International Economic Institutions: Globalism vs. Nationalism

Since the end of World War II, groups such as the World Trade Organization, European Union, and G-20 have sprung up to promote trade, ensure financial stability, fight poverty, and perform other economic missions. Included among these goals is an ultimate aim: preventing the kind of global economic instability that so often leads to war. But while such bodies are trying to knit the world together, the voices of nationalism are objecting that national sovereignty is being lost. Furthermore, such organizations have the failings common to all human institutions. Do they really work? Are we better off without them? What is the best route to prosperity, and do they help smooth the way or obstruct it? International Economic Institutions: Globalism vs. Nationalism uses these influential bodies as a lens to study today's globalized economy. In 24 half-hour lectures, award-winning teacher and economist Professor Ramon P. DeGennaro of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, conducts you through the dizzying array of international institutions, their backgrounds, goals, and the important roles they play in the economic life of the entire world. In a lively and fascinating presentation, he analyzes the organizations in depth to reveal their strengths and weakness. Among the topics covered are the origins of the Great Depression; the 1944 Bretton Woods Conference; the causes of the Great Recession of 2007 - 2008; and the background to the UK's "Brexit" vote in 2016 to leave the European Union. All Lectures: 1. The Politics of Economic Institutions 2. Financial Regulation across Borders 3. International Anarchy under One Roof 4. Messy Multilateralism 5. The Fed and the Roles of Central Banks 6. The Pre - World War II Rise of Big Government 7. Interest Groups, the State, and Corporatism 8. The World Bank, Poverty, and Violence 9. Group Choices: Rock, Paper, Scissors 10. The United Nations: A League of Its Own 11. Exchange Rates and the Gold Standard 12. What Caused the Great Depression? 13. "Higgledy Piggledy": F. D. R.'s Stimulus Plan 14. The Bank for International Settlements 15. Intrigue at Bretton Woods: July 1944 16. The International Monetary Fund 17. The Asian Development Bank 18. The World Trade Organization 19. The Euro 20. The Great Recession: Mismanaging Risk 21. After the Recession: A Bigger House of Cards 22. Banking Supervision and the Basel Accords 23. A Unified Europe, and Then Brexit 24. The G-Zero Era of Instability… (more)