David A. Singer

David A. Singer

Department Head

Raphael Dorman-Helen Starbuck Professor of Political Science

CV

International political economy; financial crises; migration; exchange rate politics; central banking; regulation

Biography

David A. Singer is the Department Head and Raphael Dorman-Helen Starbuck Professor of Political Science at MIT. Professor Singer's research and teaching focus on international political economy with an emphasis on international financial relations, migration, international institutions and governance, and monetary and currency policies. He is co-author (with Mark Copelovitch) of Banks on the Brink: Global Capital, Securities Markets, and the Political Roots of Financial Crises (Cambridge University Press, 2020) and author of Regulating Capital: Setting Standards for the International Financial System (Cornell University Press, 2007, 2010) as well as articles in American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, International Organization, Journal of Politics, International Studies Quarterly, and other journals. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Political Economy Society, and was previously Associate Editor of International Studies Quarterly. Singer is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. in 2004. Before joining the MIT faculty, he was Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame (2004-2006), and also worked in corporate finance and for a tech startup. He was a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2008-9, a Visiting Professor at Harvard University's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs in 2010-11, and a Visiting Professor at Singapore University of Technology and Design in 2015. Since 2007 he has been Associate Head of MacGregor House, an undergraduate residence hall.

Professor Singer was the inaugural chair of the MIT Committee on Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response. He was the recipient in 2017 of the MIT Change Maker Award for "Shifting the culture that perpetuates sexual violence." From 2019-2021 he was Secretary of the MIT Faculty.

Research

Professor Singer maintains active research agendas in the areas of global financial instability, the political economy of central banking, and the politics of migration and remittances. He has also studied the politics of stock markets, the influence of the IMF on financial liberalization, and the evolution of the field of international political economy in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Recent Publications

For a complete list of Professor Singer's publications, please visit his website, and visit the 'Research and CV' tab.

Teaching

17.464 IPE of Advanced Industrial Societies
17.962 Second-year Paper Seminar
17.115 International Political Economy (undergraduate)

News

Threats to Healthy Elections

Experts discuss a variety of threats to a healthy elections process in these unprecedented times and some actions that can be deployed to address and combat these challenges.

Why do banking crises occur?

Peter Dizikes MIT News Office

In a new book, political scientist David Singer finds two key factors connected to financial-sector collapses around the globe.

Biography

David A. Singer is the Department Head and Raphael Dorman-Helen Starbuck Professor of Political Science at MIT. Professor Singer's research and teaching focus on international political economy with an emphasis on international financial relations, migration, international institutions and governance, and monetary and currency policies. He is co-author (with Mark Copelovitch) of Banks on the Brink: Global Capital, Securities Markets, and the Political Roots of Financial Crises (Cambridge University Press, 2020) and author of Regulating Capital: Setting Standards for the International Financial System (Cornell University Press, 2007, 2010) as well as articles in American Journal of Political Science, American Political Science Review, International Organization, Journal of Politics, International Studies Quarterly, and other journals. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of the International Political Economy Society, and was previously Associate Editor of International Studies Quarterly. Singer is a graduate of the University of Michigan and Harvard University, where he received his Ph.D. in 2004. Before joining the MIT faculty, he was Assistant Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame (2004-2006), and also worked in corporate finance and for a tech startup. He was a Visiting Scholar at the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2008-9, a Visiting Professor at Harvard University's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs in 2010-11, and a Visiting Professor at Singapore University of Technology and Design in 2015. Since 2007 he has been Associate Head of MacGregor House, an undergraduate residence hall.

Professor Singer was the inaugural chair of the MIT Committee on Sexual Misconduct Prevention and Response. He was the recipient in 2017 of the MIT Change Maker Award for "Shifting the culture that perpetuates sexual violence." From 2019-2021 he was Secretary of the MIT Faculty.

Research

Professor Singer maintains active research agendas in the areas of global financial instability, the political economy of central banking, and the politics of migration and remittances. He has also studied the politics of stock markets, the influence of the IMF on financial liberalization, and the evolution of the field of international political economy in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Recent Publications

For a complete list of Professor Singer's publications, please visit his website, and visit the 'Research and CV' tab.

Teaching

17.464 IPE of Advanced Industrial Societies
17.962 Second-year Paper Seminar
17.115 International Political Economy (undergraduate)

News

Threats to Healthy Elections

Experts discuss a variety of threats to a healthy elections process in these unprecedented times and some actions that can be deployed to address and combat these challenges.

Why do banking crises occur?

Peter Dizikes MIT News Office

In a new book, political scientist David Singer finds two key factors connected to financial-sector collapses around the globe.