Attention is given to international-trade policies and the international monetary system. The textbook is Yarbrough and Yarbrough, The World Economy. The abstract idea of economic efficiency is used to develop conceptual frameworks for the interpretation of economic growth, environmental decay, and international conflict. International economics is an evolving social inquiry about subject matter that is itself in motion. It is impossible to proceed without some discussion of research.
Generalizations are tentative statistical inferences and theoretical hypotheses.
Economic theory is aimed at the understanding of efficiency. It does not by itself provide ethical judgments on actual economic policy. Assessing the moral aspects of a policy depends on additional considerations. The grade in the course is a subjective evaluation, based on the standards in the Bulletin, of a large mass of creative writing and research on urgent questions. Classroom and in-office consultations are intense.