Semester:
Offered:
How can a globalizing world of differing countries – rich and poor, democratic and authoritarian – best promote inclusive growth and human security by meeting the challenges of inequality, climate change, rising populism, and global disease?
Lawrence Summers and Robert Lawrence
Why is populism becoming pervasive - and is there a revolt against global integration? What is the right balance between national sovereignty and international integration? Is the US equipped to sustain its role as a global leader? How does international trade affect prosperity and inequality? Should we regulate multi-national companies who move their factories to countries with lower labor standards? How should the IMF respond to financial crises in Europe and the developing world? How will the rise of China change the world system? This course uses basic economic logic to illuminate the choices - and trade-offs - faced by governments, international institutions, businesses and citizens as the global economy evolves. Our course is based on the premise that passion without careful reason is dangerous and that reliance on solid analytics and rigorous empirical evidence will lead to a better world. Policy issues are debated in class by the professors and guest speakers, and students will participate in simulated negotiations on global pandemic preparedness and on the US-China economic relationship, experiencing the issues first hand, as well as illustrating the importance of decisions made by individual actors for the evolution of the global system.