Vincent Ferraro

103 Skinner

Ext. 2669

vferraro@mtholyoke.edu

POLITICS 240 INTERNATIONAL POLITICAL ECONOMY

Purpose of the Course

This course introduces some of the fundamental relationships between politics and economics, on both the domestic and international levels. Its purpose is not to assert either the primacy of economics or politics, but rather to show how these two aspects of human behavior are mutually dependent and how, over time, economics and politics generally support each other in a coherent social system. Moreover, the course will show how, on the international level, political decisions intervene on all economic decisions and economic constraints shape political possibilities.

Course Format

The course will follow a mixed format. Generally speaking, discussions will be the principal method of discourse. On some days, however, lectures will be introduced to illustrate certain fundamental points. Evaluations will be based on a mid-term (handed out on October 21 and due on October 28) and a final (handed out on December 4 and due no later than the last day of exams, December 20), each comprising 45% of the final grade. Class participation will make up the final 10% of the grade. Both the mid-term and the final are take-home exams with open books and open discussion.

Procedural Issues

The books for purchase are for sale at the College Bookstore. They are:

Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982)

David N. Balaam and Michael Veseth, Introduction to International Political Economy (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996)

All other readings are found on the Internet. The easiest way to access these documents is to call up this file at /acad/intrel/ipe/pol240.htm and then click on all the readings highlighted in blue. You can then print out these documents by clicking on the Print button on your browser. If you wish to review a number of different documents related to the study of international relations, you can go to my home page. For general information about the International Relations Program at Mount Holyoke College, click here.

My office hours are: Monday, 7-9 p.m. and Tuesday 2-3:30. Other times by appointment.

 
Readings

September 8 Introduction

September 10-24: The Historical Development of Capitalism

David N. Balaam and Michael Veseth, Introduction to International Political Economy (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996), Chapters 1 and 2

Lecture notes on mercantilism

David N. Balaam and Michael Veseth, Introduction to International Political Economy (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996), Chapter 3

Milton Friedman, Capitalism and Freedom (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982), pp. vi-36; 85-136; 161-202

Milton Friedman's Home Page at the Hoover Institution

Charles Dickens, Hard Times, Chapter 2

The Life of the Industrial Worker in 19th-Century England

David N. Balaam and Michael Veseth, Introduction to International Political Economy (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996), Chapter 4

September 29-October 1: The Political Economy of Capitalism: Hegemonic Stability

Lecture Notes: The Theory of Hegemonic Stability

DEFENCE AND GLOBALISATION By Nicholas Marsh, UK Defence Confidential Online archive

David N. Balaam and Michael Veseth, Introduction to International Political Economy (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996), Chapter 9

October 6-8: The Political Economy of Capitalism: Dependency Theory

Vincent Ferraro, "Dependency Theory: An Introduction," July 1996

October 15-22  The Globalization Debate

"The Capitalist Threat" by George Soros
Atlantic Monthly, Volume 279, No. 2, February 1997

David Rothkopf, "In Praise of Cultural Imperialism?" Foreign Policy, Number 107, Summer 1997, pp. 38-53

Jacques Attali, "The Crash of Western Civilization: The Limits of the Market and Democracy," Foreign Policy, Number 107, Summer 1997, pp. 54-64

Wages in Some Selected Asian Countries, Hourly Compensation as a Percentage of US Wages

Midterm Exam

ROGER COHEN, "France vs. U.S.: Warring Views of Capitalism," New York Times,October 20, 1997

Issues in International Political Economy

David N. Balaam and Michael Veseth, Introduction to International Political Economy (Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall, 1996), Chapter 7

Vincent Ferraro and Melissa Rosser, "Global Debt and Third World Development," in World Security: Challenges for a New Century, edited by Michael Klare and Daniel Thomas (New York: St. Martin's Press, 1994), pp. 332-355

Richard E. Mueller, Policy Analyst, Economic and Trade Policy Division (CPE), Policy Staff, Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade, Canada, Policy Staff Paper, Nol 94/09, "Still an Albatross? The LDC Debt Crisis Revisited" (May 1994)

"Financial Policy: Creating Growth after the African Debt Crisis," Siyanga Malumo, Executive Vice President, Meridien B.I.A.O., Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, 1993

U.S. Congress, Senate, Committee on Foreign Relations, Subcommittee on Multinational Corporations, "Multinational Oil Corporations and U.S. Foreign Policy," 93rd Cong., 2nd sess., 1975, pp. 33-74

WGBH, Frontline, The Gulf War, Broadcast January 9th and 10th, 1996

Alan Tonelson, "The Persian Gulf: Still Mired," The Atlantic Monthly, Volume 271, No. 6, June 1993, pp. 48-52

Energetics, Incorporated, "The National Security Costs of Petroleum," 7164 Gateway Drive, Columbia, MD, n.d.

Vincent Ferraro, "The Policy Implications of Global Economic Inequity," June 1996

Report of the Secretary-General of UNCTAD to the ninth session of the Conference, Chapter I, "Trade and Development in a Liberalized and Globalizing World Economy," Ninth Session of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, Midrand, South Africa, 27 April - 11 May 1996

December 8-10: Conclusion