Political Economy of Trade & Investment POLS G8826y
Credits:3 pts.
This course examines the politics of several major issues in international trade and investment. It explores why and how governments regulate the flow of goods and capital across national borders. The course is divided into four blocs that look at the distributive consequences of trade, the political economy of trade politics, the political economy of trade reform, and the political economy of foreign direct investment and multinational corporations, respectively. The course presumes some familiarity with international economics. Economic theory will help us identify the welfare and distributional implications of alternative policies. We will also make extensive use of the insights from the positive political economy tradition to analyze how political actors (voters, interest groups, political parties, and politicians) interact within political institutions to shape policy outcomes. Students are required to actively participate in weekly discussions, write two review papers during the semester, and submit an original research paper on one of the topics of the seminar at the end of the semester.
