Introductory description

How did global finance get to be such big business? For much of the post-war era finance was a sleepy occupation lampooned in movies such as Mary Poppins. But things have changed, and today finance is at the cutting edge of global commerce and world politics.

This module examines the rise of global finance from a political perspective. Through the study of a variety of historical, theoretical and contemporary issues the module helps students recognize the political character of financial relationships, and to understand how finance interacts with other aspects of social life.

Topics covered include the Gold Standard, the Bretton Woods regime, the re-emergence of global finance since 1973, money, credit and debt, the rise of independent central banks, and European monetary integration (the Euro). The class does NOT address issues of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) aid or development.

Informed by a mix of international political economy and social theory, the module focuses on the analysis of global financial politics, with fundamental questions about power, hegemony, social control, and the evolving dynamics of capitalism amongst its central concerns. If you are interested in these aspects of global finance, then this is the right module for you.

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

Week 1: Introduction
Week 2: Gold Standard 1870 -1944
Week 3: Bretton Woods 1944 -1973
Week 4: Global Finance 1973 - Present
Week 5: Social Foundations of Global Finance
Week 6: Reading Week
Week 7: Money, Credit and Debt
Week 8: International Capital Mobility
Week 9: Central Banks
Week 10: European Monetary Integration

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• 1. describe what for International Political Economy (IPE) scholars are the major theoretical controversies, historical debates and contemporary issues in the academic study of the politics of global finance;
• 2. analyze, compare and critically evaluate the fundamental assumptions and arguments about the politics of global finance made by IPE scholars;
• 3. construct and substantiate your own academic [NOT policy] arguments about the politics of global finance, within the terms of the IPE debates. To do so you MUST refer to the relevant IPE literature. Simply relying on literature from Economics or Business Studies is not acceptable.

Subject specific skills

TBC

Transferable skills

TBC