Economic Development Notes

Writing Assignment One

Bullet Points

Paragraph Mode

The question of whether building more roads helps poor countries grow their economies is an interesting one. To investigate this, I would use a comparative analysis approach. This method involves looking at data from various countries that have invested in road infrastructure and comparing their economic growth before and after such investments.

This method is straightforward and leverages existing data, making it easier to identify patterns in economic growth without the need for complex modeling.

To conduct this analysis, I would require several resources, including World Bank or IMF reports on infrastructure and GDP growth, as well as case studies from developing countries. Additionally, basic statistical tools like Excel or Google Sheets would be necessary for the analysis of the collected data.

February 3, 2025

• The US can obtain money very easily, many countries will lend to us because we are a well established country. We don’t necessarily need to print more money.

  • Causes inflation if we print more money to pay off the debt. Creates hundreds of thousands worth of debt.

• WC —> Economic growth —> Big institutional —> Regression

• MDG —> Poverty Relief —> —> Specific Policies —> RCT

Growth Notes

• Y = AK^aL^1-a

  • Y = Output

  • A = Level of technology (knowledge about how to turn inputs into output).

  • K = Capital

  • L = Labor

  • The exponents indicate marginal productivity of each input.

February 17, 2025

• Easterly

  • Regression Analysis

    • Macroeconomic issues with a heavy emphasis on economic growth.

      • Model of growth:

        • Solow: Just increasing physical capital won’t increase the growth rate.

        • Restow: Emphasized big jumps in investment.

      • Increases in productivity

  • The Southern United States invested more into human capital vs. the Northern United States which invested more into innovation.

  • Why do investments in innovation and human capital not of diminishing marginal product? (Varies from country to another)

    • Positive externalities

      • Spillovers

      • Matches

        • Goes more with human capital.

      • Traps

    • Positive Externalities has to come from something good.

  • Fundamental Sources of Growth

    • Geography

      • Each country has different set of products that they can create. For example, Jamaica is tropical so they make sugar type shit.

    • Institutions

      • The reason we have patents. So people who come up with the idea can have at least some of the benefit of creating the idea.

    • Culture

    • Luck

  • Historical Factors (Next upcoming reading)

    • How might history shape the choices that people make? [In regards to economical growth].

• Duflo/Banerjee

  • RCTs

    • Focussed more on microeconomic issues, alleviated poverty, dealing with poverty traps.

March 10, 2025