The textbook for this course is Malcolm Gillis et al, Economics of Development, Fourth Edition, (New York: W.W. Norton & Co.). I have recently written a book, Economic Systems in Historical Perspective (Kendall/Hunt, 1997), from which a few selections will be used as well.
 

The student is expected to write a 15-20 page term paper on a mutually agreeable topic. It is expected that the paper will be quantitatively oriented and use the professional literature in economic development. Usually two kinds of paper are selected: (1) a country study, focusing on macroeconomic development planning issues; (2) an issue in development economics, which involves a survey of the relevant literature and does not necessarily involve a country. The course grade will be based on the term paper (50%) and the final exam (50%).  A simulation model may be downloaded here from my web page (http://www.georgetown.edu/faculty/viksning/TGM.xls).

I.    Introduction
        Gillis, Chs. 1-3; Viksnins, Chs. 1, 8-9.

II.    The Macroeconomic Basics
        Gillis, Chs. 5-6.

III.    The Problem of Distribution
        Gillis, Ch. 4 and Chs. 10-11.

IV.    Agriculture and Industry
        Gillis, Chs. 16 and 18.

V.    Savings, Investment, and the Financial Markets
        Gillis, Chs. 12-14.

Michael T. Skully and George J. Viksnins, Financing East Asia's Success (London: Macmillan in association with the American Enterprise Institute, 1987), Chs. 1-2.

VII.  The Role of Foreign Resources
        Gillis, Ch. 15.
 

(1)   You can add up to 2 points to your average by doing a book report on one of the books shown here (or a mutually acceptable other book). This is purely voluntary - some of the book reports will be used for a panel discussion.

The New Global Economy and Developing Countries: Making Openness Work, Dani Rodrik
   HF 1413 .R62
The Capitalist  Revolution in Latin America Paul Craig Roberts and Karen LaFollette Araujo
   HC 125 .R5415 1997
The World Bank: New Agendas in a Changing World Michelle Miller-Adams
   HG 3881.5 .W57 M55 1999
Unintended Consequences: The Impact of Factor Endowments, Culture, and Politics on Long-Run Economic Performance
    Deepak Lal   HC13 .L35 1998
Agriculture and the State: Growth, Employment, and Poverty in Developing Countries, C. Peter Timmer
    HD1417.A475 1991
From Subsistence to Exchange and Other Essays P.T. Bauer
    HD 75 .B38 2000
Inside the Third World: The Anatomy of Poverty, Paul Harrison
    HC59.7.H354
The Revolution in Development Economics, James A. Dorn et al (eds.)
    HD 75 .R48 1998
Scarcity or Abundance?: A Debate on the Environment, Norman Myers and Julian Simon
    GE40.M94 1994
Third World Ideology and Western Reality, Carlos Rangel
    HC59.7.R26513 1986
Trade Policies and Developing Nations, Anne O. Krueger
    HF1413.K73 1995
Population and Food, Tim Dyson
    HD9000.5.D97 1996
Driven by Growth: Political Change in the Asia-Pacific Region, James W. Morley (ed.)
    JQ750 .A91 .D75 1999
Financial Markets and Development Alison Harwood et al (eds.)
    HB 3722 .F564 1999
Financing East Asia's Success: Comparative Financial Development, M.T. Skully and George Viksnins
    HG187.E37 S68 1987
The Political Economy of the Asian Financial Crisis  S.Haggard
    HG 187 .A2 H34 2000
Why Poor People Stay Poor: Urban Bias in World Development, Michael Lipton
     HC 79 .P6 L56 1977b
Africa in Chaos George B.N. Ayittey  HG 800 .A98 1998
Power and Prosperity: Outgrowing Communist and Capitalis Dictatorships Mancur Olson HD 87 .O47 2000
The History of Development, Gilbert Rist
    HD78.R5713 1997
Determinants of Economic Growth:  A Cross-Country Empirical Analysis, Robert J. Barro
    HD75.B365 1997
Foreign Direct Investment and Development, Theodore H. Moran
    HG 5993 .M667 1998
Institutions, Transition Economies, and Economic Development, Timothy L Yeager
    HD 82 .Y4 1999
Foreign Aid and Economic Growth Janine L. Bowen HC 60 .B646 1998

These books are on 3-day reserve at the library. The book review has to be submitted by April 18.  The form should be two single-spaced typed pages, on the main theme of the book (if it's a multi-author volume, please choose two chapters to discuss).

(2)  You can add another 2 points to your average by doing a 10-15 minute class presentation on one of the articles listed below.  The presentations will be given in roughly the order given below; volunteers will be taken on a "first-come, first-served" basis.

S.H. Hanke and S.J.K. Walters, "Economic Freedom, Prosperity, and Equality:  A Survey," Cato Journal.  Fall 1997,
    pp. 117-46.
Mancur Olson, "Big Bills Left on the Sidewalk:  Why Some Nations are Rich, and Others Poor," Journal of Economic
    Perspectives, Spring 1996, pp. 3-21.
Pranab Bardhan, "Corruption and Development:  A Review of Issues," Journal of Economic  Liturature, September
    1997, pp. 1320-1346.
Charles I. Jones, "On the Evolution of the World Income Distribution," Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer
    1997, pp. 19-36.
J. M. Balland and A. Kotwal, "The Political Economy of Underinvestment in Agriculture," Journal of Development
    Economics, February 1998, pp. 233-247.
Hans P. Binswanger and Klaus Deininger, "Explaining Agicultural and Agrarian Policies in Developing Countries,"
    Journal of Economic Literature, December 1997.
C. Peter Timmer, "The Choice of Technique in Indonesia," in C. Peter Timmer et al, The Choice of Technology in
    Developing Countries:  Some Cautionary Tales (Center for International Affairs, Harvard University, 1975), pp. 1-29.
John Williamsson, "The Washington Consensus Revisited," in Louis Emmerij (ed.), Economic and Social Development
    into the XXI Century (Inter-American Development Bank, 1997), pp. 48-80.
Ross Levine, "Financial Development and Economic Growth:  Views and Agenda," Journal of Economic Literature, June
    1997, pp. 688-726.
Anne P. Krueger, "Whither the World Bank and the the IMF?" Journal of Economic Literature, December 1998, pp.
    1983-2020.
Maurice Obstfeld, "The Global Capital Market:  Benefactor or Menace?" Journal of Economic Perspectives, Fall
    1998, pp. 9-30.
James W. Fox, " What Do Economists Know That Policymakers Need To?" American Economic Review, May 1997.
    pp. 49-53.  See also papers by Wolgin and S.L. Skogstad and S.S. Everhart in same issue.
Philippe Aghion, Eve Caroli, and Cecilia Garcia-Penalosa, "Inequality and Economic Growth: The Perspective of the New
    Growth Theories," Journal of Economic Literature, Dec. 1999.
Stanley Fischer, "Reforming the International Financial System," The Economic Journal, Nov. 1999.
Joseph E. Stiglitz, "The World Bank at the Millenium," The Economic Journal, Nov. 1999.
Frederic S. Mishkin, "Global Financial Instability: Framework, Events, Issues," Journal of Economic Perspectives,
    Fall 1999.
Paul Collier and Jan Willem Gunning, "Why Has Africa Grown Slowly?" Journal of Economic Perspectives, Summer 1999.
D. Gale Johnson, "Population, Food, and Knowledge," American Economic Review, March 2000.
Vito Tanzi and Howell Zee, Tax Policy for Emerging Markets, IMF WP/00/35-EA.
Paolo Pasenti and Cedric Tille, "The Economics of Currency Crises and Contagion," Economic Policy Review, September
   2000.
Timothy Lane and Steven Phillips, Does IMF Financing Result in Moral Hazard? IMF WP/00/168, Oct. 2000.
Christina Daseking and Robert Powell, From Toronto Terms to the HIPC Initiative: A Brief History of Debt Relief for
    Low-Income Countries, IMF WP/99/142.