THE WORLD COURSE
HIGH SCHOOL SEMESTER COURSE
DEVELOPMENT ECONOMICS: GROWTH AND
DEVELOPMENT IN LATIN AMERICA

In this semester—long course, students learn about global economic de—
pendencies through international trade, investment, and exchange rates.
Students question their role in growth and development and seek to find
new holistic approaches to development. Students also address conundrums
about whether human development and democracy are precedents to growth
or follow growth later. Using personal stories, core economic concepts, and
data sources, the unit aims to provide Students with an Opportunity to con—
nect the larger with the personal. Each unit has a data—based activity and a
culminating project—based activity. This semester—long unit is derived from
introduction to development economics courses at the college level and
draws extensively from the advanced—placement economics curriculum. The
unit does not aim to supplant the AP economics curriculum but rather to
serve as a primer that will pique students’ interest in learning more about
some of the more challenging economic concepts that the AP economics

curriculum addresses.
The unit is divided into three parts, each of which lasts six weeks:
1. International Trade

2. Exchange Rates, FDI, and the Argentinian Crisis
3. Going beyond Economic Growth and the Role of Institutions in Growth

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