There are a substantial number of courses taught at Columbia Business School (CBS), Columbia Law School (CLS), and the School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA) that cover topics relevant to APEC goals and the region. In addition to courses in history and political science, the following graduate courses, offered during the 2021-22 academic year, were particularly relevant for students interested in APEC.
Asian Financial Markets
This course is offered by SIPA in the spring and is taught by Takatoshi Ito, Professor of International and Public Affairs at SIPA. This course will give an overview of the history, function, and future prospects of the financial markets in Asian countries (mainly ASEAN-10, Japan, Korea, China, and India), as well as how financial supervision and regulation should be formed. The financial crisis, as well as financial development, will be covered as an instrumental event for reforms. The stages of financial and economic development will be explained, and Asian countries will be placed on the development stages. Economic and financial policies will be examined from an efficiency point of view.
Climate Change Law and Policy
This course is offered at CLS in the spring and is taught by Michael Gerrard, Andrew Sabin Professor of Professional Practice at CLS. This course concerns the issues of law and policy that are involved in the regulation of climate change. Most of the course concerns U.S. law but a considerable amount of international law is studied as well. It begins with an overview of the causes and effects of global climate change and the methods available to control and adapt to it. Students then examine the negotiation and implementation of the Montreal Protocol, the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Kyoto Protocol, and the Paris Climate Agreement. The focus will then turn to the past and proposed actions of the U.S. Congress, the executive branch, and the courts, as well as regional, state, and municipal efforts. The Clean Air Act, the National Environmental Policy Act, the Endangered Species Act, and relevant energy laws will receive special attention. Students evaluate the various legal tools that are available to address climate change, including cap-and-trade schemes; carbon taxation; command-and-control regulation; litigation; information disclosure; and voluntary action. Implications for international human rights, energy security, economic competitiveness, federalism, environmental justice, and international and intergenerational equity will be discussed. Adaptation to climate change and geoengineering are examined as well.
Economic and Financial Statecraft
This course is offered at SIPA in the spring and is taught by Edward Fishman, Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs at SIPA. The course focuses on how the United States and other countries weaponize economic, financial, and technological interdependence to advance strategic objectives. Topics include economic sanctions and restrictions on trade and investment, and case studies include efforts to use economic statecraft to curb Iran’s nuclear program, counter Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and interference in democratic elections, and check China’s 5G ambitions. The course also explores how new technologies and sovereign initiatives, including cryptocurrency and other alternatives to dollar-based payment systems, as well as the COVID-19 pandemic, could impact economic statecraft in the future.
Economic Development of Japan
This course is offered at Columbia in the fall and is taught by ASC director David E. Weinstein. This course covers the growth and structural changes of the post-World War II economy; its historical roots; interactions with cultural, social, and political institutions; economic relations with the rest of the world. In addition, there is considerable discussion of Japan’s recent economic conditions.
Japanese Financial Policy & Economy
This course is offered by SIPA in the spring and is taught by Takatoshi Ito, Professor of International and Public Affairs at SIPA. This course provides students with deep knowledge of developments in financial policy in Japan and interactions between financial markets and economic development. Financial policy extends from regulation and supervision of the banking sector to capital markets and international capital flows, as well as monetary policy and exchange rate policy. Policy lessons are derived from analyses of past banking problems and crises. The impact of switching from the fixed exchange rate regime to the floating exchange rate regime and subsequent attempts to manage the exchange rate movements will be reviewed with event analyses and case studies. Students will study why the economic growth rate of Japan was high in the 1950s and 1960s and later declined; how financial market developments contributed to economic growth; how quickly its markets were opened to international trade and finance; why the Japanese economy has suffered stagnation and deflation due to a burst of a financial bubble in the 1990s and 2000s; and what kinds of policy reforms, known as Abenomics, have been implemented since 2013. The description and explanation are based on intermediate microeconomic and macroeconomic analyses and empirical evidence. The role of economic policies—monetary policy, fiscal policy, financial supervision and regulation, and industrial policy—will be carefully examined.
Navigating China
This course is offered by CBS in the fall and is taught by Shang-Jin Wei, N.T. Wang Professor of Chinese Business and Economy and Professor of Finance and Economics at CBS. This course is designed to provide a framework for understanding these issues. As several other emerging market economies hope to follow China’s footsteps, the conceptual framework in the course should help one to better appreciate the risks and rewards in these economies as well. In this course, participants will discuss what motivates the Chinese as savers, consumers, workers, and entrepreneurs. They will explore both the people factor and the government factor underlying China’s growth story. Participants will not be satisfied with simply repeating the conventional wisdoms, but will probe deeper than what we often read or hear. They will also combine conceptual knowledge with practical insight by inviting distinguished speakers with rich business or government experience to share their perspectives on China’s business environment and other related topics.
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