ECON BC3047 International Trade

Prof. Mariana Colacelli

Fall 2007

ECON BC3047 studies the causes and consequences of international trade and investment. The class consists of two parts.

Part 1 studies why nations trade, what they trade, and who gains from this trade. In this part we study theoretical models which focus on differences in technology and factor endowments to explain trade patterns.

Part 2 covers trade policy including the reasons for countries to restrict or regulate international trade and the effects of such policies on economic welfare.

Topics covered in the class include the effects of trade on economic growth and wage inequality, multinationals, foreign direct investment and some aspects of the current debate on "globalization." Although the class will emphasize the understanding of past and current events in the world economy, we will rely on formal economic modeling to help us understand those events. We will therefore extensively use microeconomic tools that you have learned in Intermediate Microeconomics (pre-requisite for this class).

The course has two 75-minute classes each week: Monday and Wednesday, 10:35 to 11:50am. The course requirements are a midterm exam (25%), a final exam (25%), a class presentation and its write-up (30%), and class participation and problem sets (20%).

Pre-Requisite: ECON BC3035 Intermediate Microeconomic Theory

Required Course Material:
-Book: International Economics, P.R. Krugman and M. Obstfeld, 7th Edition (or 6th Edition). Pearson Addison-Wesley Publisher.

-Additional required readings will be posted in the course website during the semester.
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