AP/SOSC 2801 3.00
Approaches to Economies of Development
This course re-introduces basic economic concepts and reasoning to practices of development for IDS students. Standard economic textbooks introduce students to ways in which economists understand the economy through micro-economic factors underlying consumer behavior, utility, and the interaction of supply and demand; and macroeconomic concepts of economic measurement, economic growth, output and input markets, aggregate of supply and demand, fiscal and monetary policy, unemployment, and balance of payments.
Taking a trans-and interdisciplinary approach, the course provides broader contexts and more heterogeneous approaches to economic reasoning and concepts as they apply to development. The focus is on how historical changes, cultural norms, and socioeconomic institutions constrain, or enhance, choices possible for different groups of people at particular times and places in sites of development. Basic economic concepts for development within the Global South will be studied within their social context and as part of broader relationships.
In connecting economics to other disciplines and spheres of life, this course highlights an understanding of development often absent in more orthodox approaches to economics. Students will re-explore economic reasoning in nontechnical language and inquire about the conditions for collaboration and disarticulation in development; why “underdeveloped” economies are organized the way they are; and whether it is possible for economic efficiency and social justice to coexist in development.
This course is designed for students who have had at least one semester of prior study in economics (or, alternatively, have received permission of the instructor) and who wish to strengthen their economic understanding of international development. Students who do not have the prerequisite may consider taking AP/ECON 1900 3.00 – Microeconomics for Life during the Fall semester (in the Economics program; may count as elective for degree but does not provide credit for IDS major) and AP/SOSC 2801 during the Winter semester.