IR469      Half Unit
Politics of Money in the World Economy

This information is for the 2025/26 session.

Course Convenor

Prof Jeffrey Chwieroth

Availability

This course is available on the MSc in International Affairs (LSE and Peking University), MSc in International Political Economy, MSc in International Political Economy (LSE and Sciences Po), MSc in International Political Economy (Research) and MSc in Political Science (Political Science and Political Economy). This course is available with permission as an outside option to students on other programmes where regulations permit. This course uses controlled access as part of the course selection process.

How to apply: All students must include a brief written statement of no more than 200 words explaining why they wish to take the course and how it will benefit their academic/career goals.

Places on capped courses cannot be guaranteed.

Deadline for application: The deadline for applications is 12:00 noon on Friday 26 September 2025.

You can expect to be informed of the outcome of your application by 12:00 noon on Monday 29 September 2025.

For questions about the academic content of a Department of International Relations course, students should contact the teacher responsible as listed in the hyperlinked course guide.

For questions about your programme regulations, please contact your programme convenor/director or your Academic Mentor.

For questions about the process of applying to a Department of International Relations course, if not already clear from the information provided, please contact ir.msc@lse.ac.uk.

Students are advised to check the MSc Course Availability Spreadsheet.xlsx for information on the remaining availability of EU4, DV4, GV4, IR4, PP4 and SO4 courses after 12:00 noon Monday 29 September.

 

All students are required to obtain permission from the Teacher Responsible by completing the Student Statement box on the online application form linked to course selection on LSE for You. Admission is not guaranteed.

This course has a limited number of places (it is controlled access) and demand is typically high.

Requisites

Additional requisites:

Students intending to take the course should have a strong background in monetary economics.

Course content

This course is designed as a component of the study of a global system in which the management and mismanagement of money and finance are matters of fundamental consequence for international relations. It is intended to be of particular relevance to students specialising in international political economy. This is a course in applied international political economy theory. It deals with the basic concepts regarding the creation, use and management of money and finance in the global system. Students are then introduced to the political foundations of international monetary governance. Issues covered include the use of national currencies as international money, the politics of exchange rate adjustment, the operations of banks and other institutions in international money and capital markets, the evolution of global financial markets, the relationship between states and markets in the arena of global finance, international monetary cooperation, and the choices of monetary and financial policies open to developed and developing countries. The course emphasises that contemporary issues, such as international financial crises, international financial regulation and the politics of IMF conditionality, are best understood in a broader theoretical and analytical context.

Teaching

15 hours of lectures and 13.5 hours of seminars in the Autumn Term.

This course has a reading week in Week 6 of Autumn Term.

Formative assessment

Students will sit a mock e-Exam in the AT. The mock e-Exam provides students with an opportunity to write a paper in class under simulated exam conditions and receive feedback to support their preparation for the summative e-Exam. 

 

Indicative reading

No one book covers the entire syllabus, but the following general works provide a useful introduction:

  • B Eichengreen, Globalizing Capital (2019);
  • T Porter, Globalization and Finance (2005);
  • D Andrews (ed), International Monetary Power 2006);
  • J Frieden, Currency politics: the political economy of exchange rate policy (2015);
  • E Helleiner, The status quo crisis: global financial governance after the 2008 meltdown (2014);
  • C. Norloff, America's global advantage: US hegemony and international cooperation (2010);
  • B Cohen, Currency power: understanding monetary rivalry (2015);
  • J Chwieroth and A Walter, The Wealth Effect (2019)

Assessment

Exam (90%), duration: 120 Minutes in the January exam period

Course participation (10%)

e-Exam of 2 hours (90%) in the January exam period. The exam will take place in the form of an e-Exam. 

Class participation (10%) in the AT. Class participation consists of four in-class components: class presentations/debates, a meme exercise, an AI exercise, and questions and answers. 


Key facts

Department: International Relations

Course Study Period: Autumn Term

Unit value: Half unit

FHEQ Level: Level 7

CEFR Level: Null

Total students 2024/25: 61

Average class size 2024/25: 15

Controlled access 2024/25: No
Guidelines for interpreting course guide information

Course selection videos

Some departments have produced short videos to introduce their courses. Please refer to the course selection videos index page for further information.

Personal development skills

  • Leadership
  • Self-management
  • Team working
  • Problem solving
  • Communication