Take-Home Final
In a total of approximately 2,000–3,000 words (for UHP students 2,500–3,500 words) of writing, please answer the following question.
Question. Imagine that you have become a top advisor to President Joe Biden. Your assignment is to recommend American foreign economic policy. You are asked to take stock of the history and theories of international political economy in developing recommendations that are both popular (supported by public) and institutionally feasible (supported through the decision-making process) in the context of American democratic politics. Also, your recommendations will have to serve for the United States to benefit from the current global economy. In other words, they will have to be optimal for economy and security of the United States.
Be sure to offer concrete examples and illustrations to support your arguments wherever possible, referring to course materials such as the readings, notes you have taken, and the film assigned so far in this class.
There are many ways you can answer this question, but no matter how you answer it, your discussion needs to include three of the following points:
Why should the United States open or restrict its borders for migration? How would you answer this question from the economic aspects? How would you answer this question from other aspects (such as culture, rights, and security)? Where does the United States go as the nation of immigrants?
How have global value chains, or what Baldwin calls the New Globalization, changed trade politics of U.S.-China economic relations? In other words, how has the New Globalization changed the politics of U.S.-China trade war?
According to Alden, how did Americans get left behind in the global economy? In other words, how has the United States failed to adjust to growing global economic competition? What should the United States do to confront the competition? Why have the measures not worked and what should be done?
How and why does the wealth that the endowment of oil should bring to the nation turn out to be a curse for the development of the nation? What should the United States do to promote a solution to the oil curse?
Cullenward and Victor suggest a number of obstacles that make it hard to address the challenge of climate change. What are the main obstacles, and what, if anything, do you think should be done to promote a solution to this problem? Particularly, what should the United States do?
What is the East Asian COVID-19 paradox? During the pandemic, why has global governance failed in response to COVID-19 shocks while East Asian economic linkages have been resilient? What lessons can the United States learn from East Asian response to the COVID-19 pandemic?
In writing this essay, you should remember that a good essay has several features:
a) Make sure that your essay has:
a logical structure, including introduction, body, and conclusion,
a summary statement of your argument, which should appear in the introductory paragraph, and
clear, direct sentences and coherent paragraphs.
b) Your essay should make a clear, coherent argument. While you have to discuss several issues and events, your treatment of each issue and event should support the overall argument. Your argument should be clearly stated in the first paragraph.
c) When you have to summarize the argument that an author has made in the reading, we do not want a blow-by-blow (e.g., “first he says this, then he says that…”) or extensive direct quotations from the author. Rather, we want you to put the author’s main argument in your own words.
d) You should support your claims by evidence. An effective analysis will juxtapose your claims with passages from relevant readings and lectures. Avoid unsupported assertions.
Notes:
This exam is due on Tuesday, May 7, 9:30pm on Canvas. Exams submitted after that time will be subject to penalties. There will be no extensions granted, except in the most serious cases (e.g., serious illness, death in the family). Any such extensions must be requested before the due date.
You are expected to rely on the readings and the film as well as your notes from lectures. The most effective answers will combine course material from a variety of sources. There is no need to do outside reading or to have a bibliography. If you wish to quote directly from a lecture, the citation should be: (Lecture, Date). When citing from a reading, use short-form citations. For example:
McDonald argues that “large quantities of public property create political flexibility for governments wishing to consolidate their regime by enabling them to either raise the opportunity costs to their coalition members for supporting an opposition candidate or by co-opting potential opposition forces” (McDonald, p. 57).
The Stolper Samuelson theorem shows who benefit from free trade and who suffer from free trade (Rogowski, pp. 1122–1123).
Because you have plenty of time to complete this exam, we expect that spelling, grammar and punctuation will all conform to standard practice. Be sure to proofread your work!
