About Me
Edinburgh, 2019
Ph.D (Economics) — George Mason University, 2015
B.A. (Economics) — University of Connecticut, 2011
Specializations:
- Law and Economics
- Austrian Economics
Research interests
- modeling innovation & economic growth
- political economy & economic history of intellectual property
About Me
My face without a mask, 2021
Ph.D (Economics) — George Mason University, 2015
B.A. (Economics) — University of Connecticut, 2011
Specializations:
- Law and Economics
- Austrian Economics
Research interests
- modeling innovation & economic growth
- political economy & economic history of intellectual property
The Reason I am Busy AF Behind the Scenes
And why I wear a mask.
Self-Sufficiency...and Poverty
Where We ALL Began
Dierdre N. McCloskey
1942-
Two centuries ago the world’s economy stood at the present level of Chad or Bangladesh. In those good old days of 1800...the average human consumed in modern-day prices...roughly $3 a day, give or take a dollar or two...The only people much better off than the $3 average were lords or bishops or some few of the merchants. It had been this way for all of history, and for that matter all of pre-history. With her $3, the typical denizen of the earth could eat a few pounds of potatoes, a little milk, very occasionally a scrap of meat. A wool shawl. A year or two of elementary education, if exceptionally lucky. At birth she had a 50-50 chance of dying before she was 30 years old. Perhaps she was a cheerful sort, and was "happy" with illiteracy, disease, superstition, periodic starvation, and lack of prospects. After all, she had her family and faith and community, which interfered with every choice she made. But anyway she was desperately poor, and narrowly limited in human scope. (pp. 11-12)
McCloskey, Diedre N, 2010, The Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can't Explain the Modern World, Chicago IL: University of Chicago Press
Complete Interdependence...and Prosperity
We've Come SO Far
Dierdre N. McCloskey
1942-
[Today] the world supports more than six-and-a-half times more people...the average person today earns and consumes almost ten times more goods and services than in 1800. Real income per person in the world has recently been doubling every generation, and is accelerating. Starvation worldwide therefore is at an all-time low, and falling. Literacy and life expectancy are at all-time highs, and rising. Liberty is spreading. Slavery is retreating, as is a patriarchy enslaving of women. In the richer countries, such as Norway, the average person earns fully 45 times more than in 1800, a startling $137 a day. The environment - a concern of a well-to-do bourgeoisie - is in such rich places improving. (pp. 11-12)
McCloskey, Diedre N, 2010, The Bourgeois Dignity: Why Economics Can't Explain the Modern World, Chicago IL: University of Chicago Press
The Big Question II
Gallup, J. L., J. D. Sachs, and A. D. Mellinger, 1999, "Geography and Economic Development," International Regional Science Review 22(2):179-224; Land of Maps
The Big Question III
Gallup, J. L., J. D. Sachs, and A. D. Mellinger, 1999; Wikipedia; A Great Interactive Version
Asking the Big Questions
Adam Smith
1723-1790
The greatest improvement in the productive powers of labour, and the greater part of the skill, dexterity, and judgment with which it is any where directed, or applied, seem to have been the effects of the division of labour. (Book I, Chapter I)
Smith, Adam, 1776, An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Asking the Big Questions II
Adam Smith
1723-1790
The natural effort of every individual to better his own condition...is so powerful, that it is alone, and without any assistance, not only capable of carrying on the society to wealth and prosperity, but of surmounting a hundred impertinent obstructions with which the folly of human laws too often encumbers its operations. (Book IV, Chapter V)
Smith, Adam, 1776, An Enquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations
Asking the Big Questions III
Adam Smith
1723-1790
Little else is requisite to carry a state to the highest degree of opulence from the lowest barbarism, but peace, easy taxes, and a tolerable administration of justice: all the rest being brought about by the natural course of things.
Lecture in 1755, quoted in Dugald Stewart, Account Of The Life And Writings Of Adam Smith LLD, Section IV, 25.
"Development Economics" as a Field (c. 1945-Present)
United Nations Monetary and Financial Conference aka "Bretton Woods" (1944)
Create the international monetary and financial order post-WWII, promote free trade and monetary stability
Created a system of fixed currency exchange rates pegged to (initially gold, later just the U.S. dollar)
- This collapsed by the early 1970s, and today exchange rates are freely "floating"
Created key international organizations...
"Development Economics" as a Field (c. 1945-Present)
International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) aka "the World Bank"
- Offers loans to developing countries
International Monetary Fund (IMF)
- Reduce poverty around the world; assist countries with balance of payments/financial crises
"Development Economics" as a Field (c. 1945-Present)
1947: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT)
- to promote international trade by reducing or eliminating trade barriers (e.g. tariffs, quotas, etc) between countries
Replaced by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995 administered by the U.N.
"Development Economics" as a Field (c. 1945-Present)
WTO members, members dually-represented by the E.U., Observers, Non-members (Wikipedia)
The "Development Community" I
- 1948: Organisation for European Economic Co-operation (OECD) to administer the U.S. Marshall Plan to rebuild war-torn Europe
- initially only Europe-oriented and European members
- helped in early stages of ultimately creating European Free Trade Area, European Economic Community, European Union
- 1961: Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD)
...an international organisation that works to build better policies for better lives. Our goal is to shape policies that foster prosperity, equality, opportunity and well-being for all...we work on establishing international norms and finding evidence-based solutions to a range of social, economic and environmental challenges...we provide a unique forum and knowledge hub for data and analysis, exchange of experiences, best-practice sharing, and advice on public policies and global standard-setting. (OECD website)
The "Development Community" II
OECD members, founding States in darker blue (Wikipedia)
NGOs
Development and Colonial Legacies I
Western colonial empires at the end of WWII (Wikipedia)
Development and Colonial Legacies I
Breakup of British and French empires create independent States from 1950s-1980s
Some outright wars
- Between colony and colonizer: Algeria, French-Indochina/Vietnam, Falklands
- Between rival groups across colonies: Arab-Israeli War, Indo-Pakistani Wars
- Civil Wars in poorly-designed new States in Africa
Development and Colonial Legacies II
Postcolonialism in literature in culture of many former colonies
- Search for own national identity, nationalist/populist leaders
- Opposition of mother country's culture, racism
New countries need to develop, but
- Does "development" or "modernization" mean "Westernization?"
Often combined with Marxism
Development and Colonial Legacies III
Gamal Abdel Nasser (Egypt), Sukarno (Indonesia), Jawaharlal Nehru (India), Kwame Nkrumah (Ghana)
Development and Colonial Legacies IV
There is still a lot of connection between former colonies and mother countries
Research shows a very strong influence on path of economic development
Was colonization and imperialism all good/bad?
Development and the Cold War
Cold War Alliances, "X"s' indicate prominent guerrilla movements (Wikipedia)
Development and the Cold War: Competing Visions
Competing ideological visions of political/economic development
- "Capitalism" of the West
- "Socialism" of the USSR, Yugoslavia, China
Countries would pick from both options, many would switch
- Consequences were pretty clear, but
- We will need to understand both theories of development
- What about "Democratic Socialism" or "Social Democracy"?
There Are a LOT of Theories of Development Out There
Nobody honestly believes in a single causal factor
Theories have emphasized different elements at different amounts:
- Capital accumulation
- Geography
- Health
- Demographics/Fertility
- Education
- Culture
- Warfare
- Political institutions
- Religion
- Foreign Aid
- Imperialism/exploitation
There Are a LOT of Theories of Development Out There
Our Focus (and my Specialty)
The role of political and social institutions in fostering economic growth
Health, education, demographics, geography, foreign aid, etc amount to NOTHING if you have poor institutions!
We know what works, but we can't just transplant our institutions to other countries (we've tried)
We need to understand each country's institutions before we can tell cute stories or recommend changes
What am I Leaving Out
Format For the Course
A conversation, not a lecture1
Many suggestions but fewer "correct" and concrete answers than you are used to
Lectures to introduce topic, give background and context
Discussions based on readings & informed by lectures
1 Well, okay, I will lecture a fair amount. But please come as a willing participant.
Your "Textbooks"
Course Website
Logistics
Office hours: M/W 10:00-11:00 AM & by appt
- Office: 110 Rosenstock
Slack channel
#c-3econ-16-dev
Recorded videos in Blackboard Panopto
Attendance
See the resources page for tips for success and more helpful resources
Roadmap for the Semester
