Richard Pomfret

Gives an analytical review of the economies of the Central Asian countries. After considering the geographical, cultural and historical basis for identifying a Central Asian region, focuses on the post-independence economies of Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan and on the economic influence of the region's major natural resources (cotton, minerals, oil and gas). Examines regional integration and relations to neighboring (and other) economies. Special reference is made to the implications of changes in leadership since 2017, the role of improved China-EU connectivity, and implications of war in Ukraine.

International Trade Theory gives an overview of the causes and consequences of international trade, as well as the institutional context in which trade (and factor movements) take place in the modern economy.  Topics in the first half of the course include:  determinants of trade flows, effects of trade on economic welfare and income distribution, trade and economic growth, international labor and capital flows, including foreign direct investment, and the emergence of global value chains.  The second half of the course focuses on policy issues: efficiency and redistributive effects of tariff and nontariff protection of domestic industries, the theory of preferential trading agreements, and trade and economic development.  We will also pay attention to empirical methods for testing trade theories and for measuring the effects of international trade and the consequences of trade policies, and to institutional issues such as the history of the global trading system, multilateral trade negotiations and the GATT/WTO system, and regionalism.

Reviews the role of economic forces in the process of deeper European Economic Integration (EEI). The course will offer arguments to substantiate future policy making with an adequate conceptual background, placing each topic into the historical context of the last 70 years. The core of the course is devoted to the main areas of EEI: trade, agriculture, money and finance, industry, services, regional development and welfare, with special attention to the changes brought about by the 1992 Single Market, the 1999 Single Currency and the 2004-07 enlargement. The empirical analysis is framed within economists’ theoretical frameworks on customs unions, economic convergence and polarization, the impact of technological innovations on labor markets and management styles, growing inequalities and welfare systems, and the impact of international political instability on migration flows. Special reference is made to the implications of Brexit and the consequences of war in Ukraine.