Global Trade and Finance

This course introduces students to the basic theories of international trade and trade policy with an emphasis on contemporary issues. Students will examine why and how nations gain from international trade in goods, services and assets. Simple models are used to analyse current issues in foreign trade with respect to commercial policies, tariff and non-tariff barriers, economic integration, regional trade arrangements, and new trade issues such as labour standards, human rights, and environmental protection. This will involve an understanding of global capital markets, international parity relations and foreign investment. The contentious nature of international trading rules, exchange rate regimes, capital movements, and labour migration, and the roles of the World Trade Organisation, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank are reviewed. The political economy of agricultural price support, export subsidies, and other issues are also analysed. Students are also introduced to debates over foreign trade risks, strategies for risk management and various methods of foreign trade financing.