ECN 115T Economics of European Integration (Brussels and Luxembourg)
The European Union is one of the most ambitious and influential supranational organizations in history, defined by a complexity of political, economic and cultural forces of member states. This course introduces students to the European Union from a variety of perspectives, with the ultimate goal of illustrating the rationale, the mechanics and the challenges of economic integration of unprecedented scope and scale. Students will study the historical process of integration, EU institutions and the main common policies from an economic perspective. Particular attention will be devoted to understanding monetary integration and the institution of a monetary union, competition policy, regional policy and trade policy. An analysis of the European sovereign debt crisis will serve to illustrate the challenges of economic integration as well as motivations for further economic and political coordination amongst the bloc's member states. The travel component of the course will take students to Brussels, the EU's de facto capital, as well as to Luxembourg, which also hosts a variety of key EU institutions. Brussels and Luxembourg are also cultural capitals with French and Germanic influences and a rich cultural heritage.