The Crisis of Growing Inequality in the U.S. and Europe

ILRIC 4330, GOVT 3303, Spring 2013 Teaching assistants:

Lowell Turner Joe Bazler, jcb376@cornell.edu

Office: Wednesday, 2:00 - 4:00 pm Chris Banks, ctb86@cornell.edu

358 Ives Hall Administrative assistant:

lrt4@cornell.edu Anne Sieverding, acs5@cornell.edu

POLITICS OF THE GLOBAL NORTH

The crisis of growing inequality in the U.S. and Europe

Over the past three decades, we have witnessed a massive upward redistribution of wealth in the United States. Although the U.S. still leads the way in levels of income and social inequality, European countries - some but not all - are also headed in this direction. While perfect equality and equal opportunity are utopian dreams, current levels of inequality are arguably unsustainable - economically, politically and socially - and at the root of many of our economic and social problems.

In this course, we will consider the causes and consequences of growing inequality, in the context of wide-ranging, high-stakes national and global debates. To understand the politics of the global North, we look at distinctive types of economic and political organization, especially in Europe and the U.S., and the capacities of these societies to meet current economic, political and social challenges. The emphasis is on institutions, politics and debates in the post-cold war period (1990-2013) and above all today - issues in the news, how we understand these issues, what they tell us about the changing world in which we live. The ongoing economic crisis, its causes, consequences and potential solutions, provides an added focus for our discussions.

Requirements include regular course attendance, two midterms and a final exam. Study questions will be handed out in advance for each exam. Grading is weighted as follows: midterms 30% each, final exam 40%. These are approximations: final grades will rise for students who participate regularly in class discussion. Grade-push extra credit will be given for occasional in-class quizzes based on the week's readings (and this is the only form of extra credit available).

A final recommendation is to spend at least 20 minutes per day reading a quality news source. The Financial Times is especially recommended for international business, labor and political news. The emphasis on current events is important, and recent news can be worked into your exam essays. News sources such as FT are available through LexisNexis. If you prefer your own subscription, discounts for FT are available for students of this course. And note: in addition to syllabus readings, occasional current news articles will be posted on the course web site. Please read these as we go along - we will discuss them in class and refer to them on the exams.

Classes are a mix of lecture, discussion and current events, with occasional movies and guest speakers to enrich the content. Readings, news stories, movies, presentations, and course discussions are all fair game for exam questions.

The following books are required and available for purchase:

Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America. New York: Picador, 2001; republished 10th anniversary edition, 2011.

Chris Hayes, Twilight of the Elites: America after Meritocracy. New York: Crown Publishers, 2012.

Joseph Stiglitz, The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers our Future. New York: WW Norton, 2012.

Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes

Societies Stronger. New York: Bloomsbury Press, 2009.

The books are also on reserve at Catherwood Library. Most other readings are available electronically, with links posted on the course web page: http://blackboard.cornell.edu/. The web page should be consulted regularly for announcements, readings, news articles and other information.

Note: please see the addendum at the end of the syllabus for learning goals and class policy on laptops and other electronic devices.

ASSIGNED READINGS AND COURSE SCHEDULE

Note: with the exception of the assigned books, most readings are posted on the course web page.

I. Three decades of growing inequality

January 21-23 - Introduction to comparative inequality

Richard Wilkinson and Kate Pickett, The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes

Societies Stronger. NY: Bloomsbury Press, 2009. Read Foreword, Preface, and Chapters 1-2.

Chris Hayes, Twilight of the Elites: America after Meritocracy. NY: Crown, 2012. Read Chapter 1.

January 28-30 - Free-market capitalism and its discontents

"Milton Friedman: 1912-2006," Los Angeles Times, November 17, 2006.

Johan Norberg, In Defense of Global Capitalism. DC: Cato Institute, 2003, read 210-223, 278-291.

John Lloyd, "The Trial of José Bové," Financial Times, July 1, 2000.

Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. NY: Henry Holt, 2007, 3-25.

Nelson Lichtenstein, "Wal-Mart's Tale of Two Cities," New Labor Forum 15:2, 2006, 9-19.

Joseph Stiglitz, The Price of Inequality: How Today's Divided Society Endangers our Future. New York: WW Norton, 2012. Read the Preface and Chapter 1.

February 4-6 - The economic crash of 2008, causes and consequences

Stephen Labaton, "Congress Passes Wide-Ranging Bill Easing Bank Laws." New York Times, November 5, 1999.

Simon Johnson, "The Quiet Coup." The