Seminar in Public Policy/Political Economy:

3 units

This course will survey the international political economy (IPE) literature as a foundation for analyzing the political economy of financial crises. The recent backlash against globalization provoked by populist movements in advanced economies is not a new phenomenon. Populist movements arose following the Long Depression in the late 19th century and the Great Depression in the 20th century, which provide historical parallels for the causes and responses to the 2007-2008 global financial crisis. Utilizing historical, analytical, and theoretical literature, we will explore the IPE field with the intention of understanding the causes and distributional effects of financial crises. Students will submit a final term paper that analyzes the political ramifications (broadly defined) of a financial crisis of their choosing.