Eran Yashiv

This course is available on the Double Master of Public Administration (LSE-Sciences Po), Master of Public Administration, MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Hertie), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and NUS), MPA Dual Degree (LSE and Tokyo) and MPA in Data Science for Public Policy. 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. For information on controlled access courses, including eligibility, application processes, deadlines, and departmental contact details, please refer to the Controlled Access Courses webpage.

Priority will be given to School of Public Policy Year 2 students. Second year MPA Double and Dual Degree students and students from outside of the School of Public Policy should submit a statement in support of their request.

Deadline for application: 9am on the Monday of Autumn Term week 1 (including requests from School of Public Policy students). We aim to inform students of the outcome of their request by 12noon the following day, Tuesday of Autumn Term week 1.

For queries contact: mpa@lse.ac.uk

Students need to have completed PP440 Micro and Macro Economics for Public Policy or an equivalent economics course.

The proposed course examines the transformative shifts redefining global macroeconomics, focusing on their origins, trajectories, and implications. Central to the analysis are the ascendant forces of populism, authoritarianism, and the increasing influence of radical political parties across the Western world. These developments signify a departure from globalization, toward a more fragmented, insular global order.

The course investigates recent global and regional crises that have profoundly impacted economic and political systems. The Global Financial Crisis (GFC) revealed systemic vulnerabilities, while the Euro Crisis tested the structural integrity of the European Union. Brexit marked a significant macro-economic and geopolitical realignment, and the COVID-19 pandemic underscored the fragility of international governance frameworks, highlighting gaps in public health and economic resilience.

Further, the course interrogates escalating risks and threats, including the breakdown of institutions and effects on global trade and on global finance. These dynamics, compounded by the rise of plutocratic systems, exacerbate economic inequalities and weaken public trust in governance structures. The subsequent disruptions to global trade and finance underscore the systemic risks posed by these developments.

To ground theoretical discussions, the course integrates case studies from Turkey, Hungary and Israel, offering empirical insights into democratic backsliding, political polarization, and macroeconomic instability. These examples elucidate the varying manifestations of shared global challenges and address macroeconomic and institutional responses to these phenomena.

The course equips participants with analytical tools to critically assess the nexus of macroeconomics and geo-politics.

Course Contents and Structure

Sea Changes in Political Economy -- National and Global

• The rise of populists and autocrats

• Processes of economic and financial de-globalization, break-ups, and dissociation

• Polarization and the emergence of radical political parties in the Western World

Recent Global and Regional Crises

• The Global Financial Crisis

• The Euro Crisis

• Brexit

• COVID-19

Risks and Threats

• Breakdown of institutions

• Effects on global trade and on global finance

• The re-emergence of plutocracy

• Attacks on the judicial system and on the media

Prominent Case Studies

• Turkey

• Hungary

• Israel

Effects and Responses

• The public response

• Policy responses

16.5 hours of lectures and 10 hours of seminars in the Autumn Term.

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

Problem sets.

Acemoglu, Daron - Prize lecture, NobelPrize.org Nobel Prize Outreach 2025, Wed. 10 Dec 2025, https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/economic-sciences/2024/aemoglu/lecture 

Acemoglu, Daron, Suresh Naidu, Pascual Restrepo and James A. Robinson, 2019. “Democracy does cause growth” Journal of Political Economy, 127 (1), pp.47-100

Acemoglu, Daron and James Robinson, 2026, de facto Political Power and Institutional Persistence, American Economic Review, 96, pp.325-330

Besley, Timothy, and Torsten Persson, 2019. "Democratic Values and Institutions," American Economic Review: Insights, 1, 1, pp.59–76.

Bermeo, Nancy, 2016, On Democratic Backsliding, Journal of Democracy, 27 (1), pp.5-19

Cantoni, Davide, Andrew Kao, David Y. Yang and Noam Yuchtman, 2024, Protests, Annual Review of Economics 16, pp.519-543

Edwards, Sebastian, 2019. “On Latin American Populism, and Its Echoes around the World,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 33, 4, pp.76–99. 

Funke, Manuel, Moritz Schularick and Christoph Trebesch, 2016, Going to extremes: Politics after financial crises, 1870-2014, European Economic Review 88, pp.227-260

Funke, Manuel, Moritz Schularick and Christoph Trebesch, 2023, Populist leaders and the economy, American Economic Review 113 (2), pp.3249-3288

Guriev, Sergei and Elias Papaioannou, 2022. "The Political Economy of Populism," Journal of Economic Literature 60(3), pp.753-832.

Guriev, Sergei and Daniel Treisman, 2019.  “Informational Autocrats,” Journal of Economic Perspectives 33, 4, pp.100-127.

Lelkes, Yphtach, Gaurav Sood and Shanto Iyengar, The Hostile Audience: The Effect of Access to Broadband Internet on Partisan Affect, American Journal of Political Science 61 no.1 (2017), pp.5-20

Levy, Ro'ee, Social Media, News Consumption and Polarization: Evidence from a Field Experiment, American Economic Review 111, no.3 (2021), pp.831-870

Margalit, Yotam, 2019. "Economic Insecurity and the Causes of Populism, Reconsidered." Journal of Economic Perspectives 33,4,152–70.

Mounk, Yascha, 2022. "The Rise of Populism and the Decline of Social Democracy" Journal of Democracy 33(2), 5-19.

Mukand, Sharun W. and Dani Rodrik, 2020, The Political Economy of Liberal Democracy, The Economic Journal, 130 (627), pp.765-792

Noury, Abdul and Gerard Roland, 2020. “Identity Politics and Populism in Europe,” Annual Review of Political Science 23, pp.421-439.

Papaionannou, Elias and Gregorios Siourounis, Democratisation and Growth, The Economic Journal 118, no.532 (2008), pp.1520-1551

Rodrik, Dani, 2021. "Why Does Globalization Fuel Populism? Economics, Culture, and the Rise of Right-Wing Populism," Annual Review of Economics 13, 133-170.

Stiglitz Jsoeph E and Dani Rodrik, 2024. “Rethinking Global Governance: Cooperation in a World of Power, “working paper.

Ziblatt, Daniel and Steven Levitsky, 2021. "The Durability of Democracy and the Rise of Authoritarianism" Daedalus 150, 3, 6-20.

Exam (70%), duration: 180 Minutes, reading time: 15 minutes in the Spring exam period.

Continuous assessment (30%).