The course analyzes the nexus among the causes and the effects of the ongoing globalization process from the point of view of international economics, highlighting the main challenges and opportunities faced by workers, firms and governments. Specifically, the course addresses the following questions. What are the historical roots of globalization? How do we explain global imbalances and the underlying financial flows? What are the gains from trade and why do countries trade among themselves? Why is protectionism a cost and why we have multilateral trading regulations? Who benefits and who loses out from globalization?

The first module, The Economics of Globalization I, first analyzes the globalization process from an historical perspective, and then focuses on financial globalization and macro-economic imbalances.