Israel's Economy in the Global Context

(3 Credit Hours) · Undergraduate

Over the past century Israel has transformed from an agricultural colony, to a welfare state and on to a globally integrated "market economy" characterized by great income disparities. What lies behind this transformation? How did egalitarianism give rise to inequality? What are the implications of a constant state of conflict on a country's economy? How does being an island of democracy surrounded by non-democratic regimes effect the development of a country's international economics relations? This course will explore how different issues have affected the Israeli economy, including: periods of economic growth or stagnation, the governments' domination of capital and credit markets in the 1970's and 1980's, the stabilization program of 1985, the implications of peace processes and the wave of Russian immigration in the 1990's. The course will conclude with a n overview of the international economic relations between Israel and The European Union, the USA, and the global economic institutions (GATT and WTO, IMF and the World Bank and the OECD)