1 / 13

Y669 International Political Economy

Y669 International Political Economy, lecture #2

hartjeff
Download Presentation

Y669 International Political Economy

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Y669 International Political Economy September 7, 2010

  2. The Theory of Hegemonial Stability • The world’s largest economy is called a “hegemon.” – Britain in the 19th century – US after World War II • Hegemony often arises as a result of a global war. • The hegemon establishes regimes after such a war that are favorable to its own interests.

  3. Defining Openness • “A period when tariffs are falling, trade proportions are rising, and regional trading patterns are becoming less extreme will be defined as one in which the structure is becoming more open.” Source: Krasner, p. 324.

  4. Krasner on what makes for an open trading structure

  5. British Example • Pound-sterling as key currency • Gold standard (at least part of the time) • Abolition of the Corn Laws established low tariffs for world trade unilaterally • Investment regime based primarily on rules for portfolio investment

  6. Transition from British to US Hegemony • Occurred gradually during the period between WW1 and WW2 • US reluctant to assume burden of leadership • Outcome of WW2 led to British decline and full leadership for US

  7. US Example • Postwar establishment of the Bretton Woods System – IMF, World Bank – GATT/WTO – Informal monetary regime • Continued leadership despite some change over time in the strength of regimes

  8. Hegemonial Stability (continued) • As hegemony wanes, regimes weaken and challengers to the hegemon arise. • The weakening of the regimes hastens the relative decline of the hegemon. • A new hegemon arises either because of inequal rates of growth or because of another global war. • The cycle starts all over. Source: Robert Gilpin, War and Change

  9. Key Historical Examples • Decline of British hegemony in the 1930s leads to weaker regimes and eventually the Great Depression • Decline of US hegemony in the 1970s leads to weakening of the monetary regime (move from fixed to floating exchange rates) and challenges to the trade regime Can this be generalized to other time periods?

  10. Trade/GDP 1800-1960

  11. Key Questions for the Current Period • Has U.S. economic power declined relative to potential challengers? • Has that decline resulted in weaker regimes and greater international economic instability? • Which of the potential challengers to U.S. hegemony has the best chance of becoming the next hegemon?

  12. Power Shares among the Advanced Industrialized Countries, 1950-1998 Source: Alison Bailyn, From Traditional to Group Hegemony (2005)

  13. Robert Gilpin and Susan Strange

More Related