ECON 328 - Latin America: Economic History and Policy Challenges

This course traces the economic development of Latin America from colonial times to the present. The first half of the course explores the economic history of Latin America, focusing on the creation of economic institutions that have shaped the growth and specific features of Latin American economies from the Spanish and Portuguese conquests through the second half of the twentieth century. Among the topics that will be studied in this part of the course are land property and reform, coercive labor institutions, development of export-oriented sectors, and the political economy of reform in the Latin American republics. The second part of the course examines current public policy issues such as crime, housing, inequality, and education from a microeconomic perspective.

Unit(s): 1
Group Distribution Requirement(s): Distribution Group II
Prerequisite(s): ECON 201
Instructional Method: Lecture-conference
Grading Mode: Letter grading (A-F)
Group Distribution Learning Outcome(s):

Evaluate data and/or sources.
Analyze institutions, formations, languages, structures, or processes, whether social, political, religious, economic, cultural, intellectual or other.
Think in sophisticated ways about causation, social and/or historical change, human cognition, or the relationship between individuals and society, or engage with social, political, religious or economic theory in other areas.