| PE 101: Modern Theories
of Political Economy
I. Introduction to the Course:
The Central Issues (January 19)
What is political Economy? How are Power and wealth related? Markets and governments, markets and democracy..what’s good about markets, what’s bad about them? What is the business cycle? Are good and bad in the eye of the beholder?
“Making College Relevant” NYT December 29, 2009
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/03/education/edlife/03careerism-t.html?th&emc=th
Fukuyama, Francis, “Have
We Reached the End of History?”
II. Theories of Political Economy
A . The Political Economy of Freedom
Do you have to be free to be rational? What is rationality? What is the difference between Liberalism and Capitalism? What should be private and what should be public?
1. The Liberal Idea in Politics and Economics (January
21 )
*Friedrich Hayek, “The Road to Serfdom” in Barma and Vogel
The Political Economy Reader
*Stephen
Holmes, "The Liberal Idea" in The American Prospect, Fall
1991, Vol. 84. .
*Milton Friedman, “Capitalism and Freedom” in Barma and Vogel
The Political Economy Reader
2. Freedom and Rationality (Jan. 26)
*Steven Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner, Freakonomics
(2005) “Introduction”
*Olsen, Manchur, from The Logic of Collective Action, "Group
Size and Group Behavior" pp.53-65
*Ronald Coase, “The
Problem of Social Cost” Journal of Law and Economics 3 pp. 1-19
only
John Elster Rationality, Emotions, and Social Norms pp. 121-124 only
http://www.springerlink.com/content/kn0511g22p661042/fulltext.pdf
Rationality and Altruism (animation of Levitt and Dubner Super Freakonomics)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQItB5uoiHI&feature=channel
Recommended:
John Elster, “Rationality, Morality, and Collective Action”
http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2381329.pdf
John Elster, “Rationality and the Emotions”
http://www.jstor.org/stable/pdfplus/2381329.pdf
Adam Curtis Part I: F-you Buddy: the history of game theory
http://www.rewtube.com/the-trap-episode-1/
3. Market Freedom, Rationality, and the Division of Labor: (January 28)
Charles Lindbloom “The Market System” in Barma and Vogel The Political Economy Reader pp. 243-247
Adam Smith “The Wealth of Nations” in Barma and Vogel The Political Economy Reader pp.27-35
David Ricardo from Political Economy and Taxation, Chapter 7, “Comparative
Advantage” paragraphs 7.11 to 7.36 ONLY
4. The Costs and Limits of Freedom (Feb. 2 and 4)
Quotes of the week: “The poor man shall be satisfied in his end: Habitation; and the gentleman not hindered in his desire: Improvement.”
“Labor is only another name for human activity that goes with life itself. . .land is only another name for nature” –Karl Polanyi
Recommended:
*J. Bradford DeLong, “The
Republic of the Central Banker”
B. The Political Economy of Equality Feb.
9
Review: Marx and Engels, "Manifesto of the Communist Party"
in Barma and Vogel The Political Economy Reader·
James Divine. The Causes of
the 1929-33 Great Collapse: A Marxian Interpretation pp. 119-129 only
(recommended)
Was
Marx Right? The Bailout of the Auto Industry
John E. Roemer 1994
“A Future for Socialism” Politics and Society 22, 451-457
only
C. The Political Economy of Community
1. Community and Nation (Feb.
11)
2. Protecting the Nation: Economic Nationalism (Feb.
16)
Review: Friedrich List “The National System of Political Economy”
in Barma and Vogel The Political Economy Reader
John Maynard Keynes: National
Self-Sufficiency
*Stephen Krasner, “State Power and the Structure of International Trade,” World
Politics, Vol. 28, No. 3, pp. 317-335 only.
1st Newspaper Assignment Due:
Conceptual biases in the Press.
(Due Feb. 18)
III. Illustrating the Theories
A.War: Power, Community, Nation (February 18)
Chalmers Johnson, “Three Good Reasons To Liquidate Our Empire And Ten Steps to Take to Do So”
http://www.tomdispatch.com/post/175101
Singer, PW. "Corporate Warriors: The Rise of the Privatized Military Industry and Its Ramification for International Security." MIT Press - International Security. Winter 2002. Web. 30 Nov. 2009. http://www.mitpressjournals.org/doi/abs/10.1162/016228801753399763
Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes, "The three trillion dollar war"
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/guest_contributors/article3419840.ece
Eisenhower’s Farewell Address
http://coursesa.matrix.msu.edu/~hst306/documents/indust.html
B. Liberalism in Crisis: Downturn and Depression (February 23)
* Roosevelt’s
Inaugural Address, 1933.
* Charles Kindelberger, Charles
The World in Depression 1929-1939 Berkeley: Univ. of Cal. Press, 1973.
291-308.
*Barry Eichengreen, Hegemonic
Stability Theories of the International Monetary System”
*Paul Krugman “Keynes
was Right and Friedman Wrong about the Great Depression Then and Now
http://hnn.us/roundup/entries/59315.html
* James Divine.
The Causes of the 1929-33 Great Collapse: A Marxian Interpretation
p. 119-167 (exclude tables)
Recommended:
John Maynard Keynes, "The
Economic Consequences of the Peace." (New York: Harcourt, Brace)
1920, pp. 252-298.
Jeff Frieden, "Sectoral
Conflict and Foreign Economic Policy, 1914-1940," International
Organization 42(1), Winter 1988, pp. 59-90.
C. Limiting freedom: The Quest for Equality and Community
1. The Welfare State (March 2)
Esping-Andersen, Gøsta, “Three
Political Economies of the Welfare State”
March 4 Class Cancelled
2. Embedded Liberalism and Global Governance (March 9)
*John Ruggie, "International Regimes,
Transactions, and Change: Embedded Liberalism in the Postwar Economic
Order," International Organization 36, Spring 1982, pp. 194-230.
Midterm passed out(March 9)
D. Expanding freedom: Neo-Liberalism (March 11) Midterm Due
John Williamson, “A Short History of the Washington Consensus”
http://www.iie.com/publications/papers/williamson0904-2.pdf
Globalization as Constitutional Counterrevolution
James T. Varellas pp. 145-152 only
Thomas Friedman: The Golden Straightjacket http://www.socstudcphs.org/values.goldenstraightjacket.pdf
E. The Political Economy of Development
1. Liberal Explanations (March 16)
· Rostow, W.W. “The Take-off” The Stages of Economic
Growth in Barma and Vogel, The Political Economy Reader
Raymond
Vernon, "International Investment and International Trade in the
Product Cycle,"
2. Inequality and Underdevelopment: A Critique of Liberal Development Theory (March 18)
* Wallerstein, Immanuel “The
Rise and Future Demise of the World Capitalist System: Concepts for
Comparative Analysis” Comparative Studies in Society and History,
16 1974. 387-415.
*Dani Rodrik, "Growth and
Poverty Reduction: What Are the Real Questions?"
Spring Break: Week of March 22
3. Institutional Arguments
for Development: Why do some develop and others don't? (March 30)
Gerschenkron, Alexander “Economic Backwardness in Historical Perspective”
in Barma and Vogel The Political Economy Reader
Steven Vogel, “Why Freer Markets Need More Rules,” in Barma
and Vogel The Political Economy Reader
David Landes, “The Wealth and Poverty of Nations,” in Barma
and Vogel The Political Economy Reader
4. What did Asia do Right? (April 1)
· Bruce
Cummings, "The Origins and Development of the Northeast Asian Political
Economy: Industrial Sectors, Product Cycles, and Political Consequences" in F. Deyo (ed.) The Political Economy of the New Asian Industrialism
(Ithaca, NY: Cornell Univ. Press), 1987, pp. 44-83.
Dani Rodrik, "The
Developing Countries' Hazardous Obsession with Global Integration" January 8, 2001
Recommended
*Dani
Rodrik, Arvind Subramanian and Francesco Trebbi, “Institutions Rule:
The Primacy of Institutions over Geography and Integration in Economic
Development,” NBER Working Paper 9305.
*Dani Rodrik, "A Practical
Approach to Formulating Growth Strategies," December 2004
Daron
Acemoglu, Simon Johnson and James Robinson, “The Colonial Origins
of Comparative Development: An Empirical Investigation,” American
Economic Review, Vol. 91, No. 5, pp. 1369-1401.
F. Transition from Communism: A liberal Debate (April 6)
*Crawford, Beverly “Markets,
States, and Democracy: Radical and Gradualist Alternatives in the Transformation
of Post-Communist Regimes” Markets, States, and Democracy Ed.
Beverly Crawford Westview, 1995.
*Janos
Kornai, “What the Change of the System From Socialism to Capitalism
Does and Does Not Mean,” Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol.
14, No. 1, pp. 27-42.
2nd Newspaper Assignment Due
(Due April 8)
G. Development and Power: The Hopes and Fears of the Economic Nationalist(April 8)
*Kenneth Waltz, "Structural
Realism after the Cold War" pp. 14-18
Jeffrey Sachs, The End of Poverty in Barma and Vogel The Political Economy
Reader
Joseph Stiglitz, “Who Lost Russia?” from Globalization and
its Discontents in Barma and Vogel The Political Economy Reader
Doug Guthrie, “China and Globalization,” in Barma and Vogel
The Political Economy Reader
H. Globalization
1. Globalization and Freedom (April 13)
Globalisation proceeds through the breaking down of boundaries, the unfolding of diversity and freedom of choice - so why is it experienced by so many people as a constriction, an oppression and a loss of freedom?
Thomas Friedman, “The Lexus and the Olive Tree” in Barma and Vogel The Political Economy Reader
*Vinod Aggarwal "The Future of the Liberal Trading Order" CGES Working Paper 2.5
Seán Ó Riain, "STATES
AND MARKETS IN AN ERA OF GLOBALIZATION" Annual Review of Sociology
Vol. 26: 187-213 (August 2000)
2. Globalization and Equality (April 15)
Jeffrey Williamson, “Winners and Losers over two Centuries of Globalization,” NBER Working Paper No. 9161. Pp. 7-39
Robert Reich "Who is Us?"
3. Globalization and Community (April 20)
Beverly
Crawford "Globalization and Cultural Conflict: An Institutional
Approach" World Cultures Yearbook 2007
Samuel
Huntington "The Clash of Civilizations"
Barber, Benjamin. “Jihad Vs. McWorld”
Fareed Zakaria “The Rise of Illiberal Democracy”
I. Resource Scarcity, Exploitation, and Environmental Degradation: The ultimate challenge to freedom
(April 22 and 27)
1. Ecology and Food
Garrett Hardin, “Tragedy
of the Commons”
Mark Van Vugt "Social Dilemma Strategies for Natural Resource Management"
World Development Report 2008 Read Overview only (online)
http://siteresources.worldbank.org/INTWDR2008/Resources/2795087-1192112387976/WDR08_01_Overview.pdf
Michael Pollan “The Vegetable-Industrial Complex
http://www.michaelpollan.com/article.php?id=84
Video on Current Economic Crisis (2008)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOP2V_np2c0
2. The Arctic
Scott Borgerson, “Arctic Meltdown” Foreign Affairs
3rd Newspaper Assignment Due:
Conceptual biases in the Press.
(Due April 27)
V. Conclusions April 29
Toward new Theories of Political Economy
Ruggie, John "Taking
Embedded Liberalism Global: The Corporate Connection"
Steve
Weber, "The Political Economy of Open Source Software"
Peter Evans, “Counter-Hegemonic
Globalization: Transnational Social Movements
in the Contemporary Global Political Economy”
For those who want to read further, I recommend the following::
· Peter Evans, "The State as Problem and Solution: Predation,
Embedded Autonomy, and Structural Change," in Haggard and Kaufman,
pp. 139-181.
World Development Vol. 21, No. 8 August 1993. Special Issue: "Economic
Liberalization and Democratization: Exploration of the Linkages."
Three Pillars of Welfare State Theory: T.H. Marshall, Karl Polanyi, Alva
Myrdal
http://est.sagepub.com/cgi/reprint/3/1/23
* Robert Gilpin with Jean Gilpin, “The Nature of Political Economy
in The Political Economy of International Relations (Princeton: Princeton
University Press), pp. 25-45.
* Lindblom, Charles E. “The Market as Prison” Journal of Politics
44 http://www.nau.edu/~envsci/sisk/courses/env555/Readings/lindblom1.pdf
* Steve Weber, Is
the Open Source Software Process Sui Generis to Software,
or a More General Way of Organizing the Production of Complex Knowledge
Products?"
*Michael Doyle, “Liberalism and World
Politics”
· Amarta Sen, 1999 “”Global
Justice: Beyond International Equity” in Inge Kaul et al, eds.,
Global Public Goods, (Oxford University Press).
*Stephen Hymer, "International Politics and International Economics:
A Radical Approach"
· Albert Hirschman, National Power and the Structure of Foreign
Trade (Berkeley: Univ. of Cal. Press), 1980, pp. 3-52.
Jacob Viner, "Power vs. Plenty as objectives of foreign policy"
· Philip Selznick, “Social Justice: A Communitarian Perspective.”
* Robert Gilpin, "The Nationalist Perspective"
· Robert Keohane, "The Theory of Hegemonic Stability
and Changes in International Economic Regimes," in Ole R. Holsti,
et. al. (eds), Change in the International System (Boulder, CO: Westview),
1980, pp. 131-162.
* Peter
Temin, “The Golden Age of European Growth Reconsidered,” European
Review of Economic History, Vol. 6, No. 1, pp. 3-22.
* Keohane, Robert and Joseph Nye Power and Interdependence 1989
Chapter 1.
* Peter Evans, “National Autonomy
and Economic Development: Critical Perspectives on Multinational Corporations
in Poor Countries,” International Organization, Vol. 25, No.
3, pp. 675-692.
James R. Markusen. 1995. "The
Boundaries of Multinational Enterprises and the Theory of International
Trade." Journal of Economic Perspectives 9(2): 169-189.
· Krasner, Stephen D., Structural Conflict: The Third World Against
Global Liberalism Berkeley: Univ. of Cal. Press, 1985 3-25.
Evans, Peter Dependent Development: The Alliance of Multinational, State
and Local Capital in Brazil Princeton Univ. Press: 1994.
*James Hoge, "A Global Power Shift in the Making" Foreign Affairs
2004
*Steve Weber and John Zysman "The Risk that Mercantilism will define
the next Security System” in Wayne Sandholz, et. al. The Highest
Stakes: The Economic Foundations of the Next Security System, (Oxford
University Press, 1992) pp. 167-196.
*Jeff Frieden, "Invested
Interests: The Politics of National Economic Policies in a World of Global
Finance" in International Organization (Autumn 1991) Vol. 45,
No. 4. pp. 425-451.
*C. Fred Bergsten, "Fifty Years of the GATT/WTO:
Lessons from the Past for Strategies for the Future"
http://www.iie.com/publications/wp/1998/98-3.htm
· Peter Evans, "The State as Problem and Solution: Predation,
Embedded Autonomy, and Structural Change," in Haggard and Kaufman,
pp. 139-181.
Williamson,
John, "Did the Washington Consensus Fail?"
* Soros, George “The Capitalist Threat” Atlantic Monthly 279.
2 February 1997 http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/intrel/soros.htm
· Roberto Sanchez 1994 “International
Trade in Human Wastes: A global problem with uneven consequences for the
third world” in Journal of Environment and Development 3:1 pp.
137-152.
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