Document Type

Graduate Syllabus

Date

Spring 2012

School

Diplomacy

Course Number

DIPL 6113 AA

Course Description

This course has been designed to provide a better understanding of international financial institutions (IFls), specifically, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. Prior to the Great Recession of 2008-09, serious questions were raised about the relevance of the IMF and the need for its traditional activity, assisting countries experiencing financial problems. The global financial crisis and subsequent sovereign debt crisis breathed new life into the IMF's, if not the World Bank's, role in the international financial system.

The background and activities of the Fund and the World Bank will be examined with emphasis on arguments about their relevance and proposals for reform. Discussion of reform of the "international financial architecture" will be addressed. We will also learn how to analyze "sovereign risk," the risk that a sovereign government will default on its financial obligations, a major preoccupation of the IFis, as well as of private sector creditors. Finally, we will learn how to utilize IMF, World Bank and other publications and data in our analysis.

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