Douglas College

ECON 1103 Globalization and the World Economy

COURSE SCHEDULE AND READING LIST

Week 1: Introduction, Course Overview, Commanding Heights

(1) Commanding Heights documentary:

- Video on YouTube (Volumes 1, 2, 3)
- An informative accompanying website:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/commandingheights/lo/index.html

(2) Cameron and Neal, A Concise Economic History of the World, 4th Edition, Oxford University
Press, 2003. Chapter 16 (On Reserve)

Week 2: Economic Systems

(1) “A Natural History of Markets” by John McMillan at

http://www.gsb.stanford.edu/news/research/econ_mkthistory.shtml

(2) Thomas Friedman, The Lexus and the Olive Tree: Understanding Globalization, Farrar,
Straus and Giroux, 1999. Downloadable at
http://www.labeee.ufsc.br/~luis/egcec/livros/globaliz/TheLexusandtheOliveTree.pdf

Week 3: How Market Economy Works

(1) Mark Lovewell, Understanding Economics, McGraw Hill, 2015, Chapter 2. (On Reserve)

(2) Mark Lovewell, Understanding Economics, McGraw Hill, 2015, Chapter 8, pp. 211-226 (On
Reserve)

(3) Thomas Friedman, The World Is Flat 3.0: A Brief History of the Twenty-first Century,
Picador, 2007. Downloadable at
http://www.labeee.ufsc.br/~luis/egcec/livros/globaliz/TheWorldIsFlat.pdf

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Week 4 - 5: World Trade: Theory and Policies

(1) Mark Lovewell, Understanding Economics, McGraw Hill, 2015, Chapter 15. (On Reserve)

(2) Dallas Federal Reserve Bank essay on international trade:

http://www.dallasfed.org/assets/documents/educate/everyday/trade.pdf

(3) “Latest Trends in World Trade 2017-2018” Chapter III from World Trade Statistical Review
2018, World Trade Organization, 2018:
https://www.wto.org/english/res_e/statis_e/wts2018_e/wts2018chapter03_e.pdf

(4) “The Humble Hero: Containers have been more important to globalisation than freer trade.”
The Economist, May 18, 2013, Page 82.
https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2013/05/18/the-humble-hero

(5) “Sugar Industry Is Exhibit A of Tariff Favoritism”, Bloomberg, Dec. 18, 2018
https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/articles/2018-12-18/u-s-sugar-industry-is-exhibit-a-of-
tariff-favoritism

(6) “In the Shadow of Prosperity: Trade’s Victims.” The Economist, January 20, 2007, pages 32-
34: https://www.economist.com/briefing/2007/01/18/in-the-shadow-of-prosperity

(7) “The Battle of Smoot – Hawley”, The Economist, December 20, 2008, pages 125-126
https://www.economist.com/christmas-specials/2008/12/18/the-battle-of-smoot-hawley

(8) Doug Irvin, “Free Trade Under Fire”, 4th edition, Princeton University Press, 2015. A book
excerpt downloadable at
https://assets1b.milkeninstitute.org/assets/Publication/MIReview/PDF/69_82mr14.pdf

(9) “A Plan to Save the WTO.” The Economist, July 21-27, 2018, Page 9.
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2018/07/19/how-to-rescue-the-wto

Week 6: Outsourcing, Offshoring and Trade

“Special Report: Outsourcing and Offshoring – Here, There and Everywhere.” The Economist,
January 19, 2013.
https://www.economist.com/sites/default/files/20130119_offshoring_davos.pdf

Week 7: Midterm Exam

Week 8: Reading Break

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Week 9 - 11: Global Financial Markets, the World Monetary System, and Financial
Market Crisis

(1) “The New Dynamics of Financial Globalization”, McKinsey Global Institute, August 2017
(Read Executive Summary):
https://www.mckinsey.com/industries/financial-services/our-insights/the-new-dynamics-of-
financial-globalization

(2) Mark Lovewell, Understanding Economics, McGraw Hill, 2015, Chapter 14. (On Reserve)

(3) Frederic Mishkin, “Financial Crisis and the Subprime Meltdown.” (On reserve)

(4) Gary Gorton, “Questions and Answers about the Financial Crisis”, 2010.
https://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/crisisqa0210.pdf

Week 12: Income Inequality

(1) “Rich Man, Poor Man”, The Economist, Jan. 20, 2007.
https://www.economist.com/leaders/2007/01/18/rich-man-poor-man

(2) “For Richer, for poorer: Special Report on World Economy”, The Economist, Oct. 13, 2012.
Downloadable at
http://www.parisschoolofeconomics.com/reshef-
ariell/Media/The%20Economoist%20special%20report%20October%2013%202012.pdf

(3) Joseph Stiglitz, The Price of Inequality: How Today’s Divided Society Endangers Our
Future, W.W. Norton & Company, 2012. A book excerpt downloadable at
http://www.pas.va/content/dam/accademia/pdf/es41/es41-stiglitz.pdf

(4) Around the World with Joseph Stiglitz, documentary video, 2009.
https://vimeo.com/153222282

(5) “The Third Great Wave: Special Report on World Economy”, The Economist, October 4,
2014.
https://www.economist.com/sites/default/files/20141004_world_economy.pdf

(6) “Robots Aren't Yet Killing Off All Our Jobs, World Bank Says”, Bloomberg, Jan. 3, 2019.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-01-03/robots-aren-t-yet-killing-off-all-our-jobs-
world-bank-says?srnd=premium-canada

(7) “World Development Report 2019: The Changing Nature of Work”, The World Bank, 2019.
http://www.worldbank.org/en/publication/wdr2019

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Week 13: Climate Change

Harris, J.M., B. Roach and A.M. Codur. “The Economics of Global Climate Change.” Global
Development and Environment Institute. Tufts University. 2015.
www.ase.tufts.edu/gdae/education_materials/modules/The_Economics_of_Global_Climate_Cha
nge.pdf

Week 14: Globalization and Its Discontents

(1) Joseph Stiglitz, “The Chilling Irony of Trump’s Economic Experiment”, Vanity Fair, Nov. 7,
2017: https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2017/11/trumps-economic-experiment-america-first

(2) Joseph Stiglitz, The Overselling of Globalization, 2017

https://www8.gsb.columbia.edu/faculty/jstiglitz/sites/jstiglitz/files/Volcker%20Award%20Speec
h%20Paper.pdf

(3) Joseph Stiglitz, Globalization and Its Discontents Revisited: Anti-Globalization in the Era of
Trump, W.W. Norton & Company, 2017.