INTRODUCTION TO POLITICAL
ECONOMY
NYU Dept. of Politics
Course No. G531400
Fall 2003
Tuesday, 6:20-8:20pm
726 Broadway, Room 700
Professor Allison Fine
Work Phone: 212.208.3419
Work Email: afine@ambac.com
NYU Email (af83): allison.fine@nyu.edu
Office Hours: Room 716
before/after class or by appointment
This course is a graduate colloquium introducing the
theories and concepts of political economy. Through a combination of lectures
and discussions, the course explores the central theoretical perspectives,
debates, and findings in political economy. Coverage does not include every issue and approach, but it
addresses many of the core problems and perspectives animating comparative and
international political economy.
Students can expect to develop a sufficient understanding of the field
to prepare for further study and specialization.
The course relies heavily on the required books
(listed below) and the supplemental packet of articles (to be
distributed). Each assigned
reading should be read carefully.
10% of your grade will be based on weekly attendance and
participation. There will be two,
short take-home exams, each worth 25% of your final grade. I will hand the exams out at the end of class on September 30th and November 4th, and they
will be due back on October 7th (by email) and November 11th
(either by email before class or
by hard copy at the beginning of
class), respectively. The
remaining 40% of your course grade will consist of a take-home essay exam, for
which you will be able to use readings and notes from the class and draw upon
any external materials you deem relevant.
The final exam will be presented to you at the end of the last class on December 2nd and is
due no later than 5pm on December
16th (either by email or by hard copy in the Department of Politics
office). I look unfavorably upon
extensions and you should not anticipate receiving deadline flexibility from
me.
Required Books:
1.
Gary King, Robert
Keohane, and Sidney Verba. Designing Social Inquiry: Scientific Inference in Qualitative
Research (Princeton University Press,
1994).
2.
Robert Gilpin. Global
Political Economy: Understanding
the International Economic Order (Princeton
University Press, 2001).
3.
Jeffrey Frieden &
David Lake. International Political Economy: Perspectives on Global Power and Wealth (4th edition, St. Martins, 2000).
4.
F. A. Hayek. The Road to Serfdom. (The University of Chicago Press, 1944, republished
1994).
5.
Alberto Alesina, Nouriel
Roubini, and Gerald D. Cohen. Political Cycles and the Macroeconomy (MIT Press, 1997).
6.
Robert Bates. Market
and States in Tropical Africa: The
Political Basis of Agricultural Policies
(University of California Press, 1984).
7.
Adam Przeworski, Democracy
and the Market: Political and
Economic Reforms in Eastern Europe and Latin America (Cambridge University Press, 1991).
8.
Walter Mattli. The
Logic of Regional Integration:
Europe and Beyond (Cambridge
University Press, 1999).
9.
Joseph Stiglitz. Globalization
and Its Discontents (Norton, 2003).
10. Supplemental Reading Packet. [Denoted by * after assigned reading.]
Week 1 (September 2): Introduction
Week 2 (September 9): Methodology -- How do you
conduct and evaluate good social science?
Gary King, Robert Keohane, and Sidney Verba. Designing
Social Inquiry (Princeton University
Press, 1994).
Read
all Chapters’ Introduction and Concluding Remarks.
Chapter
1: all Sections, p. 1-33
Chapter 2: Sections 2.0-2.3, p. 34-50
Chapter 3: all Sections, p. 75-114
Chapter 4: Sections 4.2-4.4.1, p. 124-140
Chapter 5: Section 5.1.0, 5.2-5.4.0, p. 150-155,
168-187
“Symposium on Qualitative-Quantitative
Disputation," APSR. Vol. 89 (June 1995), No. 2. pp. 454-81.
*
Robert Gilpin, Global
Political Economy. p. 46-54, 74-76.
“Econometrics, once the
province of forecasters and financiers, now provides the underpinning for a
vast area of economics.” The Economist, October 12, 2000. *
“Journey Beyond the Stars,” The
Economist, December 17, 1998. *
“Behaviourists at the
gates: How economists are using
psychology to question orthodox policy prescriptions,” The Economist, May 8, 2003.
*
Week 3 (September
16): Introduction to Theories of
Political Economy
Robert Gilpin, Global
Political Economy.
Chapter
1: “The New Global Economic Order”
Chapter
2: “The Nature of Political
Economy”
Chapter
4: “The Study of International
Political Economy”
“The Nature of Political
Economy,” in Robert Gilpin, The Political Economy of International
Relations. Princeton University Press: Princeton, 1987.
p. 8-27. * (optional)
Jeffry A. Frieden and David
A. Lake, International Political Economy.
Introduction:
“International Politics and International Economics,” p. 1-17.
James E. Alt and Kenneth A.
Shepsle, eds., Perspectives on Positive Political Economy.
Editor’s
Introduction
Chapter 1: “The Emerging Discipline of Political
Economy,” Peter C. Ordeshook. *
(optional)
Week 4 (September 23): NO CLASS
Week 5 (September 30): Theories of Political Economy (EXTENDED CLASS, 6:20-9:20pm)
Robert Gilpin, Global
Political Economy.
Chapter
3: “The Neoclassical Conception of
the Economy” (optional)
Chapter
5: “New Economic Theories”
(optional)
Chapter
6: “The Political Significant of
the New Economic Theories” (optional)
Chapter
7: “National Systems of Political
Economy” (optional)
Chapter
15: “Governing the Global Economy”
Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom.
Introduction, Chapters 1 and 2. *
F. A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom.
Jeffry A. Frieden and David A. Lake, International
Political Economy.
Chapter
1: Stephen Krasner. “State Power and the Structure of
International Trade,” World Politics, 28, 3 (April 1976).
Chapter 3: Douglass North. “Institutions and Economic Growth: An Historical Introduction,” World
Development, Vol. 17 (1989), pp. 1319-1332.
Week 6 (October 7): NO CLASS / EXAM 1 DUE BY EMAIL
Week 7 (October 14): Monetary and Financial Systems
Robert Gilpin, “The
International Monetary System” in Global Political Economy, pp. 234-260.
Jeffry A. Frieden and David A. Lake, International
Political Economy.
Chapter 14: Barry Eichengreen. “Hegemonic Stability Theories of the
International Monetary System,” in Can Nations Agree? Issues in International Economic
Cooperation, Washington: The Brookings Institutions, 1989, pp.
255-298.
Chapter 16: Jeffry Frieden. “Exchange Rate Politics,” Review of
International Political Economy, Vol.
1, No. 1 (1994), pp. 81-98.
Chapter 18: John B. Goodman and Louis W.
Pauly. “The Obsolescence of
Capital Controls? Economic
Management in and Age of Global Markets,” World Politics, Vol. 46, No. 1 (1993), pp. 50-82.
“Managing the World Economy,”
The Economist, August 1,
2002. *
“The IMF: Doubts inside the barricades” The
Economist, September 26, 2002. *
“A slightly circuitous route: Where capital controls make
sense,” The Economist, May 1, 2003. *
“A cruel sea of capital,” The Economist, May 1, 2003. *
“Catching the tide: Why does so little capital flow from rich countries to
poor?” The Economist, May 1, 2003.
*
“Hot and cold running money,” The Economist, May 1, 2003. *
“Sudden Storms,” The Economist, May 1, 2003. *
Week 8 (October 21): Trade
Robert Gilpin, Global
Political Economy
Chapter
8: “The Trading System,” pp.
196-233.
Jeffry A. Frieden and David A. Lake, International
Political Economy.
Chapter 19: Cletus C. Coughlin, K. Alec Chrystal, and Geoffrey E. Wood. “Protectionist Trade Policies: A Survey of Theory, Evidence, and Rationale,” Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
Chapter 20: Ronald Rogowski. “Commerce and Coalitions: How Trade Affects Domestic Political Alignments,” Commerce and Coalitions, Princeton University Press, 1989.
Chapter 21: James E. Alt and Michael Gilligan. “The Political Economy of Trading States: Factor Specificity, Collective Action Problems, and Domestic Political Institutions,” Journal of Political Philosophy, Vol. 2, No. 2 (1994), pp. 165-192.
Helen
Milner, “The Political Economy of International Trade,” Annual Review of
Political Science 2 (1998):
91-114. *
“Weighing up the WTO,” The
Economist, November 21, 2002. *
“The Poor’s Best Hope,” The
Economist, June 20, 2002. *
“WTO Trade Talks: An Agreement to Deal,” The
Economist, August 14, 2003. *
“Trade Talks: Vital Signs,” The Economist, August 14, 2003. *
“Stitched up:
Africa irritation at rich countries’ cotton subsidies,” The
Economist, July 24, 2003. *
“Catching up:
If you consider people, not countries, global inequality is falling
rapidly,” The Economist, August
21, 2003. *
Week 9 (October 28): Institutions, Multinationals,
and Investment
Allan H. Meltzer, “A Report
of the International Financial Institution Advisory Commission: Comments on the
Critics” in C. Gilbert, J. Rollo, and D. Vines, editors, Reforming the
Architecture of Global Financial Institutions (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2001). Available
electronically via:
http://www.gsia.cmu.edu/afs/andrew/gsia/meltzer/Spanishedition3.doc *
Robert Gilpin, “The State and
the Multinationals” in Global Political Economy, pp. 278-304.
Jeffry A. Frieden and David A. Lake, International
Political Economy.
Chapter
4: Susan Strange. “States, Firms,
and Diplomacy,” International Affairs, London, Vol. 68, No. 1 (January 1992), pp. 1-15.
Chapter
9: Richard E. Caves. “The Multinational Enterprise as an
Economic Organization,” in The Multinational Enterprise and Economic
Analysis, Cambridge University Press:
2nd edition, 1996.
Chapter
10: Shah M. Tarzi. “Third World
Governments and Multinational Corporations: Dynamics of Host’s Bargaining
Power,” International Relations, vol.
X, no. 3 (May 1991), pp. 237-249.
Chapter
11: David Fieldhouse, “’A New
Imperial System’? The Role of the Multinational Corporation Reconsidered,” in Wolfgang
Mommsen and Jurgen Osterhammel, eds.
Imperialism and After,
Allen & Unwin 1986, pp. 225-240.
Allison Fine.
“Dealing Away Risk in Foreign Infrastructure Investment,” Journal of
Structured and Project Finance, Vol.
9, No.2, pp. 53-64. *
“Shipbuilding: Developing-country governments still
have a lot of work to do if they want to attaract the right sort of foreign
capital,” The Economist, May 1,
2003. *
Week 10 (November 4): Elections, Vetoes, and Cycles
Charles Cameron. Veto Bargaining (Cambridge University Press, 2000). Chapter
1-3. *
Alberto Alesina, Nouriel Roubini, and Gerald D. Cohen.
Political Cycles and the Macroeconomy. Chapters 1, 2, 3, 8, 9, 10.
“Staked Out:
Good economics ought to stop the poor getting poorer even as rich people
get richer. Three new books offer
advice on providing more stake in society,” The Economist, May 13, 1999.
EXAM 2 DUE BY EMAIL OR BY HARD COPY AT THE
BEGINNING OF CLASS
Robert Bates. Market and
States in Tropical Africa.
“Rational Choice or Hobson’s
Choice: The ‘New Political
Economy’ as Development Theory,” in Colin Leys, The Rise and Fall of
Development Theory. Indiana University Press: Bloomington, 1996.
p. 80-103. *
“Yali’s Question,” in
Jared Diamond, Guns, Germs, and Steel:
The Fates of Human Societies.
W. W. Norton & Co:
London, 1999. p. 13-32. *
“Roots of Development: What matters most for development –
geography, institutions, or policy?”
The Economist, October 3,
2002. *
"Finding Your Niche,” The
Economist, February 27, 2003. *
“Years of
plenty? The UN laments the 1990s,”
The Economist, July 10, 2003. *
“Gauging Generosity: Which rich countries do most to help poor countries?” The
Economist, May 1, 2003. *
“Lion cubs on a wire: Some African economies are soaring, but from fragile
foundations.” The Economist, August
14, 2003. *
Week 12 (November 18): Development II
Adam Przeworski, Democracy
and the Market.
Robert Gilpin, “The State and
Economic Development,” in Global Political Economy, p. 305-340.
Jeffry A. Frieden and David A. Lake, International
Political Economy.
Chapter
25: Joseph E. Stiglitz and Lyn
Squire. “International Development: Is It Possible?” Foreign Policy No. 110 (1998), pp. 138-151.
Chapter
26: Robin Broad, John Cavanagh,
and Walden Bello. “Development: The Market is Not Enough,” Foreign Policy No. 81 (Winter 1990-1991).
Chapter
28: Stephan Haggard. “Inflation
and Stabilization,” in Gerald M. Meier, ed. Politics and Policy Making in
Developing Countries: Perspectives
on the New Political Economy. The International Center for Economic
Growth, ICS Press, 1991. pp.
233-249.
“Arab Development: Self-doomed to failure,” Economist,
July 4, 2002. *
“Emerging Markets Indicators: Net Official Aid,” The Economist, March 21, 2002. *
“Emerging Markets
Indicators: Corruption,” The
Economist, January 30, 2003. *
Week 13 (November 25): Integration and Convergence
Walter Mattli. The Logic
of Regional Integration. Chapters 1, 2, 3, and 6.
Jeffry A. Frieden and David A. Lake, International
Political Economy.
Chapter 17: Charles Wyplosz. “EMU: Why and How It
Might Happen,” The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 11, No. 4 (Fall 1997), pp. 3-22.
Chapter 24:
Ronald W. Cox. “Explaining
Business Support for Regional Trade Agreements.”
Suzanne
Berger and Ronald Dore, eds., National Diversity and Global Capitalism (Cornell University, 1996). Introduction. *
“Review: World on Fire by Amy Chua,”
Salon.com. Michelle Goldberg. *
“One
true model? The world is not converging on a single kind of capitalism,” The
Economist, April 6, 2000. *
Week 14 (December 2): Globalization (LAST CLASS)
Robert Gilpin, “The
Nation-State in the Global Economy” and “Governing the Global
Economy,”
in Global Political Economy, pp.
362-402.
“Globalization and its critics,” The Economist, September 27, 2001. *
Jeffry A. Frieden and David A. Lake, International
Political Economy.
Chapter
27: Jeffrey A. Williamson. “Globalization and Inequality, Past and
Present,” World Bank Research Observer, 12:2 (1997), pp. 117-135.
Chapter
30: Philip G. Cerny. “Globalization and the Changing Logic
of Collective Action,” International Organization, Vol. 49, No. 4 (1995), pp. 595-625.
December 9: No Class – All Thursday classes meet on
this Tuesday.
December 12-19: NYU Exam Period.