International Economic Policy

The topics that will be addressed during the course are: the genesis and evolution of the current international economic order; market forms; the characteristics of the various production activities (agriculture, industry & crafts, trade, banks & insurance) and commodities (goods and services); the influence of technology on the workforce employment; the problems related to the policies necessary to face the extreme poverty that characterizes different populations, especially in Africa; the importance of resources (renewable and non-renewable) and their use; the problems posed by international trade and exchange rate fluctuations; the tyranny exercised on the various countries and their inhabitants by public (IMF International Monetary Fund, World Bank, EU European Commission, ECB European Central Bank) and private (multinational companies, rate agencies) supranational institutions, by uncontrolled financial power over productive activities of the real economy; the appropriate use of quantitative and qualitative data for cognitive and comparative purposes to develop hypotheses to be tested and supported with the most suitable methodology; the grouping of economic systems in geo-cultural areas, due to the common historical heritage or to the different working of the institutions and practices in force in different civilization contexts.
Particular attention will be paid to the methods and tools used to measure the material well-being of a population, emphasizing in this regard the inadequacy of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and its performance. A careful examination of the nature and genesis of public debt in various countries will be conducted, highlighting its important economic and social function. The economic policies implemented in the European Union following the Covid-19 epidemic will also be analyzed.
No economic policy can be implemented using only economic instruments, and therefore the dominant currents of thought (liberalism, protectionism, etc.) cannot be ignored in the historical periods considered. In particular, without taking into account the worldview based on racism, religious or ideological fundamentalism and nationalism (which have characterized human history for the past three centuries) it would be difficult to understand past economic events, and those in progress, whose performance is still conditioned today by these powerful extra-economic forces.
Special consideration will be given to agriculture as a fundamental activity for the life of mankind. It is important, indeed, to bring back in the natural bed of economic discourse its essential part, given that trade and finance are ancillary activities and not fundamental ones, as one might believe by observing the weight of contemporary economic literature concerning these topics.
Attention to the forms that agricultural economy assumed in the various African countries over time - as well as the space dedicated to the lesser known aspects of the very important African agriculture - is a must, and these different methods of exercising agriculture and activities related to it, in very different and constantly changing climatic conditions, could prove to be bright examples from which to draw inspiration to face with appropriate tools the uncertain future of the life of mankind on the Earth.