The Global Economy
For this specialization we advise you to register in the Major Economics of Development (ECD), but other Majors also give access to this specialization.
The Global Economy pathway will provide students with an understanding of the nature and functioning of the world economy and process of economic globalization which will aid them in making sense of the competing arguments in respect of the alleged benefits and adverse consequences of this integration process for developing countries. Particular attention will be paid to the international division of labour and globalised system of production, international trade and finance, as well as the on-going turmoil in the global economy.
Target group
The specialisation caters to the needs of those from both the private (business and non-business) and public sectors in both developing and advanced countries who would like to get a better, more in-depth, understanding of the global economy and the increasing importance of present-day developing countries in shaping its future direction. It is, or should be, increasingly recognised that public and private sector decision-makers cannot afford to neglect the global dimension. The courses comprising the specialisation are rigorous yet non-technical (non-mathematical) in nature, and can be followed by those without a first degree in economics, although the latter would certainly be helpful.
Specialisation courses
- Global Economy
- International Financial Reform or
- Political Economy of inclusive growth
Teaching staff
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Howard Nicholas, is Senior Lecturer in Economics of Sustainable Development and convenor from 2010 - present. He has extensive teaching experience, having taught in a large number of countries in Asia, Africa, and the Caribbean, on a number of subjects in the field of economics, including global business cycles and financial markets. His research interests include the Macroeconomic dynamics of the global economy, financial markets, and theories of price. He has published widely in a number of reputed international journals and has recently completed a book entitled Marx’s Theory of Price and its Modern Rivals, which is published by Macmillans. For more information see: www.iss.nl/nicholas
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Peter van Bergeijk, is Professor of International Economics/Macro-economics. He holds a MA from Erasmus University Rotterdam and a PhD from Groningen University. Peter was part-time professor in economic policy at Erasmus University and in monetary policy at Zurich University. He held senior management positions in the Dutch Central Bank (De Nederlandsche Bank) and UBS bank and also was a chief economist at the Dutch Competition Authority NMa and the International Economics Directorate of the Ministry of Economic Affairs. His main research interest involve de-globalization and the financial crisis, economic diplomacy (including the use of economic sanctions) and the geography of international trade. For more information see: www.iss.nl/vanbergeijk
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Susan Newman, Lecturer in Development Economics. She joined the ISS in November 2010. Prior to this Susan was employed as Senior Researcher at CSID. Her main research interests include the political economy of post-apartheid industrial development in South Africa, the relationship between financial and physical markets for commodities, and linkages between the real and financial in capitalist accumulation more broadly. For more information see: www.iss.nl/newman
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Rolph van der Hoeven is Professor of Employment and Development Economics and Member of the Committee on Development Cooperation of the Dutch Government. Earlier he was Director of ILO's Policy Coherence Group, Manager of the Technical Secretariat of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization, Chief Economist of UNICEF and policy analyst for the ILO in Ethiopia and Zambia. His work concentrates on issues of employment, inequality and economic reform on which he has widely published. For more information, see www.iss.nl/vanderhoeven
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Max Spoor is Professor of Development Studies (in particular regarding economies in transition) and joined the ISS in 1991. Visiting Professor at the Barcelona Institute of International Studies, and Guest Professor at the Nanjing Agricultural University in China. His research is focused on Asian transition economies such as Vietnam, China, and the countries in Central and Eastern Europe, particularly regarding rural and environmental issues, poverty, and inequality, while he continues to have a research interest in Latin America and the Caribbean. For more information,see www.iss.nl/spoor
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Andrew Fischer is Senior Lecturer of Population and Social Policy and Convenor of the Social Policy for Development Major at ISS. A development economist by training and an interdisciplinary social scientist by conviction, he has been involved in studying, researching or working in development studies or in developing countries for over 25 years and on China’s regional development strategies in the Tibetan areas of Western China for more than ten years. His research generally deals with marginalised and/or disadvantaged peoples, focusing on how poverty and inequality are affected by patterns of population change, economic growth, social policy, aid, trade and finance. He has published widely on subjects related to China’s development and on the international development agenda more generally, particularly with respect to poverty, social exclusion, and social policy. He earned a PhD in Development Studies from the London School of Economics. For more information, see www.iss.nl/fischer
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Marja de Clercq Zubli is the Programme Administrator for ECD (Economics of Sustainable Development) with its two Specializations, Economic Analysis of Development Policies and The Global Economy. Marja is Dutch and joined the ISS in 1998, and since 1999 she has been the administrator for Economics of Sustainable Development. Her major task is being the link between the professors and the students, arranging study trips and helping students with questions. She really enjoys working in this international environment, learning each year more about the different cultures and now having friends all over the world. As one of her hobbies is traveling, she already has visited some of her former ECD students in Vietnam, Thailand and Indonesia. For more information about the specializations: zubli@iss.nl
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Annet van Geen is the Staff Group (Economics of Sustainable Development) Administrator. She deals with finance and daily management. She is also programme administrator for several courses which are attached to the Economics of Development Masters programme, as well as administrator for the Children Youth and Development Diploma Programme and gives administrative support to Professor Jan Pronk. Annet is Dutch and moved to The Hague in 1986, she joined the ISS in 1996, and since 2001 she has been the administrator for Economics of Sustainable Development. Annet has edited the two ISS Cookbooks – A Taste of the World (2002) and Teach Learn Cook (2007) and is currently working on the 3rd cookbook. vangeen@iss.nl
The Global Economy Courses
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The Global Economy
The programme of lectures is divided into three parts. Part 1 provides students with the conceptual and theoretical basis for understanding different perspectives on the functioning of the global economy and the process of economic globalisation. Particular attention will be paid to the current financial and economic turmoil affecting the advanced countries. Part 2 builds on these conceptual and theoretical foundations and looks in depth at the global trading system and in particular the current impasse in the Doha round of international trade agreements. Attention will be paid to the so-called Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), Non-Agriculture Market Access (NAMA), General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIMS), and so-called Singapore issues. Part 3 will also build on the foundations provided in Part 1 and look in depth at the international financial system and the role played by the IMF in this system. Particular attention will be paid to the nature and role of world money, the management of currency values and capital flows, and adjustments to global imbalances.
International Financial Reform
Domestic financial markets and institutions have an important role in mobilising resources and allocating funds to producers. Foreign capital can add to the resources available for investment. Financial globalization has progressed significantly in the last decade and would seem to increase the access for developing countries to development finance.
Many developing countries have liberalized the domestic financial markets and quite often also removed restrictions on international capital movements. Global financial markets have expanded enormously but are also increasingly volatile and unstable. Many other, poorer, developing countries have not been included in the process of globalization, if anything they have become more marginalized, dependent on aid and debt relief.
While finance can contribute to investment and growth, it can also be a source of instability and crisis as many countries have experienced. There is thus a need for a careful financial policy, but the financial markets of developing countries are small relative to the vast flows on the international markets and this limits the ability of national governments to ensure stability; international action is required and that is why international financial reform is the subject of this course.
ECD Fieldtrip: pictures taken in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, 31 March 2012; nationwide demonstration against household and water tax
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Political Economy of Inclusive Growth
This course explores the question of how economic growth can be made more inclusive (or pro-poor) – and hence more effective in poverty reduction – from a (classical) political economy and structuralist framework. Structuralist in this sense refers to the issue of social and structural transformation as central to our understanding of modern economic development (e.g. transitions out of agriculture and into manufacturing and services, alongside urbanization). At the centre of this exploration is the issue of inequality and its role in economic development and poverty reduction.
The course begins with a review of theoretical issues relevant for developing an inclusive growth framework, including the importance of a (classical) political economy understanding of the economic dimensions of production, distribution and circulation/redistribution, as well as the interactions between inequality and economic growth, and the central role of employment (quantity, quality and wages) in the so called ‘growth-poverty nexus’.
The course is then divided into four blocks. Block One deals with three foundational modern models of inequality and growth that actually attempt to deal with a structural understanding of economic development (those of Simon Kuznets, Arthur Lewis and Celso Furtado), and compares these to typical mainstream and Marxist perspectives. In Block Two, the centrality of employment in the growth-poverty nexus is discussed, alongside global trends in employment and inequality. Block Three reviews a range of policy realms that governments can act upon in order to influence poverty, inequality and the inclusiveness of growth in a context of structural transformation, namely: productive policies (especially regarding agriculture, industry and infrastructure); trade policies; social policies; and macroeconomic policies (fiscal and monetary). The final block of the course is dedicated to student-led seminars – ideally linking a topic from the course to an issue in their research papers – and concludes with an assessment of the potential for inclusive growth in the contemporary context.
