PS 152: International Political Economy
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 2:00 p.m. - 2:50 p.m.
David Rittenhouse Lab room A8
Prof. Julia Gray
jcgray@sas.upenn.edu
211 Stiteler Hall
898-6624
Office Hours: Tuesday 3-4 pm, Thursday 3-4 pm
TAs:
(PSCI 152-204 Mon 10-11 a.m., PSCI 152-205 Mon 11-12 a.m., PSCI 152-205 Mon 1-2 p.m.)
(PSCI 152-201 Wed 3-4 p.m., PSCI 152-202 Wed 4-5 p.m., PSCI 152-206 Wed 5-6 p.m)
This course explores the theories, history, and issues in international political economy. International
political economy has been described as “the reciprocal and dynamic interaction in international relations of the pursuit of power and the pursuit of wealth.” The purpose of this course is to examine those
interactions — between power and wealth, the state and the market — from a number of competing perspectives and different levels of analysis. We will focus on the causes and consequences of international
trade and monetary relations; the growth of regional integration; the role of hegemony in maintaining
the stability of international economic systems; strategies of economic development and transition; and
the role of multinational corporations in both developing and developed countries.
Objectives: The course has three main objectives for students:
1. to become familiar with both the historical evolution of and ongoing developments in the international economy;
2. to use political and economic concepts and theories to analyze phenomena at the intersection of
international politics and economy; and
3. to consider normative trade-offs involved in these phenomena.
Course Requirements:
• 25% Participation in sections: You are expected to attend and contribute to your assigned weekly
sections.
• 75% Short exams (25% each): There will be three in-class exams, the first on Tuesday, October 8
and the second on Thursday, October 31. The exams will be a combination of multiple choice and
short-answer questions.
Required Books: Books are available through the Penn bookstore at Barnes and Noble or the Penn
Book Center, an independent bookstore on 34th and Sansom streets. Textbooks will also be placed on
reserves at the library.
International Political Economy, Fifth Edition. Thomas Oatley, Longman Press. (It’s important to
get the 5th edition, which has updates about the financial crisis.)
The Travels of a T-shirt in the Global Economy, Pietra Rivoli.
All other required articles and book chapters will be posted online on Blackboard.
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Alternative Recommended Texts: For students who wish to read beyond the recommended texts,
the following possibilities are suggested. These would be useful for any pre-reading a student may wish
to do, or for supplementary reading.
This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly, Carmen M. Reinhart and Kenneth S.
Rogoff. 2009.
Paul Krugman and Maurice Obstfeld, International Economics: theory and policy (6th edition),
Addison Wesley (a standard international economics text, with several non-technical sections that will
be helpful to students with no economics background).
Barry Eichengreen, Exorbitant Privilege: The Rise and Fall of the Dollar and the Future of the
International Monetary System
Jeffry Frieden and David Lake (eds.), International Political Economy, fourth edition, Routledge,
2000.
Robert Gilpin, Global Political Economy: understanding the international economic order, Princeton
University Press, 2001.
Greg Mankiw, Macroeconomics.
Andrew Walter and Gautham Sen, Analyzing the Global Political Economy, Princeton University
Press 2009.
Paul Blustein, The Chastening; Misadventures of the Most Favored Nations; And the Money Kept
Rolling In
Economics Glossary: A useful online glossary of economic terms can be found at:
http : //www.bized.co.uk/glossary/econglos.htm
Week 1 - Introduction
Thursday, August 28 Introduction
Week 2 - IPE Theory
Tuesday, September 2 Why Study International Political Economy?
Thursday, September 4
Oatley, Chapter 1: International Political Economy
Cohen, Benjamin. 2007. “The Transatlantic Divide: Why Are American and British IPE So Different?,”
Review of International Political Economy 14:2 (May), 197-219.
Week 3 - International Trade
Tuesday, September 9- Trade
Oatley, Chapter 2: The World Trade Organization and the World Trade System
Thursday, September 11
Oatley, Chapter 3: The Political Economy of International Trade Cooperation
Blustein, Paul. Misadventures of the Most Favored Nations, Chs 1 and 2 (available on Blackboard)
Week 4 - Domestic Politics of International Trade
Tuesday, September 16
Oatley, Chapter 4: A Society-Centered Approach to Trade Politics
Thursday, September 18
Oatley, Chapter 5: A State-Centered Approach to Trade Politics
“Bailing out Bali,” The Economist
Week 5 - The Complexities of Trade
Tuesday, September 23
Travels of a T-shirt, Prologue and Part I
Thursday, September 25
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Travels of a T-shirt, Part III
Week 6 - Preferential Trade Agreements, Fair Trade
Tuesday, September 30
“Free-trade agreements: Opening up the Pacific,” The Economist, Nov 12th 2011 “Free Trade Agreements
Too Complex and Ineffective, Study Finds,” International Business Times, 8 Aug 2014
Thursday, October 2
Movie: Black Gold
“How fair is it?,” Oct 2nd 2007, The Economist
“The Economist on ‘Fair Trade,’” December 16, 2006, New York Times
Week 7 - MNCs and Labor
Tuesday, October 7
First Exam Thursday, October 9
Fall Break - no class
Week 8 - Economic Reform
Tuesday, October 14
Oatley, Chapter 8: Trade and Development I: ISI
Thursday, October 16
Oatley, Chapter 7: Trade and Development II: Economic Reform
Week 9 - Multinational Corporations
Tuesday, October 21
Oatley, Chapter 8: Multinational Corporations in the Global Economy
Pandya, Sonal S. “Labor Markets and the Demand for Foreign Direct Investment,” International Organization (2010), 64 : pp 389-409
Thursday, October 23
Oatley, Chapter 9: The Politics of MNCs
Week 10 - Outsourcing and Local Markets
Tuesday, October 28
Travels of a T-shirt, Part II
Thursday, October 30
Second Exam
Week 11 - The International Monetary System
Tuesday, November 4
Oatley, Chapter 12- A Society-Centered Approach to Money; also, pages 202-212 of Chapter 11
Thursday, November 6
Oatley, Chapter 13, - A State-Centered Approach to Money
Week 12 - More on Money
Tuesday, November 11
Oatley, Chapter 10: The International Monetary System (pages 212-224; reread section on the Gold
Standard, pages 208-210
Thursday, November 13
Oatley, Chapter 11: Contemporary International Monetary Arrangements
Week 13 - Financial Crises
Tuesday, November 18
Oatley, Chapter 14: Developing Countries and International Finance I: The Latin American Debt Crisis
Thursday, November 20
Movie: Too Big to Fail
Week 14 - Financial Crises and Globalization
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Tuesday, November 25
Oatley, Chapter 15: Developing Countries and International Finance II: A Decade of Crises
Michael Lewis, “Beware of Greeks Bearing Gifts.” Vanity Fair, 2009.
Blustein, Paul. The Chastening, Chs 1-2 (available on Blackboard).
Thursday, November 27
Thanksgiving - no class
Week 14 - Financial Crises and Globalization
Tuesday, December 2
Reinhart, Carmen M. and Kenneth S. Rogoff. 2009. This Time is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial
Folly, Chapters 1-3, 13-14.
Andrew Lo, “Reading about the Financial Crisis,” 2011.
Thursday, December 4
Globalization - Oatley Ch 16
Week 15 - Wrapup
Tuesday, December 9
Third Exam
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