Undergraduate Course: International Politics of Money (PLIT10095)
Course Outline
| School | School of Social and Political Science |
College | College of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences |
| Credit level (Normal year taken) | SCQF Level 10 (Year 3 Undergraduate) |
Availability | Available to all students |
| SCQF Credits | 20 |
ECTS Credits | 10 |
| Summary | This course introduces students to the international political economy and comparative political economy of international money and finance. The recent financial crisis will be considered as well as the international, EU and national level regulatory, monetary and fiscal policy responses to the crisis. The course finishes with a simulation focused on the Euro Areas Sovereign Debt Crisis. The course builds on the growing teaching capacity in political economy in the School of Social and Political Science and provides an opportunity to the minority of IR / Politics students who have an interest in political economy to specialise beyond the more broadly focused (and effectively introductory) International Political Economy (IPE) course |
| Course description |
Lecture & Seminar Programme
1. Introduction: IPE and CPE approaches to ¿money¿
2. Organising international financial relations
3. The role of the key currency and the future of the dollar
4. Monetary power and financial globalisation
5. The success of international capital liberalisation and the failure of international financial regulation
6. The financial crisis: what went wrong?
7. The financial crisis: from US to European crisis
8. The financial crisis in comparative national perspective
9. The international response to the crisis
10. The EUs Sovereign Debt Crisis (simulation)
11. Conclusion & revision
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Entry Requirements (not applicable to Visiting Students)
| Pre-requisites |
Students MUST have passed:
Introduction to Politics and International Relations (PLIT08004) OR
Politics in a Changing World: An Introduction for non-specialists (PLIT08012)
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Co-requisites | |
| Prohibited Combinations | |
Other requirements | Successful completion of IPoM doesn't require any detailed knowledge of economics. However, students who are not undertaking degrees in Economics or joint degrees including Economics must have successfully completed the Honours International Political Economy course taught in semester 1 or have the course convenor's agreement that they have completed equivalent courses.
Students who have not taken Introduction to Politics and International Relations (PLIT08004) OR Politics in a Changing World (PLIT08012), but have taken a similar course, should contact the Course Organiser to confirm if they are eligible to take this course. |
Information for Visiting Students
| Pre-requisites | Visiting students should have at least 4 Politics/International Relations courses at grade B or above (or be predicted to obtain this). We will only consider University/College level courses.
Successful completion of IPoM doesn't require any detailed knowledge of economics. However, students who are not undertaking degrees in Economics or joint degrees including Economics should contact the course convener to check if they have completed equivalent courses to International Political Economy (semester 1).
** as numbers are limited, visiting students should contact the Visiting Student Office directly for admission to this course **
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| High Demand Course? |
Yes |
Course Delivery Information
| Not being delivered |
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this course, the student will be able to:
- understand the value of a range of theoretical approaches drawn from International Political Economy and Comparative Political Economy to understand international financial and monetary developments over the past two decades.
- grasp the debates surrounding the causes of the recent crises (financial and sovereign debt).
- grasp the main political economy issues arising from international financial integration, the international financial crisis (from 2008) and the European sovereign debt crisis.
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Reading List
Helleiner, E. et al. (2010) Global Finance in Crisis, Abingdon: Routledge.
Underhill, G.R.D, Blom, J. and Mügge, D. (eds) (2010) Global Financial Integration Thirty Years On, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Hardie, I. and Howarth, D. (2012) Market Based-Banking and the Financial Crisis, Oxford: OUP.
Multiple copies of the first two books are available in the library (more can be ordered if necessary). The second book will be available electronically. Some additional copies of the third book will be necessary.
Some of the seminar discussions will also be centred around individual journal articles that are available electronically.
Useful background reading on international money and finance can be found in chapters found in several IPE textbooks. They can be used as supplementary reading.
John Ravenhill, ed. (2014) Global Political Economy 4th edition.
Raymond C. Miller (2008), International Political Economy.
Robert OBrien and Marc Williams (2013) Global Political Economy 4th edition.
Theodore H. Cohn (2012) Global Political Economy: Theory and Practice, 6th edition.
Thomas Oatley (2012), International Political Economy, 5th edition.
Jeffry Frieden and David Lake eds. (2000), International Political Economy: Perspectives on Global Power and Wealth, 4th edition.
Richard Stubbs and Geoffrey Underhill (eds.), Political Economy and the Changing Global Order (2nd edition 2000)
Robert Gilpin, Global Political Economy, Princeton, 2001.
Resources
Among the best sources for contemporary information about the financial crisis and global political economy more generally are the Financial Times, The Economist and The Wall Street Journal. These are available on-line through the university. Other newspapers, including The Times, New York Times and (for French readers) Le Monde and Le Monde Dipomatique (monthly), also have useful material and are available on-line free of charge (some require registration).
Online Resources
A wealth of information is available on the web. This ranges from the web sites of companies, governments, international organizations, and NGOs to journals and newspapers. The following are some of the more useful sites:
International Organizations
Bank for International Settlements: the central banks central bank and heavily involved in publishing crisis-related research: http://www.bis.org/
International Monetary Fund: data on debt, balance of payments, international reserves; analysis of structural adjustment programs; staff working papers are online as are the Fund¿s fortnightly newsletter, IMF Survey and its biannual World Economic Outlook: http://www.imf.org/
Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development: data on foreign investment, economies of member states. Staff working papers and other reports online: http://www.oecd.org/
World Bank: Data on development; major reports online (including annual World Development Report); staff working papers online: http://www.worldbank.org/
European Union, especially Directorates-General on Economic and Financials Affairs (on EMU, fiscal policy, etc.) and Internal Market (financial market regulation): http://www.europa.eu.int/
Group of Twenty: http://g20.nic.in/indexe.html
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Additional Information
| Graduate Attributes and Skills |
Not entered |
| Special Arrangements |
The course consists of 10 x 50 minute lectures and 10 x 50 minute tutorials, with the exception of week 10, which will use the whole time for the simulation. |
| Keywords | Not entered |
Contacts
| Course organiser | Mr Iain Hardie
Tel: (0131 6)50 4249
Email: |
Course secretary | Mr Ethan Alexander
Tel: (0131 6)50 4001
Email: |
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