EC 346 INTERNATIONAL TRADE

(Prerequisites: EC 103, EC 104, EC 235 and EC 236, or the permission of the instructor; prerequisites may be waived for international affairs majors and minors by permission of instructor).

COURSE DESCRIPTION

This course provides students with an appreciation of the role and importance of international economic relations in the modern world. Topics include: trade movements, theories of international trade, protectionism, the role of international organizations such as the WTO, and an introduction to balance of payments accounting. Students should be able to: define the essentials of trade theories (productivity differences, factor endowments and factor proportions, product differentiation and monopolistic competition, oligopoly, and agglomeration based on external economies), use these concepts and tools to examine issues of sectoral changes, trade, innovation, and growth, describe the working of and political economy behind tariff and nontariff barriers as well as government policies pushing exports, explain how trade theory and policy relate to international resource movements, discuss the global trading system, its institutions, and the issue of regionalization through regional trade agreements, and comprehend the concept of the balance of payments.

TEXT: Pugel, T. 2009. International Economics, 14^th ed., New York: McGraw-Hill/Irwin.

Class meets T, Th, 9:40 - 11am, HH 201

Enrolled students can access all course materials through the course web site on Blackboard http://bboard.skidmore.edu