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Dr David Woodruff

This course is available on the BA in Social Anthropology, BSc in History and Politics, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, BSc in Philosophy, Politics and Economics (with a Year Abroad), BSc in Politics, BSc in Politics and Data Science, BSc in Politics and Economics, BSc in Politics and History, BSc in Politics and International Relations, BSc in Politics and Philosophy and BSc in Social Anthropology. This course is not available as an outside option nor to General Course students.

This course is capped at one group.

While there are no pre-requisites, students will occasionally need to use very basic mathematical reasoning (on the level of the earlier parts of the GCSE curriculum, or equivalent) in understanding monetary and financial issues.

The course focuses on empirical and normative issues relevant to the politics of money and finance in rich constitutional democracies. It will provide an introduction to the history and practical operation of finance, banking, and monetary policy. Students will consider debates about the role of monetary policy in controlling price levels and stimulating employment and growth, as well as its potential relationship to inequality. The course will also examine arguments about the causes of chronic financial instability in capitalist economies. In light of these theories, we will evaluate the case for making central banks independent of direct democratic control, considering the relationship between central banks and elected politicians in various circumstances, including those of recession or low growth, financial crisis, and high inflation. We will also consider whether and how financial markets limit policymakers’ autonomy. The course uses both contemporary and historical material, and adopts a comparative country perspective, rather than an international relations perspective.

20 sessions of 90 minutes each in the AT, approximately half of which will be lectures and half seminar-style discussion of set readings. Students should expect to read at least 3-4 journal articles or pieces of equivalent length each week.

There will be a reading week in week 6 of the AT.

Students will be expected to produce 1 essay in the AT.

Robert Z. Aliber and Charles P. Kindleberger, “The Anatomy of a Typical Crisis,” in Manias, Panics, and Crashes, by Robert Z. Aliber and Charles P. Kindleberger (London: Palgrave Macmillan UK, 2015), 38–52.

M. Kalecki, “Political Aspects of Full Employment,” The Political Quarterly 14, no. 4 (October 1, 1943): 322–30.

Susanne Lohmann, “Sollbruchstelle: Deep Uncertainty and the Design of Monetary Institutions,” International Finance 3, no. 3 (November 1, 2000): 391–411.

Daniela Gabor, “Revolution Without Revolutionaries: Interrogating the Return of Monetary Financing,” preprint (SocArXiv, March 11, 2021).

Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey, “A View from the Inside,” in Deliberative Accountability in Parliamentary Committees by Cheryl Schonhardt-Bailey (Oxford University Press, 2022).

Deborah Mabbett and Waltraud Schelkle, “Independent or Lonely? Central Banking in Crisis,” Review of International Political Economy 26, no. 3 (January 28, 2019): 436–60.

Benjamin Braun and Leah Downey, “Against Amnesia: Re-Imagining Central Banking”, CEP Discussion Note 2020/1 (Zurich: Council on Economic Policies, 2020).

David M. Woodruff, “To Democratize Finance, Democratize Central Banking,” Politics & Society 47, no. 4 (December 1, 2019): 593–610.

Paul M. W. Tucker, Unelected Power: The Quest for Legitimacy in Central Banking and the Regulatory State (Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2018).

Sebastian Dellepiane-Avellaneda, “Gordon Unbound: The Heresthetic of Central Bank Independence in Britain,” British Journal of Political Science 43, no. 02 (April 2013): 263–93.

Culpepper, P. D., & Reinke, R. (2014). Structural Power and Bank Bailouts in the United Kingdom and the United States. Politics & Society, 42(4), 427–454.

Isabella M Weber and Evan Wasner, “Sellers’ Inflation, Profits and Conflict: Why Can Large Firms Hike Prices in an Emergency?,” Economics Department Working Paper Series. 2023–2.

Christopher Adolph, “The Missing Politics of Central Banks,” PS: Political Science & Politics 51, no. 4 (October 2018): 737–42.

Blinder, A., The Quiet Revolution: Central Banking Goes Modern (Yale University Press, 2004).

Exam (40%, duration: 2 hours) in the January exam period.
Essay (60%, 3000 words).

The exam will be designed to ensure engagement with reading throughout the course.