Inequality and Development in a Globalizing World (Syllabus) – Williams College

This course introduces students to the relations among growth, inequality and globalization of economic markets, with a focus on implications for the developing world. Among topics for study are the world distribution of income, across and within countries; concepts of inequality (income, opportunity, mobility, capabilities, horizontal inequality); the implications of global trade and capital markets for inequality within developing countries; the consequences of inequality for growth and for political institutions in developing countries; the effects of global market failures and differences among countries in economic power on trade, capital, intellectual property, international migration, climate and other global regimes; and the role of global economic institutions (IMF, World Bank, bilateral aid programs) in addressing unequal opportunity and global market failures.