The International Economic System

Time and Place

Important Information: 

Due to the current situation, the start of the semester is postponed until April 20. There will be online-teaching until further notice.

Please make sure that you register on UNISONO for material and recent updates.

• Course on UNISONO

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Aim and Purpose

The purpose of this course is threefold:

First, it provides an introduction to global economic history since the end of the Second World War. This will obviously be very selective but provide you with the background to explore particular regions, countries and issues in more detail. 

Second, it is an introduction to the formal rules and organizations that have been implemented on a global level to regulate international economic relations between countries. 

Third, you should learn how to prepare economic analyses of selected economic episodes, countries and institutions. This should help you to prepare for seminar theses and ultimately your Master thesis. There will be a couple of shorter written pieces and presentations and a traditional seminar at the end of the semester. 

Three major texts will be used that are available in the library (some can be downloaded) but which you might also consider buying: 

• Eichengreen, Barry (2019) Globalizing Capital: A History of the International Monetray System, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 3rd edition. (Available as e-book)

• Schenk, Catherine R. (2011) International Economic Relations since 1945, New York: Routledge.

• Siebert, Horst (2009) Rules for the Global Economy, Princeton: Princeton University Press. (Available as e-book)

Additional background readings: 

• Frieden, Jeffry A. (2007) Global Capitalism: Its Fall and Rise in the Twentieth Century, New York: Norton. 

• Pomfret, Richard (2011) The Age of Equality: The Twentieth Century in Economic Perspective, Cambridge: Harvard University Press. (Available as e-book)

Requirements 

The course compromises participation in class, assignments to work on topics in groups or individually, and presentation of a longer paper at the end of the semester. All assignments will be graded. 

More specifically, there are two summaries of research papers (10%), a literature review (10%), a policy paper (20%), and a seminar paper (50%). In addition, there are a shorter and a longer presentation (10%).

There will be a feedback discussion after each assignment. There will also be an introductory meeting on how to write scientifically (Tuesday, 24.April, 18-20).

Active participation and regular attendance are expected.  

 I. Introduction

How Economies Interact 

 

II. Rules and Institutions 

Transaction Costs and Property Rights 

The Role of International Institutions 

 

III. The Global Economy Since 1945

1. Background 

The First Globalization: 1870-1914

The Interwar Years 

2. The Post-War Order 

Bretton Woods and ITO 

3. System Competition: 3 Worlds 

Cold War, First and Second World 

Third World, Decolonialization 

4. Years of Crisis 

Collapse of Bretton Woods

Oilprice shocks, Debt crisis 

5. "The End of History" and the New Globalization

Collapse of Communism 

Regional Integration 

Global Financial Integration and Crises

 

IV. Current Issues and Open Questions

A Multipolar World

Global Financial Cycle

Changes in the Institutional Infrastructure  

 

[Subject to changes and extensions; updates will be made available via UNISONO]