The Politics of International Money and Finance

The management of money is generally understood to be a highly complex and technical matter, and as a result, it is commonly argued, best left in the hands of dispassionate technocrats guided by the neutral logic of abstract economic theory. But money is always and everywhere a political phenomenon. When it comes to questions of money and finance, locally and globally, political factors and forces inevitably, inescapably, and fundamentally shape choices and determine outcomes. In this course we consider the political foundations of monetary matters, with a focus on topics including central banking, financial crises, the future of the dollar, the unique social meaning of money, the Euro crisis, and more.