Econ 328: Latin American Economic History and Policy

Once you have chosen an economic historical process developed in a specific country, you can begun exploring various policy issues.

1) First, you need to identify what economic process or policy in a specific country.

You are going to want to search for:

• Background information about the country or region you are exploring
  • Locate your country or region in the World Factbook and CIAO (Country Outlook).
    • Every country has an Economy section (GDP, Industries, Labor, Unemployment, Budget, etc).
    • Collect basic demographic, socio-economic-political information that will help inform you about the locale. 
  • Many of the development bank resources have a section about "Where we work" or "Regions we operate in," this is where you will find your country's profile and policy plans. 

2) Then research the 4 topics in assignment: 

• Colonial economy
• Export-led growth
• Import-substitution policies
• Agrarian reform

 What are the events or decisions that have shaped these topics?

• Begin looking through research reports- Once you have identified some issues affecting your country or region, locate a historical article, policy paper or report on this topic. 
• It can be helpful to trace a timeline of how the topic was shaped, giving one an idea of how the policy effected the topic, region and people. 
• Look through News Sources- How was this topic reported about in various new sources? Domestically? Internationally?
• Analyze choices under consideration: What are the routes or options that were not taken? You may have to search through economic opinions, perspectives, and think pieces to gather alternative options.