What is meant by the term “globalization”? Why is it so contentious? What is at stake in the policy debates about it?

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What is meant by the term “globalization”? Why is it so contentious? What is at stake in the policy debates about it?

1. What is meant by the term “globalization”? Why is it so contentious? What is at stake in the policy debates about it?
   Balaam pages 17-21

Chart on blackboard on the different approaches

Hirst, Paul and David Held, “Globalisation: The Argument of Our Time,” openDemocracy.org, January 22, 2002, http://www.opendemocracy.net/node/637/pdf

Rodrik, Dani, “Globalization Dilemmas and the Way Out,” The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 47, no. 3, January, 2012, pp. 393-404, http://www.sss.ias.edu/files/pdfs/Rodrik/Research/Globalization-Dilemmas-and-the-Way-Out.pdf

Twilley, Nicola, “What Do Chinese Dumplings Have to Do With Global Warming?” New York Times Magazine, July 25, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/magazine/what-do-chinese-dumplings-have-to-do-with-global-warming.html

Rodrik, Dani, “Sense and Nonsense in the Globalization Debate,” Foreign Policy, vol. 107, Summer 1997, pp. 19-37.

http://www.jstor.org.mutex.gmu.edu/stable/pdf/1149330.pdf

• Development, economy, examples of what is at stake
  • Brexit, TPP, decrease in global trade
• Illicit financial flows

2. Discuss how economic development strategies are developed. How are these strategies related to the context and politics of each country, and to the international economic system? What institutional, political or economic factors were most important in shaping them? In retrospect, were they the right policies to have pursued? Why or why not?

Week 3, Week 8, Week 9

Balaam, Chapter 13

“Northern Lights: The Nordic Countries: A Special Report,” The Economist, February 2, 2013, http://www.economist.com/sites/default/files/20130202_nordic_countries.pdf

McMichael, Philip, Development and social change: A global perspective, 5^thed., (Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications, 2012), chs. 6-8, pp. 150-250.

• Use example of BRICS countries, arab oil countries, Nordic countries

3. It is commonly thought that market capitalism and liberal democracy go hand in hand; some people even say that liberal capitalism is an inevitability. Others argue that capitalism is compatible with a wide range of political systems, and that more authoritarian systems might be even better at making rapid strides economically. Using examples or references from the readings, explain and elaborate the main arguments on both sides of this debate. What is the evidence for each position: do we have examples from recent developments in the world? Does one argument have more merit than another, in your opinion? Why or why not?

Fukuyama, end of hisory. – inevitabily of capitalism http://www.wesjones.com/eoh.htm  

Jihad and McWorld http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199203/barber

Rodrik’s trilemma http://www.sss.ias.edu/files/pdfs/Rodrik/Research/Globalization-Dilemmas-and-the-Way-Out.pdf

Page 283 – Balaam

Define liberal democracy and market capitalism first!

Arguments For: US

Arguments Against: Singapore, Arab oil producers

4. Is the welfare state obsolete? Discuss why welfare states emerged, the challenges that now face them, the alternate paths they could follow and the potential implications of those choices. How much are social welfare policies influenced by domestic considerations and how much by international forces and structures?

Week 7

Nordic countries (strong welfare state) http://www.economist.com/sites/default/files/20130202_nordic_countries.pdf

Rodrik, Dani, “Sense and Nonsense in the Globalization Debate,” Foreign Policy, vol. 107, Summer 1997, pp. 19-37. http://www.jstor.org.mutex.gmu.edu/stable/pdf/1149330.pdf

Hacker, Jacob and Paul Pierson, Winner Take All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer – And Turned Its Back on the Middle Class, (New Yorker: Simon and Schuster, 2010), ch. 1, pp. 11-40, http://billmoyers.com/content/chapter-one-of-winner-take-all-politics/

Piketty, Thomas, Emmanuel Saez and Stefanie Stantcheva, “Taxing the 1%: Why the Top Tax Rate Could Be Over 80%,” VoxEU, December 8, 2011, http://www.voxeu.org/article/taxing-1-why-top-tax-rate-could-be-over-80

• US example (not strong welfare state)

5. Many countries with strong government control of the economy have undergone dramatic changes in the last 30 years. Some have grown rapidly, while others have not done so well. Analyze the factors leading to success or failure in national economic and political development in at least two different cases. It is less important to describe the cases and more important to extract the lessons from them, using the cases as examples.

Not done well: Venezuela, Russia,

Done well: China, India

Root, Hilton, “Risk, Uncertainty and Social Progress,” chapter 1, Capital and Collusion, (Princeton: Princeton University Press 2006), pp. 3-16. http://press.princeton.edu/chapters/s8054.html

Polanyi, Karl, The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time, (Boston: Beacon Press, 1957 (1944), chs. 6-7, 12, pp. 68-85, 135-150. http://site.ebrary.com/lib/georgemason/reader.action?docID=10014733

Rodrik, Dani and Arvind Subramanian, “Primacy of Institutions (and What This Does and Does Not Mean),” Finance and Development, June 2003, pp. 31-34. http://search.proquest.com.mutex.gmu.edu/docview/209412386?accountid=14541

6. The economic crisis of 2008 continues to produce economic and political fallout around the world. What caused the crisis and the subsequent recession? What are the principal policy approaches to dealing with them? What can the major theoretical perspectives on international political economy contribute to a better understanding of what is going on?

Week 6

Davidson, Adam and Alex Blumberg, “The Giant Pool of Money,” This American Life, WBZE Chicago, episode 355, May 9, 2008, http://www.thisamericanlife.org/radio-archives/episode/355/the-giant-pool-of-money (59:00).

Bartlett, Bruce, “‘Financialization’ as a Cause of Economic Malaise,” Economix Blog, New York Times, June 11, 2013, http://economix.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/06/11/financialization-as-a-cause-of-economic-malaise/

Page 283 Ballaam – Insulation of these economies from financial crisis

Canada as an example of being isulated

Chapter 7 Ballaam

7. Institutions seem to be central to the study of how countries grow, provide security, manage social risks and conflict, and provide for social well-being. Lack of effective institutions seems to be associated with relatively poor economic and social outcomes. Yet the role of institutions appears to elude notice in public discussions about eoconomic and political change. What is the role of institutions in development, and how do institutions contribute to effective governance for economic growth, equality and security?

Week 4

Robinson/Acemoglu http://link.springer.com.mutex.gmu.edu/article/10.1007%2Fs11127-013-0148-9

Fukuyama http://muse.jhu.edu.mutex.gmu.edu/article/54670

8. Economic growth is a central concern of nearly all countries. Yet concerns are mounting that the environmental cost of growth may exceed its benefits, and by increasing margins. Some have begun to question whether the focus on growth is itself part of the problem. Is this position supported by the evidence? What might be done to respond to this problem? What kind of political action or movement might be necessary to avoid unacceptable environmental damage from economic “business as usual”?

Week 11

Twilley, Nicola, “What Do Chinese Dumplings Have to Do With Global Warming?” New York Times Magazine, July 25, 2014, http://www.nytimes.com/2014/07/27/magazine/what-do-chinese-dumplings-have-to-do-with-global-warming.html

McMichael, Philip, Development and social change: A global perspective, Pine Forge Press, 2011, ch. 9, pp. 251-283.

Stern Review, “Summary of Conclusions and the Executive Summary,” in The economics of climate change: the Stern review, (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK, 2006), http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/shared/bsp/hi/pdfs/30_10_06_exec_sum.pdf

9. Can international development assistance work? Why or why not? Does international development assistance about serving poor countries, or is it about serving countries that help poor countries? What approaches might improve development assistance?

Week 10

Barder, Owen, “Can Aid Work?” written testimony submitted to the House of Lords, July 2011, www.cgdev.org/content/publications/detail/1425286

Johnson-Sirleaf, Ellen and Nicky Oppenheimer, “Aid is good, business is better,” New York Times, August 29, 2008, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/29/opinion/29iht-edsirleaf.1.15743684.html?_r=0

Development contsraints, Barder

Chapter 11 Balaam

Rodrik https://research.hks.harvard.edu/publications/getFile.aspx?Id=146

10. Capitalism is an economic philosophy that enshrines risk-taking as a key tennet, but in fact, all societies have to deal with the fact of economic and social risk in one way or another. What is the role for the state, if any, in managing these risks? What factors affect the choices facing policymakers about what approaches to risk management they should take?What are the consequences for social welfare of different risk strategies? How could outcomes be improved?

Rodrik, Dani and Arvind Subramanian, “Primacy of Institutions (and What This Does and Does Not Mean),” Finance and Development, June 2003, pp. 31-34.

Root, Hilton, “Risk, Uncertainty and Social Progress,” chapter 1, Capital and Collusion, (Princeton: Princeton University Press 2006), pp. 3-16.

Fukuyama, Francis, “The Imperative of State-Building,” Journal of Democracy, vol. 15, no. 2, April 2004, pp. 17-31.

• Hilton Root has a definition
• Commanding Heights: Hayek, Keynes

11. According to its liberal proponents, globalization should result in widespread and increasing benefits. Recent history provides substantial evidence supporting this argument. Others are more skeptical: they see problems, for example, in the behavior of transnational or multinational corporations, the prevalence of illicit trade, the growth of inequality and the concentration of wealth, the excessive volatility in financial flows, political backlash against trade agreements. Global trade itself may be slowing down. One might think that global governance itself is not up to the task. What do you think should be done, and who should do it? Is there a role for international institutions?

Ballaam Chapter 2 – liberalism

Week 14 Rodrik, Dani, “Globalization Dilemmas and the Way Out,” The Indian Journal of Industrial Relations, vol. 47, no. 3, January, 2012, pp. 393-404, http://www.sss.ias.edu/files/pdfs/Rodrik/Research/Globalization-Dilemmas-and-the-Way-Out.pdf

Global Trends 2030: Alternative Worlds: Report of the National Intelligence Council,

http://www.dni.gov/files/documents/Interactive%20Le%20Menu.pdf.

“The Third Great Wave: A Special Report,” The Economist, April 4, 2014, http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21621156-first-two-industrial-revolutions-inflicted-plenty-pain-ultimately-benefited (read all 7 linked sections)

12. Economically, China has been on a roll in the past couple of decades. In fact, some might argue that China currently has a viable and even generalizable model of economic development. This is so because of the fact that 1) entrepreneurs have some amount of security (albeit through maintaining close ties with key members of the Chinese Communist Party), 2) state-owned enterprises (SOEs) are focused on seeking profits and being competitive in international markets, and 3) investments in technologies (although more focused on existing rather than new technologies) are combined with extractive political institutions, that is, political power is concentrated in the hands of a few.Given what we have learned about China’s economic development model, how does this model stack up, for example according to Acemoglu and Robinson’s framework of inclusive vs. exclusive institutions? Should developing countries emulate it? Why or why not?

“China: Building the Dream: A Special Report,” The Economist, April 19, 2014,

http://www.economist.com/news/special-report/21600797-2030-chinese-cities-will-be-home-about-1-billion-people-getting-urban-china-work

Goldman, Marshall I., Petrostate: Putin, Power, and the New

Root, Hilton, “Risk, Uncertainty and Social Progress,” chapter 1, Capital and Collusion, (Princeton: Princeton University Press 2006), pp. 3-16.

Fukuyama, Francis, “The Imperative of State-Building,” Journal of Democracy, vol. 15, no. 2, April 2004, pp. 17-31.

Acemoglu, Daron and James A. Robinson, Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, (New York: Crown Business, 2012), ch. 3, “The Making of Prosperity and Poverty,” and ch. 15, “Understanding Prosperity and Poverty,” pp. 70-95, 428-462.