Week 6 : Economy… I mean, BRAAAAIIIIINNNNSSSSS

Back from March Break and at the half-way point of the course. We spoke a lot about the financial system and financial reform and about various institutions that seek to regulate the global economy and whether or not they had worked in the face of looming economic meltdown.

On one hand we had relatively pessimistic views which suggested that our attempts at global governance had failed. If international organizations, institutions and networks post-1945 had been aimed at preventing the mistakes of the inter-war era, scholars such as Bremmer and Nouriel Roubini suggest that the international system has failed and no one wants to bear the cost of leadership in the way the US has in the past. DanDrezner, however, challenges this relatively pessimistic view. He argues takes a more optimistic stance, suggesting that really, post-2008, the global system actually preformed relatively well.

This is interesting – and there has been a lot written in recent weeks on this issue. A good summary (and critique) is found atthe Duck of Minerva. Just how good is our liberal inernational order? And to what extent should we be reasonable about what we expect from it?

Then, to be honest, we ended up watching this for the rest of the class. Never let it be said that I do not exemplify the pinnacle teaching excellence.