Customer Reviews

International Political Economy: Interests and Institutions in the Global Economy (2nd Edition)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Oatley has a way of boiling down complex concepts into short, pithy chapters. The writing is clear and concise and the examples used in the text provide interesting perspectives on current political issues such as the US budget deficit or the power dynamics in debt negotiations between powerful international creditors (IMF, World Bank) and debtor countries. The chapters are well structured--with introductions and conclusions that really help draw out the key points of the chapter. I found that this book provided coherent theories with which I could better understand material from other political science and economics classes. Overall, I highly recommend it.

Thomas Oatley has written a brilliant historic piece of literature. He uses great examples to explain difficult concepts and leaves you with a comprehensive understanding of the topic. I found this book to be paramount in my undestanding of today's current debates on the US Trade Policy, our deficit, etc.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Political Economics, Economics, or just wants to learn about our economic and trade policy

5 Stars: Great Job!

Oatley provides a readable, non-mathematical description of international economics since World War 2. The book will give the reader a good grounding in understanding globalisation. Not as something to be feared or tamed, but as arising from fundamental trends that are effectively impossible to reverse.

Oatley certainly talks about more than just globalisation. Like managing exchange rates. But even here, it is discussed in the context and reality of a world where immense pools of capital are often highly mobile. This is not typically thought of by the general public as globalisation. But the text shows that capital flow across national boundaries is indeed another aspect of globalisation, that has become common in the last 20 years.

"Oatley offers a brilliant text that will soon replace all contenders on existing IPE syllabi. My students find it stimulating, informative, and well written; they latch on to the politically relevant examples and the easy access that it offers to important theoretical concepts. Quite simply, this is the best IPE text on the market." Jonathan Moses, Norwegian University of Science and Technology

"The author has a real ability to make complex topics understandable for college undergraduates." Francis Adams, Old Dominion University

"This is a well-written, easily accessible text that makes theoretical concepts and historical material understandable to students without 'talking down' to them." Michael Mastanduno, Dartmouth College

I am reading IPE as a text book for a graduate class and while I have found it to be an interesting read I do not thing it lays out the information in a suitable format to be absorbed from a conceptual standpoint. Chapters are very smooth and they don't dig in depth into the key concepts they are trying to illustrate. That said, it's not a hard read and because much of the content is a surface level discussion, it's not hard to peruse through.

The book arrived quickly, which I needed because of class. Also, it was in the condition that the seller displayed. Good purchase, I save a ton, as opposed to buying it at the University Book Store.

The book was in great condition and arrived only in a few days, which was ideal for since classes were starting!