PURPOSE:	The aim of this course is to teach you a lot about the economics -- and a little about the institutions -- of international trade and trade policy. The course is companion to SPP/Econ 542, International Finance Policy, which deals with international macroeconomic topics such as the balance of trade and balance of payments, determination of exchange rates, and international macroeconomic policies. Each course will also include the bare essentials of the other course so that if you take only one of them, you won't be lost. The course is mainly about trade policy. You will learn what trade policies are, how they are used by the United States and other countries, and how their use is restricted by international agreements. More importantly you will learn how to use economic modeling to understand the effects of trade policies and to quantify these effects. Along the way you will also learn about the institutions of the world economy, especially those that have to do with trade. And you will learn a little bit about the economic theories of why nations trade, and why they gain from trade.
Prerequisite:	SPP/Econ 555 or equivalent courses in intermediate microeconomics
Organization:	The course meets twice a week, Mondays and Wednesdays, 8:30-10:00 AM, in room 1230 Weill.

The textbooks for the course are
Krugman, Paul R. and Maurice Obstfeld ("K-O" below), International Economics: Theory and Policy, 8th Edition, Addison Wesley, 2009, isbn-13 #978-0-321-49304-0; isbn-10 #0-321-49304-4; or you may use their 7th edition, 2006, isbn #0-321-27884-4. Page numbers are given below for both.

Jackson, John H., The World Trading System: Law and Policy of International Economic Relations, Second Edition, MIT Press, 1997, isbn #0-262-60027-7.

There will also be a number of additional readings that will be available in a coursepack from Grade A Notes Copy Service, sold at the Michigan Union Bookstore. All of these readings are required, but the coursepack is not. Most of the readings are available free to the public on the web, and the few that are not will be available on CTools. So purchase of the coursepack is entirely optional and for your convenience. One copy of the coursepack will be on reserve in the Margaret Dow Towsley Reading Room, 3110 Weill.

Because of the speed with which issues evolve, readings selected in advance can never cover all of the latest developments. You are therefore especially encouraged to follow current issues of international trade policy by reading daily periodicals such as the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, or Financial Times or weekly publications such as Business Week, or The Economist. Student subscriptions to these publications are available at reduced prices.