The old IPE and the new

The ‘old’ IPE of the 1960s and 1970s explored the political implications of economic interdependence, in an analytically loose but creative way. The ‘new IPE’, as embodied in the open economy politics approach, is more rigorous and has the virtue of integrating comparative and international political economy into a common framework. But it pays too little attention both to how interests are constructed and how policies are subject to processes of international diffusion, and it is remarkably reluctant to focus on major changes taking place in world politics. IPE should come to grips with the fact that genuine economic development is taking place on a global scale; on the role of China, on volatility in financial and energy markets; on the role of actor other than states, and on the implications of the Internet for the analysis of power.

KEYWORDS

• International political economy,
• asymmetrical interdependence,
• comparative political economy,
• change in world politics