Global Trade and Finance

The Global Trade and Finance Option studies the global trade and financial systems and their importance for understanding macroeconomic and business activity, foreign direct investment and other international capital flows, globalization, economic growth and development, international financial markets, and currency fluctuations and risk. Students will learn about the role of the World Trade Organization (WTO), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other institutions undergirding the global economy. You will develop institutional knowledge and analytical skills to study some of the most hotly debated issues of our day, including free trade policies such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and WTO, global financial crises, Basel III and other financial reforms, European monetary union, and international policy coordination. By training your mind to identify and think through problems, the economics Bachelor of Arts degree provides a powerful platform for launching careers in almost all walks of life. However, the option is designed for students wanting careers at international organizations such as the IMF, WTO, World Bank, and Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD). This option also prepares you for careers in the financial services sector – including commercial and investment banking, financial trading, security analysis, portfolio management, and financial advising – and in the government sector, especially at the Federal Reserve System, U.S. Trade Administration, U.S. State Department. The option is also recommended for students considering graduate education in economics, business, and law.

A. Required course

  • ECON 645: International Economics

B. Complete one of the following courses

  • ECON 745: International Trade
  • ECON 746: International Finance

C. Complete one of the following courses

  • Either ECON 745 or ECON 746 (the one not taken for the “B” requirement)
  • ECON 635: Money and Banking
  • ECON 768: Seminar in Economic Development
  • ECON 736: Seminar in Monetary Theory and Policy
  • ECON 747: Multinational Enterprises
  • *ACFI 703: International Financial Management
  • *POLT 546: Wealth and Politics in Asia
  • *POLT 553: Politics in the Developing World
  • *POLT 561: Introduction to International Political Economy
  • *POLT 780: International Environmental Politics, Policy and Law
  • *GEOG 582: Economic Geography

D. Complete one ECON elective (can be from the lists above or any 4-credit ECON course numbered 515 or higher)

*Satisfies the requirement of the option, but does not count toward the four‐elective requirement of the Bachelor of Arts in Economics major.