Recording-2025-02-18T21:14:37.430Z

Introduction

• Lecture recorded by Mike Coralli in Santa Rosa, California, on the intersection of U.S. domestic policy and international political economy (IPE).

• IPE has seen a resurgence in the last two decades, becoming a popular field of study among students and researchers.

• Acknowledgments and citations available upon request.

What is International Political Economy?

• Definition: IPE studies the interplay between politics and economics at a global scale.

• Resurgence in IPE: IPE virtually non-existent before 1970, now it’s a major field in social sciences.

• Dual Focus:

  • Political Basis: Examines how government and policy affect market operations.

  • Economic Basis: Investigates how economic forces shape government policy.

• Interconnection of Politics and Markets: These two focuses are interdependent and constantly interact.

Seminar Question

• Case Study: The Trump administration's 2019 trade war with China will be used to understand IPE perspectives, structures, and levels of analysis.

Defining Terms

• Use Global Political Economy instead of IPE to reflect the involvement of non-state actors.

• Political Economy: Intersection of political science and economics, analyzing how political power influences economic outcomes and vice versa.

• Historical Context: Response to limitations in the state-centric views of realism in international relations.

Distinctions and Concepts

• Nation vs. State vs. Nation-State:

  • Nation: A group of people with common descent or culture.

  • State: A government with recognized political authority.

  • Nation-State: A sovereign state with a defined territorial area.

• Transnational Actors (TNA): Organizations operating across state boundaries, independent of traditional state authorities. Examples include:

  • Transnational Corporations (TNCs): Companies with operations in multiple countries (e.g., Apple, Microsoft).

  • Intergovernmental Organizations (IGOs): Economic unions and trade blocks like the European Union and NAFTA, facilitating free trade and movement.

  • International Non-Governmental Organizations (INGOs): Organizations like the Gates and Rockefeller Foundations that engage in global economy without government affiliation.

Importance of Power

• Definition of Power: The capacity to influence others' behavior.

• Power Dynamics: Understanding who holds power—states or transnational actors—is crucial.

• Situational Power: Power varies based on circumstances; it can be limited or enhanced by context.

Economy Defined

• Origin of the Term: Derived from Greek meaning 'household management'.

• Modern Definition: The state of production and consumption of goods and services in a region.

Political Economy as a Discipline

• Academic Discipline: Political economy merges economics, history, philosophy, and sociology to analyze how economic systems interact with political structures.

• Foundations of Political Economy: Traditional views may not adequately consider economic forces in political decisions and vice versa.

Historical Background

• Scholasticism: Economic thought from Aristotle to the Middle Ages; laid groundwork for mercantilism.

• Mercantilism: A theory emphasizing trade as a source of national wealth and advocating protectionist policies to enhance trade balances.

• Physiocrats: Early economic theorists focused on agriculture as the source of wealth; opposed mercantilism's restrictive policies.

Key Theorists and Ideas

• Adam Smith: Advocated for free markets; emphasized the individual's rationality and competition's role in a healthy economy.

• Keynesian Economics: Introduced the concept of aggregate demand during economic downturns, arguing for government intervention to maintain full employment.

• Neoliberalism: A shift in the 1980s that reinstated free-market principles, reducing government intervention and emphasizing private enterprise.

Five Structures in Economy

• Knowledge: Technology and knowledge as key factors in wealth and power.

• Security: Role of cooperation among states to ensure security; cybersecurity as a current concern.

• Finance and Monetary: Calls for multilateral institutions to regulate global finance; issues with monetary policy and debt management.

• Trade: Evolution of trade structures post-WWII; barriers in agricultural trade persist despite liberalization efforts.

• Production: Transformation in global production dynamics through TNCs; concerns about domestic deindustrialization.

Levels of Analysis in IPE

1. Global Level: Broad trends that affect all states, such as technology and climate change.

2. Interstate Level: Examines relationships between states and their impact on global outcomes.

3. Societal Level: Focuses on domestic political power dynamics and their influence on foreign policy.

4. Individual Level: Analyzes actions of policymakers and their individual impacts on the economy.

Conclusion

• Globalization and Power Shifts: Historical perspective on globalization; from Western dominance to a more multi-polar world.

• Current Landscape: Emerging economies are reshaping power dynamics; requires a nuanced understanding of political and economic interdependencies.

• Reflection on IPE concepts through the lens of recent geopolitical events, such as the trade war with China.