POLS90026

Interna0onal Poli0cal Economy Semester 2, 2013

Seminar 1: Introduc1on What is IPE?

Introduc0ons
Coordinators: Jikon Lai: jikon.lai@unimelb.edu.au Andrew Walter: andrew.walter@unimelb.edu.au Seminar Assistant Jonathan Schultz: schultzj@unimelb.edu.au (Contact Jonathan in the rst instance in regard to general
informa5on, absences, assignments, and other ques5ons)

Resources and communica0on

Learning Management System (LMS): www.lms.unimelb.edu.au

Subject guide, assessment details, links to readings, announcements Please check LMS regularly Please also check your email regularly

Assessment
Brieng paper: 500 words, due 4:30 p.m., one week aPer relevant seminar (10%) Essay: 2,000 words, due 3pm, Monday, 7 October

2013 (40%)

Choose from the list provided Must be on a dierent topic to brieng paper

Exam: three hours, three ques1ons (50%)

Will be during Examina1on Week

Please read the details in the Subject Guide in regard to marking criteria, submission procedures, plagiarism policy, late penal5es, extension requests, etc

Seminars
You should a]end one 2 hour seminar per week (the one for which you are registered) Seminars will be interac1ve: a mix of short lectures, group exercises, case studies, discussion
Emphasis on ac1ve & peer learning It is essen1al that you complete at least the required readings each week in advance of the seminar

You must a]end at least 75% of seminars to pass

Explain all absences (to Jonathan) & provide documenta1on where applicable

Lecture capture is a back up, not a subs1tute for a]endance

Outline of Seminar Topics

1. Introduc1on: What is IPE? 2. The Crisis of Mul1lateral Economic Governance in the Inter-war period 3. The Bre]on Woods System & the Reconstruc1on of the Interna1onal Poli1cal Economy 4. GATT and the Global Trade System 5. The Post-Bre]on Woods Monetary System: Crisis and Fragmenta1on 6. The WTO and the Contemporary Global Trade System 7. Globalisa1on and Na1onal Policies 8. Global Financial Crises: Causes and Consequences 9. Regional Economic Governance 10.Non-Teaching Period (beginning 30 September) 11.The Poli1cs of Natural Resources and Energy 12.Contemporary Challenges for Global Economic Governance 13.Role Play: Nego1a1ng Global Economic Governance

Week 13: interna0onal economic nego0a0on

Nego1a1on will commence at the beginning of class in week 13 Teams must form by end of week 5 Team leaders must no1fy Jonathan of team composi1on & country by end of week 6 Objec1ves to be announced week 8 Prepare nego1a1on strategies by end of week 12

Class discussion
Is studying the poli1cs of the global economy essen1al for understanding interna1onal rela1ons? Why or why not?

The global poli0cal economy in crisis

The post-1990 new world order
Its the economy, stupid Triumph of market liberalism, globalisa1on Peripheral crises weakened challenges to US/Western dominance

Much more fragile than it rst appeared

Global economy, pluralist poli1cs Financial fragility in the core Rise of China & other BRICs Legi1macy dilemmas in major interna1onal ins1tu1ons, new emerging balance of power?

IPE could be seen as the most essen1al area of IR

Why was this not always accepted? Mutual neglect: IR & interna1onal economics
IRs focus on high poli1cs (post-WWI, Cold War) Mathema1ciza1on vs. unquan1able variables in IR Stability of capitalist economies un1l early 70s

What changed? Real world events:

Changing security environment (dtente) Growing economic conict & instability in 1970s Economic interdependence vs. na1onal autonomy US rela1ve decline (an old story.)

Early IPE (late 60s, 70s)

Origins in IR (Strange, Gilpin, Krasner), with help from a few economists (Kindleberger, Cohen)
Frustra1on with apoli1cism of much economics Perspec1ves: mercan1lism, liberalism, Marxism

Focus on system-level ques1ons Problems

What produces global economic stability/openness? hegemony a standard answer Ina]en1on to domes1c factors & varia1on Methodology: were perspec1ves testable? Economics envy among younger scholars States vs. Markets dichotemy problema1c all modern capitalism is sta1st in some sense

Economic outcomes driven by regula0on (e.g. immigra0on)

Yearly equivalent wage, first-level teacher (US$), 2005
60,000

50,000

40,000
US$ per year

30,000

20,000

10,000

Fi nl an d

ah ra in C os ta R ic a

or tu ga l M ol do va R om an ia Th ai la nd

Source: ILO database, 2010.

Za m bi a

yp ru s

ub a

or ea

New ra0onalist approaches

Dierent varie1es
Neo-realism: ra1onalist, system-focused (e.g. Gowa) Domes1c interests (e.g. Frieden, Rogowski) Domes1c ra1onalist ins1tu1onalism (e.g. Milner)

Shared posi1vist assump1ons & goals

Want testable proposi1ons to develop broad or con1ngent generaliza1ons

Problems
Method & data-driven? Sta1st & ra1onalist

Ideas-Based Approaches
Interests arent given/uncontested, but shaped by ideas as social facts Two main varie1es

Gramscians (Cox, Gill): ideas serve & reinforce material power Construc1vists (Ruggie, Katzenstein): ideas/beliefs allow actors to understand their world & their economic interests, & thus shape policy outcomes People know what they do; they frequently know why they do what they do; but what they dont know is what what they do does (Foucault) Behavioural psychologists even doubt the rst two Tes1ng & falsica1on dicult (& suspect for some)

Problems:

The rise of China: simple economic facts

20 15 10 5 0 -5 -10

Annual real GDP % growth, 1980-2017E

80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% China Japan United States 10% 0%

Japan, China: GDP relative to US GDP (current US$)

Japan China

But what does it mean?

How should we understand the implications of Chinas rise for the global economy & international relations?

A transatlan0c methodological divide? American School

Conven1onal social science Ontology: State-centric Epistemology: explana1on; problem-solving, hypothesis-tes1ng; mid-range theory

Bri1sh School
Eclec1c, interdisciplinary, norma1ve, less science Ontology: Pluralist Epistemology: understanding, cri1que, historicism

Caricatures? Risks an endless method debate?

Conclusion: what is IPE?

Not about discovering best economic policies Poli1cal economy focuses on explaining economic & poli1cal outcomes Broad consensus that interests, ins1tu1ons & ideas all ma]er
But how to assess the rela1ve importance of material & idea1onal factors? Rising complexity, search for parsimonious theory elusive A return to systemic & norma1ve ques1ons needed?

 Copyright The University of Melbourne 2008