Spring 2017 - 61353 - PA388K - Advanced Topics in Public Policy

This course examines the economics, politics, and institutions of international trade, finance, and direct investment, and their effects on the people, policies, and performance of developed and developing countries. We will cover topics such as the effects of globalization on wages and labor standards; on tax rates, government borrowing, and the provision of public goods; on environmental regulations and their enforcement; and on the stability of the banking system. In some ways, the course parallels and in other ways it builds on the MGPS core course in international economics, which is a more theoretical course than this one; this course emphasizes economic and political reasoning applied to specific challenges of global policy in contemporary debates about globalization. Grading will be based on class participation (17.5%), a turn as the class’ “discussion leader” (17.5%), discussion board participation (15%), a five-page paper (20%), and a final exam (30%). The course uses two required books, available at the Co-Op East and elsewhere: Suzanne Berger, Making in America: From Innovation to Market, and Richard M. Locke, The Promise and Limits of Private Power: Promoting Labor Standards in a Global Economy. Other readings will be available via the course’s Canvas site. While the reading load will vary somewhat week-to-week, students should expect an average of about 100 pages per week.