PROGRAM

International Economy and Trade – Political Science and Public Management 2023-24
Professor Sergi Cutillas Marquez

The main objectives of the course are to:

- Acquire knowledge about the structure and composition of current exchange flows and
their historical evolution,
- Acquire analytical instruments to be able to provide relevant indicators and thus
interpret the political-economic implications of international exchange flows and, in
general, the process of globalization,
- Identify the conditions of internationalization of companies and their production
processes: value chains, outsourcing, offshoring,
- Recognize and interpret the policies of central banks and their action on the intensity
and direction of exchange flows and commercial relations,
- Acquire knowledge about international payment systems linked to exchange policies
and their role in international financial crises since 1945.

PRESENTATION
- Rules and content of the course.

PART A. INSTRUMENTS OF APPLIED ECONOMICS

1. Measuring economic activity
1.1 Introduction: quantification of economic activity
1.2 GDP: measurement and structure. Definition and characteristics of GDP. The three methods
of estimating GDP.
1.3 GDP dynamics: growth, recession and depression
2. Balance of payments and external imbalance
2.1 Structure of the balance of payments
2.2 External flows in national accounts
2.3 Economic interpretation of external imbalances
2.4 Foreign trade and competitiveness

PART B. INTERNATIONAL TRADE

1. ECONOMIC RELATIONS AND CAPITALIST DYNAMICS
1.1. Methodology and traditions
1.2. Value, markets and money. Types of money (commodity, credit, fiat, cryptocurrencies, etc).
1.3. Industrial circuit of capital.
1.4. Financial systems and structure.
1.5. Basic economic relations
1.6. Capitalist dynamics
1.7. Internationalization

2. THE DETERMINANTS OF TRADE PATTERNS: THE CENTRE-PERIPHERY SYSTEM

2.1. The emergence of capitalism.
2.2. External expansion: colonialism, imperialism and globalization. International Division of
Labor. Evidence about the international trade flows: current and past data.
2.3. The Globalization process: internacionalization of productive capital and the emergence of
the Semiperiphery. The New International Division of Labor.

3. THE RESOURCES OF THE WORLD ECONOMY

3.1. Demographic structure and dynamics (fertility, migrations, gender, etc). Demographic
transition. Population trends and aging.
3.2. Energy and non-energy natural resources
3.3. Agriculture and global food problems
4. TRADE: THEORY AND POLICY
4.1. Orthodox theories of international trade. Adam Smith and the theory of absolute
advantage. The theory of comparative advantage: the Ricardian model. The theory of factorial
proportions.
4.2. New theories of international trade. Intra-industrial trade. Economies of scale and product
differentiation. Neotechnological theories
4.3. Arguments in favour of free trade. Arguments in favour of protectionism.
4.4. Neoliberalism and monetarism: Washington Consensus and liberalization of trade and
finance.
4.5. The rise of FTA or customs unions: theoretical background and political implications.
Institutions (GATT, WTO, etc).
4.6. Productive globalization: international mobility of factors, multinational enterprises and
FDI. Value Chains.

5. MONEY AND FINANCE: UNDERSTANDING FINANCIALIZATION

5.1. Monetary systems. The evolution of the international monetary system (The Gold Standard
Era 1870-1914,The Bretton Woods Era 1944-1971, The Dollar crisis, The EMU and the EURO
1971 on). Currency markets and the exchange rates: basic concepts, exchange rate types and
regimes.
5.2. Financialization: expansion and transformation of finance.
5.3. Capital flows and debt crises (Mexican crises, 1994-1995, Asian crises 1997, Russian Crises,
1998, Brazilian crisis 1999, Turksish crises 2001, Argentian crises 2001-2002.....).
5.4. The global financial crisis and the Great Recession
5.5. The Eurozone crisis.
5.6. Bitcoin, DLT, blockchain and CDBCs.
5.7. Covid and the power of the state: state of emergency, interventions; fiscal and monetary
policy.
5.8. Russia-Ukraine: weaponization of the dollar and continental Europe by the US and UK.
5.9. China and the US and interregnum of hegemony. World money as a field of dispute.
Evaluation

The learning assessment (final grade) will be the weighted average of the following activities:
- 30% partial exam that includes Part A and the first chapters of Part B,
- 50% final exam that includes Part B (the part not included in the partial exam)
- 20% intermediate assessment (presentations and exercises) as the teacher will
indicate in class.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dani Rodrik (2011): "The Globalization Paradox", W.W Norton.

Eichengreen. B. (2010). Exorbitant Privilege. Oxford University Press, New York

Eichengreen. B. (2017). How Global Currencies Work: Past, Present, and Future.

Hudson, Michael, (2017). J is for junk economics : a guide to reality in an age of deception. Islet.

Lapavitsas, C. (2013). Profiting without producing, Verso.

Lapavitsas, C., & Collective, E. W. (2023). The State of Capitalism: Economy, Society, and
Hegemony. Verso Books.

Paul Krugman, Maurice Obstfeld, and Marc Melitz (any edition): "International Economics",
Pearson.

Richard Baldwin and Charles Wyplosz (any edition): " Economics of European Integration",
McGraw Hill.

Robert Feenstra and Alan Taylor (2020): "International Economics", 5th edition, Worth
Publishers.

Rosella Nicolini (2019): "Tools in Applied Economics" (notes,

https://ddd.uab.cat/record/203608)

Thomas Pugel (2019): "International Economics", 16th Edition, McGraw -Hill (available as ebook
https://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/uab/detail.action?docID=6007400)
Varoufakis, Y. (2011) The Global Minotaur. Zed Books.

Wallerstein, I. (ed.) (2013) Does capitalism have a future?. Oxford University Press.