Předmět Economic Issues in North America (JMM529)

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Materiál	Typ	Datum	Počet stažení

Cíl

The course aims to introduce the students to main economic issues relevant for the North American regional context and make them realize their social as well as political implications.

Sylabus

UPDATED PROGRAM FOR 2015 AVAILABLE THROUGH THE MOODLE MODULE AT: http://dl1.cuni.cz/course/view.php?id=457We are still tinkering with the syllabus and readings, minor changes are to be expected. Final version will be available in week 2. Thank you for your understanding.  1. IntroductionCourse requirements and organization, basic concepts in economic analysis, U.S. economy at a glance2. World Economic SystemSense and Nonsense in the Globalization DebateDani RodrikForeign Policy, No. 107. (Summer, 1997), pp. 19-37.Stable URL:http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0015-7228%28199722%290%3A107%3C19%3ASANITG%3E2.0.CO%3B2-Srecommended: Robert Gilpin: The Trading System, in: Global Political Economy. Understanding the International Economic Order. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2001.Immanuel Wallerstein: The Essential Wallerstein. New York, The New Press, 20003. International Financial SystemSusan Strange: What Theory? The Theory in Mad Money. Mad Money. When Markets Outgrow Governments. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press.http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=146958recommended: Strange, Susan: Mad Money. When Markets Outgrow Governments. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press.4. Critical Perspectives on the World EconomyOxfam: Rigged Rules and Double Standards. Trade, Globalization, and the Fight against Poverty. Oxfam, 2002, pp. 5-20 (Executive Summary)http://publications.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam/display.asp?isbn=0855985259Herman E. Daly: Perils of Free Trade, Scientific American, 1993, available HERE (.pdf)recommended:Stephen Gill: Knowledge, Politics and Neo-Liberal Political Economy, in : Richard Stubbs and Geoffrey D. Underhill (eds.): Political Economy and the Changing Global Order. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 48-59.Eric Helleiner: New Voices in the Globalization Debate: Green Perspectives on the World Economy, in: Richard Stubbs and Geoffrey D. Underhill (eds.): Political Economy and the Changing Global Order. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 60-69.Sandra Whitworth: Theory and Exclusion: Gender, Masculinity, and International Political Economy, in : Richard Stubbs and Geoffrey D. Underhill (eds.): Political Economy and the Changing Global Order. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 91-101.5. National Economy?Strategic Trade Theory:Paul A. Krugman: International Economics, Chapter 11, available HERE (.pdf)Recommended:Robert Gilpin: Economic Evolution of National SystemsInternational Studies Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 3, Special Issue: Evolutionary Paradigms in theSocial Sciences. (Sep., 1996), pp. 411-431.Stable URL:http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0020-8833%28199609%2940%3A3%3C411%3AEEONS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-R6. Economic CompetitionMichael E. Porter: The Competitive Advantage Of Nations, Harvard Business Review, March-April 1990.k dispozici ZDE7. National CompetitivenessMichael E. Porter: The Competitive Advantage Of Nations, Harvard Business Review, March-April 1990.k dispozici ZDE8. Free Trade?Richard E. Caves, Jeffrey A. Frankel and Ronald W. Jones: Trade Controls in Practice, in: World Trade and Payments, Addison Wesley, Boston, 2002, pp. 235-255.Caves-trade controls (.pdf)What are tariffs good for?What has been the historical evolution of tariffs in the U.S.?What are voluntary export restraints?What are non-tariff trade barriers?In what ways is the U.S. steel industry protected?9. Forms of CapitalismRonald Dore: Stock Market Capitalism: Welfare Capitalism. Japan and Germany versus the Anglo-Saxons, Oxford University Press, 2000.Dore - intro (.pdf)Dore - conclusion (.pdf)10. Forms of Capitalism II.Ronald Dore: Stock Market Capitalism: Welfare Capitalism. Japan and Germany versus the Anglo-Saxons, Oxford University Press, 2000.Dore - intro (.pdf)Dore - conclusion (.pdf)Try to answer the following questions:What is the main difference between stakeholder and stockholder capitalism?What are the political implications of the two models?What are the advantages of the U.S. approach?What are the main disadvantages?11. Substitute Class - TuesdayCorporations and inequalityScreening of the movie Corporation, www.thecorporation.comRecommended reading:Naomi Klein: No Logo, New York, Picador, 2002. The Discarded Factory, pp.195-229.Klein (.pdf)12. Economic outlooks, role of the Federal Reserve, Conclusions Selected articles concerning the Federal Reserve and trade deficit from 2008Recommended: Selected articles concerning the Federal ReserveAlso, check the Federal Reserve website and look at its structure and mission.http://www.federalreserve.gov/Selected articles concerning the trade deficit from 2007If you are interested in a more libertarian view, just briefly go through this article written for the CATO institute.

Literatura

Sense and Nonsense in the Globalization DebateDani RodrikForeign Policy, No. 107. (Summer, 1997), pp. 19-37.Stable URL:http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0015-7228%28199722%290%3A107%3C19%3ASANITG%3E2.0.CO%3B2-SRobert Gilpin: The Trading System, in: Global Political Economy. Understanding the International Economic Order. Princeton, Princeton University Press, 2001.Immanuel Wallerstein: The Essential Wallerstein. New York, The New Press, 2000Susan Strange: What Theory? The Theory in Mad Money. Mad Money. When Markets Outgrow Governments. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press.http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=146958Strange, Susan: Mad Money. When Markets Outgrow Governments. Ann Arbor, University of Michigan Press.Oxfam: Rigged Rules and Double Standards. Trade, Globalization, and the Fight against Poverty. Oxfam, 2002, pp. 5-20 (Executive Summary)http://publications.oxfam.org.uk/oxfam/display.asp?isbn=0855985259Herman E. Daly: Perils of Free Trade, Scientific American, 1993, available HERE (.pdf)Stephen Gill: Knowledge, Politics and Neo-Liberal Political Economy, in : Richard Stubbs and Geoffrey D. Underhill (eds.): Political Economy and the Changing Global Order. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 48-59.Eric Helleiner: New Voices in the Globalization Debate: Green Perspectives on the World Economy, in: Richard Stubbs and Geoffrey D. Underhill (eds.): Political Economy and the Changing Global Order. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 60-69.Sandra Whitworth: Theory and Exclusion: Gender, Masculinity, and International Political Economy, in : Richard Stubbs and Geoffrey D. Underhill (eds.): Political Economy and the Changing Global Order. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2000, pp. 91-101.Strategic Trade Theory:Paul A. Krugman: International Economics, Chapter 11, available HERE (.pdf)Robert Gilpin: Economic Evolution of National SystemsInternational Studies Quarterly, Vol. 40, No. 3, Special Issue: Evolutionary Paradigms in theSocial Sciences. (Sep., 1996), pp. 411-431.Stable URL:http://links.jstor.org/sici?sici=0020-8833%28199609%2940%3A3%3C411%3AEEONS%3E2.0.CO%3B2-RMichael E. Porter: The Competitive Advantage Of Nations, Harvard Business Review, March-April 1990.Richard E. Caves, Jeffrey A. Frankel and Ronald W. Jones: Trade Controls in Practice, in: World Trade and Payments, Addison Wesley, Boston, 2002, pp. 235-255.Ronald Dore: Stock Market Capitalism: Welfare Capitalism. Japan and Germany versus the Anglo-Saxons, Oxford University Press, 2000.

Požadavky

1. Active participation, including thorough preparation for each class - 10%Students are required to read and discuss assigned texts. The texts are either available online (if there is a link in the syllabus) or in a Moodle module, accessible through http://dl.cuni.cz. Your login and password should be the same as into the SIS system. Enrollment key for this class is "ilikeeconomy". Furthermore, students are required to read and discuss the weekly newsletter concerning current developments in US as well as world economy.2. Economic newsletter - 10%Each student will put together one economic newsletter and send it to the class no later than Friday night before the Monday class. The newsletter shall consist of three articles from three various sources. First article should discuss an international economic issue, second a topic relevant for U.S., Canadian or Mexican domestic economy, and third specific news related either to a company, an economic sector or some aspects of local or regional economy.Student putting together the newsletter should select one mandatory article from the three, which everybody in the class should read and be ready to discuss it at the beginning of the class. Student preparing the newsletter will also come up with two to three questions for the class already with the newsletter. He/she should also research some elementary background for the topics covered in the mandatory article. The student responsible for the newsletter will have to explain why he/she chose the article and moderate a short discussion in the class, based on the prepared questions and his/her knowledge of the context. Recommended sources: The Economist, The New York Times, Business Week, Financial Times, Wall Street Journal, BBC, Al-Jazeera, La Jornada, El Financiero, Nexos, Globe and Mail, Devoir. For articles in Spanish or French, provide a Google translation link. 3. Tracking of a selected asset - 10%Each student shall by the second week choose one tradable asset where to put fictional 1,000,000 USD. The asset has to be either a stock of a publicly traded company, a currency, a financial instrument or a commodity. The student should follow closely the movement of the price of the selected asset and the underlying causes for the fluctuations and be ready to report on it in the middle of the course. At the end of the course, the student will write a short one page summary (1800 characters with spaces) of what happened with respect to the price of the asset, including plausible explanations. Students who will make more than 4% will get a further 2% bonus.4. Option A: Tracking the asset in context - 10%Student will provide a more thorough analytical assessment of the selected asset. Using various sources and data trends, the analysis will answer the following questions: What is the prognosis for the future price of the asset in short, medium and long-term perspective? What is the prognosis based on? What are the main determinants of the future price of the asset? What are the most important contextual factors that influence the price of the asset? Based on this particular asset, what lessons can we learn for the more general questions related to the economy? Minimum length: 7200 characters with spaces.  4. Option B: Economic book review - 10%You may choose any book on the course Bibliography or in our Library relevant the course (those books that do not appear on the course Bibliography should be submitted for our approval) and write a book review of 4 pages minimum (7200 characters with spaces). For the purposes of this assignment, a book will be defined as several chapters in a book (usually the introduction, conclusion, and at least two from the middle). A book review is not the same thing as a book report, which simply summarizes the content of a book. When writing a book review, you not only report on the content of the book but also assess its strengths and weaknesses. Though there is no "correct" way to structure a review, the following is one possible approach.Summarize the book and relate the author's main point, or thesis. What are the questions that the book tries to answer? (Somewhere early in the paper, identify the author briefly.) Describe the author's viewpoint and purpose for writing; note any aspects of the author's background that are important for understanding the book. Note the most important evidence the author presents to support his or her thesis. Evaluate the author's use of evidence, and describe how he or she deals with counter evidence. Is the book's argument convincing? If so why, if not, why not. Cite examples from the text. Compare this book with other books or articles you have read on the same subject. Conclude with a final evaluation of the book. You might discuss who would find this book useful and why. (This text and more tips for how to write book reviews are available at http://courses.washington.edu/tande/book_reviews.htm). Deadline for the book review is May 16, 2015. 5. Team project - 35%A team project and term paper will be written by groups of students consisting of at least 2 and maximum 4 members on a topic from the list of suggested topics. Each group will be required to submit a written report (min. 20 pages for groups of 4, 17.5 pages for groups of 3, and 15 pages for groups of 2) and prepare the final presentation (30 minutes) of the important concepts, questions and results of their work and lead the follow-up class discussion.The project has to work with quantitative data and should use quantitative data to support main conclusions. Graphs, tables and charts are strongly encouraged.Each group will select a short reading related to the project (cca. 3-7 pages) and post it as mandatory reading for the class in which the group will present the project. One-page handout with the most important data and findings should be available to the class.The final two weeks of course are reserved for student-team projects presentations.The project will count as 35% (the written report 25%, and presentation 10%) of the total grade for each participating member of the group. If applicable, identify authorship of chapters in the written report. Suggested Project Topics:- Assess and compare the implications for economies of Canada, Mexico and the U.S. (including the impacts on economic policy-making) of the developments that have occurred since NAFTA in one of the following sectors: (1) energy, (2) automobile industry, (3) banking and finance or (4) agriculture. Other sectors are possible, but need to be approved by the instructors. Detailed analysis with graphs, figures and specific case studies is expected. Include analysis of the changes for jobs. The results should be put into the wider context of debates about effects of trade liberalization. The effects of the financial crisis on the sector can be included as well. - Analyze in detail a local or regional economy in Mexico, Canada or the United States (can be a city, state or a province or region). Gather all relevant economic data, including GDP creation, employment by sector, local government expenditures, industrial production, demographics, local sources of government revenue, principal companies, etc. Include historical trends with respect to these characteristics. Based on that, answer the following questions: What are the main differences between the selected region and the rest of the country? How are these differences reflected as specific economic interests of the region? Are they reflected somehow on the political level? If yes, how? How is the region coping with increasing trade liberalization and global shifts in production? How did the financial crisis affect the region? What is the job situation in the region?- Detailed comparative analysis of trade and investment patterns for either Mexico, United States or Canada over the last 20 years, with ample quantitative data demonstrating most important trends, case studies of specific sectors and successful companies, explanation of major shifts and changes with respect to all major trading partners. Discuss implications for the job market as well.- Detailed comparative analysis of shifts in government expenditures and revenues for either Mexico, United States or Canada over the last 20 years, with ample quantitative data demonstrating most important trends, case studies of specific sectors (departments), explanation of major shifts and changes with respect to major budgetary issues. Discuss also the implications for jobs. Deadline for the written project report is June 7, 2015. 6. Final exam - 25%In the first part, students will have to provide definitions for basic terms and concepts (e.g. current account balance, Laffer's curve, Gini coefficient), the second part will contain questions focusing on the assigned readings (e.g. What is Naomi Klein's opinion about moving inefficient factories from the U.S. to other countries? Do you agree with her analysis?) and the last part will contain a choice among three more general questions which will require a longer analytical response based on thorough understanding of the course materials.

Garant

Mgr. Ing. Magdalena Fiřtová, PhD.PhDr. et Mgr. Kryštof Kozák, Ph.D.