Midterm Examination

Y669 International Political Economy

March 4, 2010

This is an open book, take-home examination. Choose two questions below and write an essay on each. Please observe a limit of ten pages (double-spaced, Times-Roman font size 12) or less per essay. You should email your essays to me at hartj@indiana.edu as file attachments in Microsoft Word .docx format or Adobe .pdf format prior to 5pm on March 5.

1. Compare and contrast the changes since 1945 in the international economic regimes for trade, direct foreign investment, and international monetary affairs. How well do these changes correspond with predictions from hegemonial stability theory?

2. What are the most important global governance problems for the next ten years? To what extent does global governance create problems of legitimation similar to those faced by governments of nation-states? How should those problems be solved?

3. Review the major theories about the origins of global inequality. Does the recent rapid growth of the Chinese and Indian economies suggest that global income gaps may decline in the future?

4. What lessons for the future can be drawn from the current global financial crisis? How is the current crisis similar to and different from previous financial crises? What policy changes might prevent the recurrence of such a large global downturn? In your essay consider possible policy reforms at both the national and international levels.

5. Who wins and who loses when currency exchange rates change, inflation rates fluctuate, global trade levels rise and fall? Is it possible to analyze the most important aspects of IPE purely in terms of winning and losing?