Open only to students accepted to the special program Florence Center & University of Florence (courses taught in English).
Taught in English at the University of Florence.
In this course, you will study the connection between economic policy and the transformation of the world economy of the last 25 years. There will be particular focus on some of the most intriguing paradoxes accompanying the interaction of states with economic globalization forces. Emerging economies are building their future on old economic policies such as trade tariffs and on the support of the state in implementing the most advanced technologies in their economic structure. Transnational companies are sometimes bigger than the countries where they invest in but international or transnational institutions try to limit their power. China economic reforms and modernization appears to some extent a new form of state (authoritarian) capitalism. Producers, consumers and traders of raw materials and commodities (a world where economic and financial aspects are continuously interfering and sometimes conflicting with the social dimension of the market) are a sort of “hidden” power that states are trying to keep under their control. Capital markets are more and more powerful, but national and supranational institutions work every day to increase levels of regulations and to make more efficient those already existing. We will use the lens of international political economy and a variety of other theoretical approaches to examine these important trends.
Department: Political Science
Locations: Florence, University of Florence
Semester: Fall
Credits: 3