Investigates the dynamics of wealth and power at work in the contemporary world. The course combines the analysis of politics, governance and institutions, and the production and distribution of wealth with the study of the social, cultural, and moral contexts in which power operates and wealth is created. The goal is to equip students to analyze various economic and political dimensions of the contemporary world, focusing specifically on the function and limits of the market system, the impact of the “globalization” of international trade and finance for nation-states and democratic politics, the causes of poverty and the problems of “underdevelopment” facing the world’s poorest countries, the lasting impact of the 2008-2009 financial collapse and economic crisis, and the importance of relations of class, gender, and ethnicity for the distribution of wealth and power around the world