Course description
The main aim of this course is to enable student to understand that economies work best when they are open to the world and when governments adequately address the source of dissatisfaction with capitalism and globalization. The students will get a clear and comprehensive sense of how capitalism as a dominant economic system works and how it has stimulated development. Through the history of anti-globalization periods in a capitalistic world, the participants of the course will comprehend advantages of globalization and its main drawbacks as gender issues, inequality, environment, poverty and misbehavior of the financial markets leading to financial crisis. Special focus will be given to multilateralism, for fostering economic development and cooperation among nations, in order to bring politics in line with global markets. Course will emphasis global governance issues, such as climate change, security threats and world development. Student will understand the importance of inclusive and extractive institutions for development and institutional diversity within the capitalistic economic system. Participants of the course will be able to apply different solutions to political trilemma between national government, democracy and economic globalization (e.g. EU as transnational governance, New Bretton Woods).

Doing so the course is structured into the following main parts:
1. Global capitalism in history's mirror (The golden age of globalization and gold standard 1896-1914, Antiglobalization period and autarkic policies 1914-1945, Bretton Woods and the welfare state 1945-1973, Hyperglobalization and neoliberalism 1973-2008, Big Recession 2008/2009 & COVID19 Recession and state intervention).
2. Bretton Woods system and multilateralism (Economic development, trade and cooperation among nations, Gold dollar standard and gradual trade liberalization, Social welfare policies and international economic integration, Institutions: IMF, WB, GATT, Positive results of the Bretton Woods system, Dissolution of the Bretton Woods).
3. Financial globalization (Washington consensus and rise of neoliberalism, Global financial markets, Financial de-regulation, Financial innovations and misbehavior of financial markets, Country risk and importance of credit ratings, Financial instability, Financial crisis in 2008).
4. Critics of economic globalization (Inequality between and within the country, Poverty, Position of women, De-industrialization issues, Labor and ecological standards…).
5. Global commons governance 1: Global climate changes (Environment as public good, Tragedy of the commons, Logic of collective action and free rider problem, Global warming, CO2 permits and green taxes, SDG goals….).
6. Global commons governance 2: Global security issues (Defining security, COVID19 pandemic, Economic change and military conflicts, economic/social/ environmental/health/natural/criminal threats to security…).
7. Global commons governance 3: World development, prosperity and poverty (Theories of economic growth, Growth and development, Resilient/inclusive/sustainable growth, Globalization and convergence/divergence, Development disasters, Different strategies of development, Alternative models of development)
8. The institutional analysis and divergence of Capitalism (Institutional change and complementarity, Extractive/inclusive institutions, Synergies between economic and political institutions, Institutional analysis of capitalism, Anglo-Saxon/Continental/Scandinavian/ Mediterranean/Asian economic system, Alternative economic systems as Islamic, Latin American....)
9. Trilemma between National government, Democracy and Economic globalization (National state and economic globalization demands global/regional (EU) governance, Nation state and democracy limit globalization (New Bretton Woods), Nation state and globalization crowds out domestic politics (Golden Straitjacket)).
10. Global economy and global (political) solutions (Global megatrends and disrupters, Optimum globalization speed, Reform of the world trade regime, Regulating global finance (global tax on financial transactions), Global labor and environmental standards, Regulating migrations and labor mobility, Reforming global institutions (WB, WTO, IMF), UN and SDG goals, Democratizing globalization and new forms of democracy, EU as transnational governance at regional level).

Teaching methods and evaluation methods
The course includes lectures and class discussions (Debate “pro et contra”). Each week, the students will be given reading assignments for the following lecture in order to actively participate at the course. Students will be invited to propose issues that have been raised in their country of origin or of their special interest.

Two teams of students shall be required to prepare by the following week a public debate »pro et contra« on the selected topic. Both teams shall present their arguments during a public debate following a previously defined protocol. Cross examination allows the two teams to challenge the opponents, request clarification of arguments and refute their claims. The forum with other students in the class, taking place at the end of the discussion, shall have a similar form. After the end of the debate, the class shall select the winning team by raising hands (score bonus).

The written report is a prerequisite for taking part in the debate and it shall be the basis for the final assessment of each team's work. All other students (not actively engaged in the debate groups) have to write their weekly reports in which they will argument their positions regarding the thesis.

Evaluation and scoring
Written final exam: 50%
Weekly reports (individual work) and active class participation: 25%
Debate “pro et contra” (group work): 25%

Learning outcomes
After completing this course, students will be able to:
• Understand and interpret capitalism in history's mirror.
• Comprehend adverse social and economic implications of anti-globalization waves.
• Grasp how multilateralism fosters economic development and cooperation among nations.
• Realize how to bring politics in line with global markets (Bretton Woods II).
• Comprehend global security threats, global climate change and world development issues.
• Understand the importance of inclusive economic and political institutions.
• Explain how different capitalist economic system copes in today’s world.
• Absorb knowledge from real-life cases and issues in the fields of peace, security, cooperation and development (IMF, WB, GATT, UN….).
• Comprehend political trilemma between globalization, democracy and national government.
• Identify and distinguish different (political) solutions to global challenges and problems.

Literature (selected chapters and readings).
• Daron Acemoglu and James Robinson (2013): Why nations fail? The origins of power, prosperity and poverty. Profile books.
• Thomas Piketty (2020): Capital in the twenty-first century, Belknap University of Harvard University Press.
• Thomas Piketty (2014): Capital and Ideology, Belknap University of Harvard University Press.
• Rodrick Dany (2011): The globalization paradox: Democracy and the future of the world economy, Norton and Company, New York.
• Peter Hough (2013): Understanding Global Security, Third Edition, Abingdon: Routledge.
• Frieden Jeffry (2006): Global capitalism: Its fall and rise in the twentieth century, Norton and Company, New York.
• Branko Milanovic (2019): Capitalism, Alone; Belknap University of Harvard University Press.
• Bruno Amable (2003): The diversity of modern capitalism, Oxford University press.
• Olstrom Elinor (1990): Governing the commons. The evolution on Institutions for Collective Action, Cambridge University Press.
• Jagdish Bhagwati (2005): In defense of globalization. Oxford University Press.
• Joseph E. Stiglitz (2006): Making globalization work, Norton and Company, New York.
• OECD Global Strategy Group (2015): Megatrends, multilateralism and OECD’s future role in a changing world.
• OECD Global Strategy Group (2016): Fixing Globalization: Time to Make it Work for All.
• Debate topics.
• Supplementary texts/articles.