GLOBAL ECONOMIC TRENDS AND CENTRES

23B104EN/E
2019/2020 spring
Basic information on the course
Lectures/week: 2 hours + 2 hours seminar
Exam: oral exam
Credits: 5
Time of the lecture: Monday, 12-14 pm
Place of the lecture: GO IV
Lecturer: Beáta Udvari, PhD
E-mail: udvari.beata@eco.u-szeged.hu
Qualification: scale of five grades (1-5)
Course description
The aim of the course is to give an overall picture of the current economic trends and introduce the
main economic features of the players of the global economy. The course aims that students obtain
overall, useful and enough knowledge on current economic trends and centres, and students be able to
formulate their own opinion on these topics.

Agenda
1. Introduction
2. Globalization and global issues
3. International trade
4. FDI
5. USA, Japan
6. Emerging economies I.
7. Emerging economies II.
8. Developing countries
9. Economics of conflicts and sport
10.Summary of the semester

Requirements of the course:

The teacher uses PowerPoint presentations during the semester – these will be uploaded to the
CooSpace.
• Seminars: Participation is mandatory. Maximum 2 seminars can be missed. If a student is
late, his/her participation cannot be accepted. The seminars are built on interactive tasks,
which will not be repeated to the late-comers. The students have to choose a topic and they
have to work on their own. They have to prepare a poster – it is an A3 large document. The
solution can be submitted electronically or in a printed form. Deadline: 11 May 2020 via

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 CooSpace. There are free online programs which can be used to prepare the poster, but the
MS Office opportunities (word, ppt, or Publisher) can also be used. The lecturer must approve
the proposed topic. It is the students’ responsibility to find opportunity with the teacher to get
the approval. If a student fails to discuss the topic, it is his/her responsibility that it maybe will
not fit to the course aims.
• At the end of the semester, in the exam period, a student must take an oral exam. The oral
exam has two parts. Firstly, a student must introduce his/her poster. Secondly, he/she must
answer some questions in relation to the staff that were discussed during the semester.
The final grade is determined on the basis of the oral exam and on the quality of the poster (in 50-
50%). The final grade is on a 1-5 scale. At least 60% is required to pass the course.

Proposed topic to the poster:

• China (or other country!) and Africa (advantages, disadvantages, motivation, aid)
• Effects of FDI flows on GDP growth
• FDI flows and human capital
• FDI and trade
• Trade or aid?
• Effects of trade on economic growth
• FDI in China (how much, why or why not?)
• FDI in Africa (how much, why or why not?)
• FDI in Latin America (how much, why or why not?)
• Effects and possible consequences of a global challenge
• The role of NGOs in world economy
• Taxation of multinational corporations
• Developing countries and aid
• The role and aims of BRICS
• Any other topic agreed with the leader of the lecture

Students with individual schedule:

Only students working abroad or learning abroad do not have to participate in the seminars, but
they have to design a poster and take on oral exam.

Compulsory reading:
Besides the lectures and the uploaded articles:
Michael Pettis: The Great Rebalancing: Trade, Conflict, and the Perilous Road Ahead for the
World Economy. Princeton University Press, Princeton 2013, ISBN: 9780691158686
Michael P. Todaro – Stephan C. Smith: Economic Development. Prentice Hall, New Jersey 2012
(selected chapters) ISBN-10: 0138013888

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 UNCTAD (2010): International Trade after the Economic Crisis: Challenges and New
Opportunities. (Available: http://unctad.org/en/docs/ditctab20102_en.pdf)
World Investment Reports
World Trade Reports
World Development Reports

Recommended reading:
Actual OECD Economic Surveys

Szeged, 9 February 2020