Spring Break, in the second half of the course, we’ll examine some of the main issues influencing the dynamics of the IPE including the North – South/development debate, Emerging Markets, including China, EU-Regionalism, Energy and Oil; and the Environment.
MC221 will be delivered in a non-traditional teaching format. My course delivery method seeks to develop second year students’ skills and talents in social science careers by fostering their acquisition and usage of multiple research skills, including analytical and critical thinking as well as various types of communication delivery. Our Book Review component for example fosters student-based inquiry learning; though, my instructional style does combine instructor-led lectures with collaborative learning methods such as student-led seminars. The forum-based format of the course encourages students to actively read. There will also be individualized assignments as well as group assignments; and formal classroom instruction will be conducted utilizing effective learning technologies, including instructional audio-visual props and Angel online resources.
Required Main Texts
Purchase All These Books
David N. Balaam and Michael Veseth. Introduction to International Political Economy (Third Edition, Pearson and Prentice Hall, 2004) ISBN 0-13-189509-5
C. Fred Bergsten. The United States and the World Economy: Foreign Economic Policy for the Next Decade (Institute for International Economics, Washington DC 2005)
Rita Kiki Edozie. (compiler) Course Reader in the International Political Economy: Deepening Our Analysis (Coursepack+Plus, Spring 2007)
Review and Recommended Texts
Two Review Books Each are Required:
You Will Be Assigned These Two Books on First Day of Class: Then, You Will Purchase the 2 Books that You are Assigned
Joseph Stiglitz, Making Globalization Work (Norton and Company, 2006 ISBN 0393061221)
Thomas Friedman, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2005) ISBN 0-374-29288-4 (Paperback edition)
Rivoli, Pietra The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade (John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 2005) ISBN: 978-0-470-03920-5
Ted Fishman, China, Inc: How the Rise of the Next Superpower Challenges America and the World (Scribner, 2005) ISBN 0-7432-5752-9
Hernando De Soto The Mystery of Capital: Why Capitalism Triumphs in the West and Fails Everywhere Else (Basic Books, 2000) ISBN 0-465-01615-4
Deffeyes, Kenneth, Hubbert’s Peak: The Impending World Oil Shortage (Princeton University Press, 2003) ISBN 13:978-0-691-11625-9
Jared Diamond, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed (Viking: Penguin Books, 2005) ISBN 0-670-03337-5
John Cavanagh and Jerry Mander, Alternatives to Economic Globalization 2nd Edition: A Better World is Possible Berret-Koehler Publishers, Inc. 2004 ISBN 10: 1576753034 or ISBN – 13-9781576753033 (HONORS BOOK ONLY)
CODE OF CONDUCT
** Full attendance and class participation is required. You will be penalized for unexcused absences.
** Late assignments are not encouraged; however, lose 2points a day for up to two days for late assignments ( a day begins 10 minutes after the assignment due date deadline)
**I’m sorry. I cannot accept emailed copies of assignments. Hardcopies only are accepted.
**See me for Honors Credit Assignment for this course (None offered during Summer version)
** Refer to Student Handbook for Academic Honesty Policy
** Remember that this is a 4 credit course based on JMC’s distinctive office hours model (this means that office hours and other professor-student sessions are highly encouraged. My office is open and I am happy to assist you in any way that I can)
GRADING SCALE: EVERYTHING CURVES DOWN (sorry!)
1. at least 95 - 4.0
2. at least 90 - 3.5
3. at least 85 – 3.0
4. at least 80 – 2.5
5. at least 75 – 2.0
6. at least 70 – 1.5
7.at least 65 – 1.0
ASSIGNMENT CATEGORIES, POINTS AND DUE DATES
1. Assignment 1: US in Global Economy Talking Points Chapter
Points:05
Due Date 1/16, 17
2. Assignment 2A, B, C: First Book Review
Points:10
Due Date: Scheduled Review Session
3. Assignment 3A, B, C, D, E Second Book Review
Points:10
Due Date: Scheduled Review Session
4. Assignment 4 Short Essay 1: US Economic Foreign Policy
Points:05
Due Date: 1/25
5. Assignment 5 Short Essay 2: Theories/Ideologies of IPE
Points:05
Due Date: 2/2
6. Assignment 6 Short Essay 3: On Trade, Money/Finance
Points:05
Due Date: 2/20
7. Assignment 7 Midterm Exam
Points: 25
Due Date: 2/28
8. Assignment 8 Short Essay 4: On Global Inequality, Dev, LEM.
Points:05
Due Date: 3/29
9. Assignment 9 Short Essay 5: Oil, EU, MNC
Points:05
Due Date: 4/12
10. Assignment 10 Final Exam
Points:30
Due Date: College Scheduled Exam Date
11. Assignment 11 Attendance and Class Participation
Points 05
Due Date: Every Session
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
PART ONE
SURVEYING THE GLOBAL POLITICAL-ECONOMY: THE U.S AND GLOBALIZATION
Getting our ‘hands wet’, by exploring IPE definitions, dimensions and scope for understanding the ‘field’ of international political economy (IPE), particularly from the point of view of the US foreign economic policy perspective as case study. The United States faces a series of intense challenges, acute threats, and promising opportunities from its interaction with the world economy that seek to sustain growth and stability at satisfactory levels and overall US foreign policy and the country’s place in the world.
Topic 1:
Introductions
Calendar Schedule and Sub-topic
1/9 Course Introduction
1/11 Content Introduction: Our IPE Scope!
Required Readings:
C. Fred Bergsten. “Chapter 1: page 3-55” The United States and the World Economy: Foreign Economic Policy for the Next Decade (Institute for International Economics, Washington DC 2005
Topic 2:
The United States and the World Economy
Calendar Schedule and Sub-Topics
1/16 : Issues in US Economy viz a viz IPE
Assigned Chapter Groups: The United States and the World Economy
(Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 13)
1/18: Globalization from US Perspective
Assigned Chapter Groups: The United States and the World Economy
(Chapters 2, 3, 9, 10, 11, 12)
1/23: Book Review Panel I: Making Globalization Work by Joseph Stiglitz (class participation grade for non-reviewers– ask and submit a qualitative question)
Required Reading
C. Fred Bergsten. The United States and the World Economy: Foreign Economic Policy for the Next Decade (Institute for International Economics, Washington DC 2005
Joseph Stiglitz, Making Globalization Work (Norton and Company, 2006)
Assignment One, Two A, and Four: 1/16, 1/23, 1/25
One: Due on 1/16 and 1/18 (Assignment TBA via Angel)
In-class ‘talking point’ summary and presentation of assigned chapters due on date assigned above 1/16 or 1/18 Format: answer 4 questions: a) What is the theme b) Provide 2 or 3 supporting details c) Relate reading to scheduled course topic d) What is your critical commentary
Two A: Due on 1/23 (assigned sub-group)
Write a five-page group book review of assigned book and present it to the class. This is a group project. Please see Angel for Book Review format instructions.
Four: Due on 1/25 (everyone)
Write a three-page thematic essay on the US in the Global Economy. Be sure to identify a single ‘policy’ direction to make an argument about the US economy in the contemporary IPE. Use Edozie thematic essay format: titled subsections, thematic-thesis intro, supporting body and short summative conclusion; in-text citations with footnotes and bibliography. Use scheduled readings (texts, review books and course reader articles) only as references.
PART TWO:
IPE STRUCTURES:
HISTORIES/THEORIES, PRODUCTION, TRADE, FINANCE & KNOWLEDGE
What are the fundamental intellectual sources and perspectives that explain the emergence and functioning of the international political economy: mercantilism or economic nationalism, liberalism/laissez-faire, Marxism/structuralism and new critical perspectives? Examine the structures of the IPE, beginning with how ‘goods’ have been produced, valued and traded/exchanged over time; new ‘monetary’ issues, ‘new labor’(knowledge and patenting).
Topic 3:
Understanding the IPE- Histories and Theories
Calendar and Sub-topics
1/25 What is the IPE?
Required Readings
Balaam and Veseth Chapter 1: “What is International Political Economy?”
Susan Strange “International Economics and International Relations: A Case of Mutual Neglect” in International Affairs (Royal Institute of International Affairs) Volume 46, No.2 (April, 1970)
“The Relations of Economic, Political and Social Systems” in Beyond Economics: Essays on Society, Religion and Ethics. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1970
Anonymous” Not Quite a New World Order, More a Three Way Split” The Economist, 20 December
Chapter 3 “Uneven Gains and Unbalanced Burdens? Three Decades of American Globalization” in C. Fred Bergsten. The United States and the World Economy: Foreign Economic Policy for the Next Decade (Institute for International Economics, Washington DC 2005)
1/30 What are the Histories and Different Ideologies Informing the IPE?
Required Readings
On Mercantalism/Realism
Balaam and Veseth, Chapter 2 “Wealth and Power: Mercantilism and Economic Nationalism”
Jacob Viner, “Power versus Plenty as Objectives of Foreign Policy in the Seventh and Eighteenth Centuries” World Politics 1 (October, 1948)
Anup Shah, “The Banana Trade War”
Robert Wade, “Globalization and Its Limits: Reports of the Death of the National Economy are Greatly Exaggerated” in Suzanne Berger and Ronald Dore, eds. National Diversity and Global Capitalism (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1996)
On Liberalism
Balaam and Veseth, Chapter 3, “ Laissez-Faire, Laissez-Passer: The Liberal IPE Perspective”
John Maynard Keynes, “The End of Laissez-Faire” in Essays in Persuasion (New York: WW Norton, 1963)
Robert Cooper, “The New Liberal Imperialism” The Observer, 7 April 2002
On Structuralism and Post-Structuralism
Balaam and Veseth Chapter 4 “Marx, Lenin and the Structuralist Perspective”
Immanuel Wallerstein, “The Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System: Concepts for Comparative Analysis’ Comparative Studies in society and History, 16 (September, 1974)
Julie A Nelson, “Feminism and Economics” The Journal of Economic Perspectives 9:2 (Spring 1995)
2/1 A Roundtable Discussion on IPE Method and Perspectives
Assignment Five: Due on February 2nd
Write a three page essay outlining the four main theories of the IPE You must cite from this sections course reader readings. You must be prepared to use this essay to participate in a class participation roundtable on February 2nd.
Topic 4:
International Trade
Calendar and Sub-topics
2/6 Production and Trade Defined MOVIE ON CAPPUCIONO TRAIL AND/OR INTERNATIONAL TRADE
2/8 International Trade Issues
2/13 Book Review Panel 2: The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy by Pietra Rivoli
Required Readings
Balaam and Veseth. Chapter 6 “International Trade”
Walden Bello, “Rethinking Asia: the WTO’s Big Losers” Far Eastern Economic Review, June 24, 1999
“Will Treaty Give US Global Edge?” Christian Science Monitor, November 17, 113
“US Quietly Opening More doors to Cuba” Tacoma News Tribune, 7 July 1999, p A2
Chapter 8: “Confronting Current Challenges to US Trade Policy” by Jeffrey Scott in C. Fred Bergsten. The United States and the World Economy: Foreign Economic Policy for the Next Decade (Institute for International Economics, Washington DC 2005)
Rivoli, Pietra The Travels of a T-Shirt in the Global Economy: An Economist Examines the Markets, Power, and Politics of World Trade (John Wiley and Sons, Inc. 2005) ISBN: 978-0-470-03920-5
Assignment Two B: Due on 2/13 (assigned sub-group)
Write a five-page group book review of assigned book and present it to the class. This is a group project. Please see Angel for Book Review format instructions.
Topic 5:
International Money and Finance
Calendar and Sub-Topics
2/15 Finance Defined and Finance Issues
Required Text and Course Reader Readings
Balaam and Veseth Chapter 7, “A Beginner’s Guide to International Finance”
Balaam and Veseth Chapter 8, “The IPE of International Finance: Mad Money
Paul Krugman, “Dutch Tulips and Emerging Markets” Foreign Affairs 74:4 (July/August, 1995)
Chapter 6 “Sustaining Global Growth while Reducing External Imbalances” by Michael Mussa in C. Fred Bergsten. The United States and the World Economy: Foreign Economic Policy for the Next Decade (Institute for International Economics, Washington DC 2005)
Chapter 12 “International Financial Architecture” by Morris Goldstein in C. Fred Bergsten. The United States and the World Economy: Foreign Economic Policy for the Next Decade (Institute for International Economics, Washington DC 2005)
Assignment Six: Due 2/20
Write a three page essay on ‘one’ of the questions on either the ‘trade’ or ‘money-finance’ structures of the IPE (question TBA by professor through Angel). Follow Edozie editorial format.
Topic 6:
Labor, Technology and Knowledge Workers
Calendar and Sub-Topics
2/20 Labor, Knowledge and Technology Defined and Issues MOVIE ON ADOBE
2/22 Book Review Panel 3: The World is Flat by Thomas Friedman
Required Readings
Balaam and Veseth. Chapter10“Knowledge and Technology: The Basis of Wealth and Power”
Paolo Bifani, “The International Stakes of Bio-technology and the Patent War: Considerations after the Uruguay round” Agriculture and Human Values (Spring 1993)
Laura D’Andrea Tyson, ‘Who’s Bashing Whom? Trade Conflict in Hig-Technology Industries’. Washington DC: The Institute of International Economics, 1992
Chapter 9 “Offshore Outsourcing and the Globalization of US Services: Why Now, How Important and What Policy Implications?” in C. Fred Bergsten. The United States and the World Economy: Foreign Economic Policy for the Next Decade (Institute for International Economics, Washington DC 2005
Thomas Friedman, The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, New York, 2005) ISBN 0-374-29288-4 (Paperback edition)
Assignment Two C: Due on 2/22 (assigned sub-group)
Write a five-page group book review of assigned book and present it to the class. This is a group project. Please see Angel for Book Review format instructions.
Topic 6: