Description

In this course, students examine the relationship between international economics and international politics. How do economic relations among states and non-state actors impact on international and domestic politics, and how do political concerns of states impact on the flows of goods, services, and finance across the globe? Where does power reside in global politics and economy? Is globalization in retreat? We discuss the relationship between markets and political institutions, and we cover such topics as international trade and its political consequences, international finance, globalization and de-globalization, geoeconomics, and the political economy of global crises.

Requirements

This course is exclusively available to the students of the programme MAIN - Master in International Relations. Students of other programmes, or exchange students, cannot take it.

Instructors

Mgr. Štěpán Jabůrek

doc. Michal Parízek, Ph.D.

Contents

1. Introduction and global political economy
2. Economics 101: supply, demand and markets
3. Economy, politics, and society
4. International trade and comparative advantage
5. Trade, its distributive consequences, and domestic politics
6. International finance
7. Rising powers and the challenge to the liberal international order?
8. Globalization backlash
9. COVID-19, Ukraine war, and de-globalization
10. Information age and the 4th industrial revolution
11. State-building, development, and poverty
12. Global political economy in the age of geoeconomics; conclusion

In principle, this is a lecture course, so a sizable lecture component will be present in the classes. Its purpose is to explore analytically the nature of each of the topics. However, regular in-class activities form a key part of the learning experience.

The use of AI-powered tools, including generative AI, is permitted in the course. However, note that even powerful generative AI models are language models only, there is no guarantee that what they "say" about Global Political Economy matters has a close connection to reality. Further, note that AI is most likely only going to be useful for your own preparatory work. The final exam takes place without access to the internet.

Planned Activities

Aim of the course: 

The specific objectives of the course are:

• to help students understand the relationship between international economics and politics
• to familiarize students with the fundamentals of economic reasoning in matters of international economic relations and understand some of the most widely used models of international trade
• to help students appreciate and understand the key challenges of the globalized economy and their connection with the revived prominence of geopolitics, especially in the adversarial relationship between the U.S. and China
• to familiarize students with the key contemporary debates on global economic conflicts
• to motivate students to study the subject matter further

Assessment Methods and Criteria

Successful completion of the course requires students’ active participation and interest in the subject matter. Formally, the requirements are:

• after each session, read carefully all the assigned compulsory readings and answer the questions of the homework assignments on the course Moodle site (accounts for 30% of the grade)
• pass the final exam based on the classes and assigned readings (accounts for 70% of the grade)

I very much recommend that students regularly attend the classes, though doing so is not a formal requirement for course completion.

The following standard Faculty grading scheme is applied:

• 100-91: A
• 90-81: B
• 80-71: C
• 70-61: D
• 60-51: E
• 50 or less: F (fail)
• at least 51% need to be reached in each core grade component, so both in the regular assignments and in the final exam individually