Questions and Answers of International Political Economy

If you had to identify one of the world views that makes most sense to you, which would it be, and why? Would your preferred IPE analytical stance be based primarily in one of the world views or
Juxtapose the positions of the three world views on the environmental issue. Which position is most persuasive to you, and why?
Present the different theories of development put forth by the three world views and how they have historically played out since the end of World War II.
Discuss the differences among the three schools of thought on the problems related to international trade and transnational corporations and their solutions.
Compare the central actors, decision-making loci, and value theories of the three world views of IPE.
In what ways are Marxism and feminism similar, and in what ways are they different? How does Peterson bring them together in her version of global political economy?
Identify and discuss the attributes of the three accumulation regimes into which the regularization theorists divide the twentieth century.
What is regularization theory? How is it related to classical Marxism?
How do Marxists see the world changing as the United States loses its hegemonic status?
What is the Green Revolution? Why does J. B. Foster think that it is part of neo-imperialism?
What are neoliberalism and the Washington Consensus? What do Soederberg and Harvey think about them? What informs their opinions?
Define and distinguish between neocolonialism and neo-imperialism according to Marxists.
How did Antonio Gramsci use the concept of “hegemon” in his disagreement with the economistic Marxists?
What did Lenin mean by imperialism? Why did he believe that it was the last stage of capitalism?
What was the vision that Marx had for communism, the last stage of human history?
What were the outcomes that Marx anticipated from the development and spread of capitalism around the world?
Explain how the business cycle works in capitalism, according to Marx.
What did Marx mean by “commodity fetishism,” and how does it illuminate the difference between Marx’s understanding of market capitalism and the free market proponents?
What are the meanings of the concepts “labor theory of value” and“surplus value,” and how do they inform Marx’s analysis of the interactions in the capitalist mode of production?
What are the forces and relations of production in the capitalist mode of production?
What does Marx mean by the mode of production? How did he apply it to human history?
Compare the approach of dialectical materialism to conventional science.
Define what is meant by ontology and epistemology in the context of the basic premises of dialectical materialism.
What argument could one make that suggests that the works of Karl Marx are still relevant today? What differentiates Marxism from Stalinism?
How would existing international organizations such as the World Bank, the IMF, and the WTO have to change in order for this array of reforms to become effective?
percent bank reserves, and the use of the precautionary principle. Explain how these reforms are supposed to work and what they are intended to achieve.
Other suggested reforms are compensatory tariffs, the Tobin tax, a carbon tax, special emission rights,
Explain how some of the other reform suggestions, including fair trade, debt relief, a global reserve currency, and sustainable development, are expected to improve social and economic conditions. Do
Why does the MCO reform agenda discussion start with democracy?What is the difference between a liberal and illiberal democracy?How does democracy relate to the Global Corporate Accountability Board?
Present the political scientist Benjamin Barber’s perspective on globalization, which he characterizes as “Jihad vs. McWorld.”
Discuss from an MCO perspective how transnational corporations have used the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund (IMF), and the World Trade Organization (WTO) to further their ends.
Ecological economist Herman Daly has identified a number of problems with the way that conventional market economics deals with environmental issues. They are discussed under the headings of the
Discuss the characteristics and causes of climate change and why MCO proponents believe that the market is not only part of the problem but also an obstacle to its mitigation.
Explain what the following three measures tell us that the market does not: ecological footprint, peak production, and the ISEW.
What is the connection between market failure and ecological degradation?
Discuss the ups and downs of the financial sector in the twentieth century and why MCO critics are concerned about the situation at the beginning of the twenty-first century.
Explain what is meant by the phrase “global casino,” and how it contributed to the global financial crises of the late 1990s.
Explain how the MCO sense of “moneyness” is different from that of the market view of money, both in form and societal role.
Multi-centric organizational (MCO) analysts have identified six problematic consequences from the use of the “free trade” policy that is supported by the market world view. These problems are
Compare the outcomes of the MCO model with those of the market model.
Discuss how the premises of the multi-centric organizational (MCO)model interact in order to create the projected outcomes.
Explicate the eight corporate-control strategies that Galbraith identified in The New Industrial State (1967).
Explain the concepts of revised sequence, technostructure, and oligopolistic markets.
Describe the essence of Piero Sraffa’s cost of production value theory.
What did Karl Polanyi mean by “fictional commodities,” and how did this concept inform his critique of neoclassical economics?
How did Thorstein Veblen’s institutionalism inform his critique of neoclassical economics?
Using the U.S current accounts deficit as an example, describe how the global macroeconomic variables are interconnected.
Discuss how the IMF and the IBRD, at least in their first two decades, were a reflection of Keynesian philosophy.
Explain how Keynes’s proposed “compensatory fiscal policy” was intended to alleviate this problem.
Explain how the “disconnect” between saving and investment observed by Keynes could lead to a “low-level equilibrium trap” for an economy.
Discuss the relationship between monetary policy and a market economy.
By using the Third World debt crisis as an example, discuss the connection between domestic monetary policy and the global political economy.
Explain how the Board of Governors of the U.S. Federal Reserve System uses the reserve ratio, the federal funds rate, and open market operations to achieve its monetary policy objectives.
Explain what is meant by price stability and why central banks around the world have it as their primary concern.
Explain how a fractional reserve banking system can “create” or“destroy” money.
How does knowledge of the market system help in understanding trade and payments between countries?
What role was the International Monetary Fund (IMF) designed to play in the international economy?
What are the advantages and disadvantages of the gold standard in the international trade and financial arena?
What is the problem that the use of PPP is trying to resolve, and why is it not a perfect solution?
What are foreign exchange reserves, and why does the United States have a privileged position in that financial arena?
Discuss the processes by which the ratios between different national currencies are established.
What composes the capital account, and why does its net total equal the net total of the current account?
What is the composition of the current account in the balance of payments, and why is it the most important figure?
Present the objectives and scope of the World Trade Organization(WTO).
What are the conditions that David Ricardo specified as necessary in order for comparative advantage to result in mutual economic benefit for the countries engaged in trade with one another? Which
Explain the difference between absolute and comparative advantage as reasons for countries trading with one another.
Explain why National Income is a smaller figure than Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
How does the accounting system of the national product and income accounts reflect the structure of the market model?
What are the conceptual similarities and differences between nineteenth-century liberalism and twentieth-century neoliberalism?
Why is the value theory of the market model called “subjective preference”?
Discuss how the market answers the basic economic questions.
What are the outcomes of the market model, and why do they necessarily follow?
Explain how the process of economic growth works in the market.Include the roles of banks, bonds, stocks, and derivatives.
Explain how the markets for products and resources are central to the decision-making processes of the market.
Discuss the interactions among households and productive organizations in the market model.
Describe the three roles that drive the decisions within the market.
Define briefly each of the premises or assumptions of the market model.
What is it about the deductive form of the market model that gives it a unique quality in the social sciences?
What are the major differences between classical political economy and neoclassical economics?
Briefly describe the three contrasting perspectives in IPE that will be presented in this text.
What is the field of study known as “IPE?”
On what key ideas did Adam Smith agree with David Ricardo and Karl Marx? On what ideas did they disagree?
Why is Adam Smith considered such an important person? Present his key ideas.
Explain the historical conditions that are related to the emergence of classical political economy in the nineteenth century and International Political Economy in the twentieth century.
Discuss the configuration of conditions that facilitated the emergence of the first Industrial Revolution in Great Britain.
What are the ways in which trade connects peoples?
There are rival domestic and international explanations for the behavior of BRIC states. Narlikar (2010) considers the explanatory power of the respective perspectives by looking at the positions of
This chapter discusses the BRICS. Many examples, however, came from China. To what extent is the story only about China? What role do the other BRICS play in the policy areas discussed here?
BRIC Implications
Explaining BRICS Action
BRICS Challenging or Co-opting the Liberal International Order?
BRIC Collective Action
What factors contribute most to human development in general? How does being integrated into the world economy affect your answer?
You are a member of the government of a recipient country. What factors would you consider when you decide whether to support more aid or more trade from donor countries?
You are advising a donor country about its development policy. What measures would you suggest its government take?
Trade and Human Development
Trade and Economic Development
Foreign Aid and Human Development
Foreign Aid and Economic Development
Institutions to Promote the Accumulation of Capital: International and Domestic Development Banks

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