GV309      Half Unit
Politics of Money and Finance in Comparative Perspective

This information is for the 2017/18 session.

Teacher responsible

Prof Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey

Availability

This course is available on the BSc in Government, BSc in Government and Economics, BSc in Government and History, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, BSc in Politics and International Relations and BSc in Politics and Philosophy. This course is not available as an outside option nor to General Course students.

 

This course is capped at two groups. The deadline for enrolments is 12:00 noon, Friday 29 September, 2017.

Pre-requisites

A background in political economy would be advantageous.

Course content

The course focuses on the role of institutions, ideas and interests in the process and formulation of both (a) monetary policy, and (b) financial stability & regulation. We examine in particular the causal influences of institutions, ideas and interests in independent central banking, financial stability and financial regulation (including times of financial crisis), and the oversight and accountability of independent financial agencies, as well as relevant aspects of Brexit. Focusing predominantly on OECD countries, we draw on theories from economics and political science to analyse both decision making and policy outcomes, using both contemporary and historical perspectives. The course adopts a comparative country perspective, rather than an international relations perspective.

Teaching

10 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the MT.

There will be a reading week in week 6 of the MT for private study and assessment preparation.

Formative coursework

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the MT.

Indicative reading

The full reading list for this course is currently available on Moodle for GV309. This new course will take the readings from the introductory weeks, along with all the weeks covering issues of money and finance.

Blinder, A., The Quiet Revolution: Central Banking Goes Modern (Yale Univ Press, 2004)

M. Artis and F. Nixson, The Economics of the European Union, (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007 4rd ed)

Blinder, A., After the Music Stopped: The Financial Crisis, the Response, and the Work Ahead (Penguin, 2013)

Reinhart, Carmen & Rogoff, Kenneth, This Time Is Different: Eight Centuries of Financial Folly (Princeton University Press, 2009)

McCarty, N., et al, Political Bubbles: Financial Crises and the Failure of American Democracy (Princeton, 2013)

Schonhardt-Bailey, C., Deliberating American Monetary Policy: A Textual Analysis (MIT Press, 2013)

King, M., The End of Alchemy (Little Brown, 2016)

Assessment

Presentation (10%) and essay (90%, 3500 words).

Student performance results

(2014/15 - 2016/17 combined)

Classification % of students
First 33.3
2:1 60.4
2:2 6.2
Third 0
Fail 0

Key facts

Department: Government

Total students 2016/17: 22

Average class size 2016/17: 11

Capped 2016/17: Yes (22)

Value: Half Unit

Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

PDAM skills

  • Self-management
  • Problem solving
  • Communication
  • Specialist skills

Course survey results

(2014/15 - 2016/17 combined)

1 = "best" score, 5 = "worst" score

The scores below are average responses.

Response rate: 100%

Question

Average
response

Reading list (Q2.1)

1.7

Materials (Q2.3)

1.7

Course satisfied (Q2.4)

1.7

Lectures (Q2.5)

1.5

Integration (Q2.6)

1.7

Contact (Q2.7)

1.9

Feedback (Q2.8)

1.9

Recommend (Q2.9)

Yes

69%

Maybe

27%

No

4%