International Political Economy

Broadly viewing the global economy as a political competition that produces winners and losers, International Political Economy holistically and accessibly introduces the field of IPE to students with limited background in political theory, history, and economics. This text surveys major interests and institutions and examines how state and non-state actors pursue wealth and power. Emphasizing fundamental economic concepts as well as the interplay between domestic and international politics, International Political Economy not only explains how the global economy works, it also encourages students to think critically about how economic policy is made in the context of globalization.

New to the Sixth Edition

• Covers the economic impacts of 2016 electoral events, including new Trump administration initiatives related to TPP and NAFTA; the UK and Brexit, and the European populist wave.
• Examines the global financial crisis, EU debt crisis, quantitative easing, global capital flow cycles, and currency wars.
• Probes the death of the Doha Round and explores individual trade preferences, WTO dispute settlement, bilateral investment treaties and global value chains, labor standards, and the role of institutions for economic development.
• Considers how U.S. monetary and fiscal policy shapes the flow of financial capital into and out of emerging market economies with a focus on the "Fragile Five," whether the Chinese Renminbi can displace the dollar as a global currency, and the newly constructed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.
• Explores the impact of migration on wages and income inequality, and the growing importance of working remittances as a source of capital for developing countries.

Praise for the Sixth Edition

Thomas Oatley’s International Political Economy provides essential background to the interplay of economic behavior and political institutions. It takes seriously the role that economics plays in defining the interests of political actors but also introduces the student to the operation of institutions that govern international trade and finance. In plain language, it describes essential principles of economics and the role that political actors play in governing and negotiating the international political economy.

Paul Rowe, Trinity Western University

This is, hands down, the single best textbook I have used for any class in more than two decades of university teaching. It achieves that difficult and elusive goal of conveying complex material at a high level while also making it very accessible and understandable. The result is an invaluable IPE text that brings the students up to the level of the material rather than the reverse.

Strom Thacker, Union College

Oatley's IPE textbook is simply the best of its kind. It is comprehensive, analytically rigorous, and thoughtfully written for students with no previous background in the field. This latest edition contains a variety of fresh material – on Trump, Brexit, China, migration, and other topics – to keep students and instructors excited about the field.

David A. Singer, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

This is an outstanding introduction to the field of international political economy. Crucially for a textbook, it finds the right balance between theory and context. It provides an engaging and well-written introduction to key developments in world economic history, while also introducing the essential tools that are necessary to interpret these developments. Added to this, students will find it full of engaging real world examples that bring the subject to life. It should be considered as a standard text for all IPE courses at undergraduate level.

Michael Breen, European University Institute & Dublin City University

Thomas Oatley succeeds in writing an international political economy text that political science students will find accessible and economics students will find interesting. Incorporating and integrating essential concepts underlying IPE as well as contemporary scholarship, Oatley provides a succinct and effective foundation for understanding the field – and the insights it can provide for current policy issues and dilemmas.

Robert G. Blanton, University of Alabama-Birmingham

This approachable, accessible new edition of Thomas Oatley's text lays out the foundations of IPE. With constant reference to both historical cases and current policy concerns, it provides both an academic introduction to the issues concerning the field and a vivid application to familiar events. Students reading this book will be empowered to assess the global economy and its effects from a theoretically and empirically informed perspective.

Michael Plouffe, University College London

Expertly bridging the disciplines of economics and political science, Thomas Oatley’s book has inspired, disciplined, and transformed a new generation of scholars and students. With a simple and effective presentation of challenging material, this new sixth edition keeps up not only with the latest developments in IPE but also the very recent changes taking place in the real world. A new chapter on the achievements and challenges to the global capitalist economy provides excellent insight into the causes of the recent emergence of anti-globalization sentiments, once again in a way that is both clear and eye-opening for students.

Andrew X. Li, Central European University

Oatley's textbook represents a masterful introduction to the field of international political economy. The book provides an accessible yet sophisticated overview of the subject for beginners. The society- and state-centered approaches equip students with the theoretical building blocks to understand who wins and who loses from globalization. Each superb new edition gives updated empirical examples, keeping the text timely.　I have been using it with students in my classes for a decade.

James Raymond Vreeland, Princeton University

This book’s masterful structural-paradigmatic approach trains students and scholars in the kinds of investigative rigor that must be pursued to gain understanding of the global political economy. Oatley skillfully utilizes the dynamics of position and momentum to demonstrate how competition in global economic exchange creates winners and losers and shapes economic policy.

Hollis M. France, College of Charleston

This text’s most outstanding feature is its deliberate focus on the interactive and reiterative processes that simultaneously shape politics and economics, an approach that makes students more aware of the complexity of IPE and turns them into more critical observers of the world around them. Coming from a wide variety of emphasis areas, my own students love Oatley’s straightforward language, ease of access, strong detail, and wide topical coverage.

Leif Hoffmann, Lewis-Clark State College

This book is superb: It shows how theories and real-world issues are linked, and provides students with an excellent opportunity to engage in the intellectual exercise of applying theories to pressing questions in international political economy.　

Seungjoo Lee, Chung-Ang University

Thomas Oatley’s IPE book remains the go-to text for foundational, comprehensive, and rigorous training in the concepts, principles, and major debates in the field. The new sixth edition has been significantly updated for our times, capturing developments of the Trump era and emerging issues like global value chains, the political economy of migration, and the rise of China in global economic governance. Highly recommended!

Soo Yeon Kim, National University of Singapore

Thomas Oatley is the Corasaniti-Zondorak Chair of International Politics in the Department of Political Science at Tulane University.

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