Course Description
This course deals with the theory of international trade, commercial policy, balance of payments, and international monetary issues. Key topics include the theory of comparative advantage, exchange rate determination, different forms of protectionism, open-economy fiscal and monetary policies, and the analysis of common markets and free-trade areas. This course has two objectives: to introduce students to the “real” (as opposed to financial) side of international economics, international trade; and to give students an overview of some of the key trade-related political and economic debates taking place among economists, governments, and civil society today.
Learning Outcomes
By the end of class, you should be able to:
- Explain
why international trade occurs and takes on the pattern that it does;
- Apply
economic theories in order to demonstrate why things are produced where they
are produced in our interconnected global economy;
- Identify
who is likely to gain and who is likely to lose from trade and openness to
trade;
- Assess
the desirability of trade-related laws, agreements, and policies;
- Discuss
international trade agreements, trade barriers, outsourcing and offshoring, and
other phenomena affecting international business.
Course Content
- Introduction
to International Economy and Globalization
- Classical
Trade Theories
- “New”
Trade Theory
- Heterogeneous
Firms and Patterns of Trade Examples
- Conventional
Trade Policies
- Strategic
Trade Policies
- Trade
Liberalization
- Introduction
to Balance of Payments Foreign Exchange Markets and International Financial
Investment
- Models of Exchange Rate Determination
Compulsory Reading Materials
- International
Trade: Theory and Policy, 10th Ed. (2014) Krugman, Paul R., Obstfeld, Maurice, and Melitz, Marc ISBN:
978-0133427493
Optional Reading Materials
- P. R. Krugman, M. Obsfeld and M.
Melitz, International Economics, (10th edition), Pearson
Education (2015).
- Facilitator: JOSEPH TUFFOUR