International Political Economy (Fall 09)

Lec 24: End of IPE

James Morrison — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 21:28:17 +0000

The End of IPE (Thur 3 Dec) Audio

Suicide of Foxconn (Apple subcontractor) Employee

James Morrison — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 17:22:44 +0000

Here’s the Reuters story to which I referred:

http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE56L33Z20090722

Lec 22: Responses to Globalization

James Morrison — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 19:23:15 +0000

Responses to Globalization (Tue 24 Nov) Audio

Krugman on the Public Debt

James Morrison — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 22:29:58 +0000

PK has a new editorial on our current government deficits:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/23/opinion/23krugman.html?_r=1

I thought it was apropos of our recent discussions about indebtedness.

BusinessWeek on Cap and Trade

James Morrison — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 17:00:04 +0000

New article from BusinessWeek on some potential hitches to the implementation of “cap and trade.”

http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/09_48/b4157054815275.htm

Lec 21: Globalization in Perspective

James Morrison — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 19:16:40 +0000

Globalization in Perspective (Thur 19 Nov) Audio

Recent News

James Morrison — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:09:03 +0000

Some recent news related to IPE:

http://www.economist.com/businessfinance/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14901104&source=features_box_main

http://www.economist.com/world/unitedstates/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14900648&source=features_box_main

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displaystory.cfm?story_id=14744915

Podcast is Up!

James Morrison — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:16:15 +0000

The IPE podcast for fall 2009 is up and working!

I’ve added a new page entitled Podcast with the information. Here’s a direct link to the iTunes Store:

Lec 20: Our Financial Legacy

James Morrison — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:23:52 +0000

What Shall we Bequeath to our Progeny? Our Financial Legacy (Tues 17 Nov) Audio

Lec 19: Global Environmental Politics

James Morrison — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 20:16:48 +0000

“Dominion over…the Earth”: International Environmental Politics (Thur 12 Nov) Slides / Audio

Al Gore on the Daily Show

James Morrison — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 18:51:51 +0000

Al Gore was on The Daily Show last week. I’ve just put the clip in as “recommended” for tomorrow’s reading. You can check it out here:

Recommended: “Al Gore.” The Daily Show. Comedy Central, November 3, 2009. Available via: http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-november-4-2009/al-gore

Great Firewall of China & the WTO

James Morrison — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 17:30:29 +0000

Some folks at the European Centre for International Political Economy have written a paper suggesting that China’s use of its “Great Firewall”–which blocks pernicious web presences like, say, Google–may run contrary to some of the WTO agreements.

Here’s the Ars write up:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2009/11/smashing-chinas-great-firewall-through-trade-disputes.ars

Seeing my two of my favorite things combined–tech & IPE–almost made my head explode from all of the glee.

Lec 18: Population Growth

James Morrison — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 20:16:08 +0000

“Be Fruitful and Multiply”: Economic Development and Population Growth (Tue 10 Nov) Slides / Audio

Lec 17: Politics of Migration

James Morrison — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 20:15:14 +0000

Reactions to Migration (Thur 5 Nov) Slides / Audio

Lec 16: Economics of Migration

James Morrison — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 07:15:06 +0000

The Economics of Migration (Tue 3 Nov) Slides / Audio

Articles about Money

James Morrison — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 04:42:20 +0000

The following are several articles about money, which I think follow our ongoing discussion nicely:

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125549031253384213.html

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/eichengreen10

http://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/rogoff61/English

http://www.ny.frb.org/aboutthefed/fedpoint/fed49.html

Lec 15: After Bretton Woods

James Morrison — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 06:53:11 +0000

After Bretton Woods (Thur 29 Oct) Slides / Audio

Lec 14: Bretton Woods

James Morrison — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 06:52:11 +0000

The Postwar Bretton Woods System (Tue 27 Oct) Slides / Audio

Lec 13: Decline and Fall of the Gold Standard

James Morrison — Thu, 22 Oct 2009 06:51:08 +0000

The Decline and Fall of the Gold Standard (Thur 22 Oct) Slides / Audio

Lec 12: The Gold Standard

James Morrison — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 06:49:54 +0000

The Gold Standard (Tue 20 Oct) Slides / Audio

Lec 11: International Monetary System

James Morrison — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 06:31:42 +0000

The International Monetary System (Thur 15 Oct) Slides / Audio

Krugman’s Ideas on the Int’l Monetary System

James Morrison — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 03:15:07 +0000

We’re starting our consideration of money on Thursday. Krugman’s latest editorial explicitly links the “gold-standard mentality” to some of the current approaches to the contemporary crisis. I think you’ll enjoy it:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/12/opinion/12krugman.html?_r=1&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss

Lec 10: Trade Regime Today

James Morrison — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:26:40 +0000

The Global Trade Regime Today (Thur 8 Oct) Slides / Audio

Lec 9: Postwar Trade Regime

James Morrison — Tue, 06 Oct 2009 06:21:38 +0000

The Postwar Trade Regime (Tue 6 Oct) Slides / Audio

Lec 7: Models of Trade Policy

James Morrison — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 06:14:55 +0000

Models of Trade Policy (Tue 29 Sept) Slides / Audio

China & the WTO

James Morrison — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 18:24:38 +0000

In the spirit of the discussion about “exchange controls”, here’s a quick article about China’s restrictions on the sale of foreign goods in the domestic market. China is allowed to impose traditional “capital controls” according to the IMF and WTO agreements; but the WTO doesn’t like China trying to regulate trade & commerce. So, we see some separation here between capital controls and trade/commercial regulation.

http://www.afterdawn.com/news/archive/19515.cfm

My hunch–and it is just a hunch–is that China is finding it more difficult to rely strictly on conventional capital controls–restrictions on investment, foreign ownership, &c–and is turning to more rigorous restrictions on trade and commerce. By channeling imports through state owned enterprises, China can have a larger influence on the prices (and total sales) of these goods in the home market. That will influence the balance of payments and the over all domestic price level.

As we’ll see, the IMF was designed to allow for–even celebrate–capital controls. But the GATT/WTO was created to combat all such management of trade and commerce. Why the seemingly antithetical positions–one in favor of laissez-faire and the other decidedly not? Stay tuned: we’ll develop that more later in the term. But here’s the quick answer: Keynes recognized that states needed some regulation to ensure policy autonomy; and he figured that capital controls would be the most innocuous types of restrictions.

Lec 6: Balance of Payments

James Morrison — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 06:08:54 +0000

Economic Constraints: The Balance of Payments (Thur 24 Sept) Slides / Audio

IPE in the News

James Morrison — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 19:24:16 +0000

The G-20

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/32e586c0-a7a0-11de-b0ee-00144feabdc0,dwp_uuid=60a3db68-b177-11dd-b97a-0000779fd18c.html?nclick_check=1

http://www.cbc.ca/money/story/2009/09/22/f-g20-agenda.html

Tobin Taxes (which we’ll cover later)

http://www.economist.com/opinion/displayStory.cfm?story_id=14455661&source=hptextfeature

Net Neutrality

http://news.cnet.com/8301-30686_3-10357806-266.html

John Stewart on Ted Stevens on Net Neutrality

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-july-12-2006/headlines—internet

http://www.thedailyshow.com/watch/wed-july-12-2006/party-pooper

Lec 5: The Three I’s

James Morrison — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 05:38:45 +0000

The Three I’s: Domestic Interests, Institutions, and Ideas (Tue 22 Sept) Slides / Audio

Lec 4: Structural Theories

James Morrison — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 05:37:49 +0000

International Structures: The Distribution of Power and International Institutions (Thur 17 Sept) Slides / Audio

Backup your data!

James Morrison — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 23:14:24 +0000

In several places on this site, I emphasize the importance of regularly backing up your data. Of course, the easiest way to do this might just be to buy an external drive. But if you’re short on cash, this article from Gizmodo details some of the ways to do this without the expense of buying an external drive for this purpose.

http://gizmodo.com/5357993/how-to-back-up-all-your-stuff-for-free-no-hard-drive-needed

DQs are Up!

James Morrison — Sun, 13 Sep 2009 19:46:13 +0000

The Discussion Questions for next week have been posted. In the future, I’ll try to get them up by Friday evening of the previous week. Last week, I had some beginning of the term events and the usual preoccupations which prevented that.

Lec 2: Classic Perspectives

James Morrison — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 05:18:17 +0000

Classic Perspectives on States and Markets (Thur 10 Sept) Slides / Audio

Site is Up!

James Morrison — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:09:41 +0000

This site should now be current. All of the readings, the course schedule, assignments, &c. have all been finalized. Please contact me if anything appears awry.

Welcome to Fall, 2009!

Lec 1: Introduction

James Morrison — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 04:58:41 +0000

Introduction and Overview: What is IPE? Why should we care? (Tue 8 Sept) Slides / Audio

Under Construction

James Morrison — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 00:17:01 +0000

Please note that this site is still under construction. Much of the material from Spring 2009 appears here. The final version (for Fall 2009) should appear in late August.