Summary: Today we will continue to explore how the field of development economics helps to explain the lack of economic growth in poor countries.
Inquiry Question: What factors in your section of the report explain the lack of growth in poorer countries in Southeast Asia?
Read this summary of the 2015 World Development Report. As you read take notes that help you to answer this question (What factors in the report explain the lack of growth in poorer countries in Southeast Asia?).
COPY this document and COMPLETE the assignment to prepare for the discussion.
Activity: Do I understand these CONCEPTS (Behavioral Economics and economic development)?
Read: The section of the World Development Report (linked below) that your group assigns to you. As you read, continue to work on this document.
Participate in a Socratic Discussion on today's Inquiry Question (What factors in your section of the report explain the lack of growth in poorer countries in Southeast Asia?) This rubric will be used to evaluate your discussion.
COPY this document and COMPLETE the assignment to prepare for the discussion.
You should be preparing a document that helps you answer the Inquiry Question for next class (How can the field of behavioral economics explain the lack of economic growth and development in Singapore's poorer neighbors in Southeast Asia?) This is your "Entry Ticket" for the discussion. If you do not have it your grade will be INC.
At least one of the cited works should be a scholarly source (a study by a PhD in Economics).
I will use this rubric to grade the discussion.
Podcast: In this podcast, Robert Solow, Professor Emeritus at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Nobel Laureate, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his hugely influential theory of growth and inspiration to create a model that better reflected the stable long-term growth of an economy. Solow contends that capital accumulation cannot explain a significant portion of the economic growth we see. He makes a critical distinction between innovation and technology, and then discusses his views on Milton Friedman and John M. Keynes.
Podcast: In this podcast, Thomas Piketty of the Paris School of Economics and author of Capital in the Twenty-First Century talks to Econtalk host Russ Roberts about the book. The conversation covers some of the key empirical findings of the book along with a discussion of their significance.
Podcast: In this podcast, Daron Acemoglu, the Elizabeth and James Killian Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his new paper co-authored with James Robinson, "The Rise and Fall of General Laws of Capitalism," a critique of Thomas Piketty, Karl Marx, and other thinkers who have tried to explain patterns of data as inevitable "laws" without regard to institutions. Acemoglu and Roberts also discuss labor unions, labor markets, and inequality.
Podcast: In this podcast Morten Jerven of Simon Fraser University, author of Poor Numbers, talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the quality of data coming out of Africa on income, growth, and population. Jerven argues that the inconsistency of the numbers and methodology both across countries and within a country across time, makes many empirical studies of African progress meaningless. The conversation closes with a discussion of what might be done to improve data collection in poor countries.
Podcast: In this podcast, Gabriel Zucman of the University of California, Berkeley talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about his research on inequality and the distribution of income in the United States over the last 35 years. Zucman finds that there has been no change in income for the bottom half of the income distribution over this time period with large gains going to the top 1%. The conversation explores the robustness of this result to various assumptions and possible explanations for the findings.
TedTalk: Richard Wilkinson on how income inequality harms society
TedTalk: Daniel Ariely on whether equality of income is desirable
Spreadsheet: Global Income Data by Country
Speech: Robert Kennedy's speech questioning how we measure economic well-being
UN Database: National Accounts Main Aggregates Database
Video: Thomas Piketty and James Heckman explain why data is fundamental to their work
Readings (Sources of Economic Growth)
Human Capital
Readings (Consequences of Economic Growth)
Readings (Barriers to Economic Growth)
Readings (Growth and Development Models)
Readings (Growth and Development Strategies)
Commanding Heights: Click the link for resources related to this PBS documentary. We may watch a few clips from the video in class. You can watch the whole series by streaming it online, if you're interested by clicking here. It's a really engaging and relatively contemporary view of development and globalization.