GH 301: Latin American Political Economy

The purpose of this course is to provide students with an introduction to Latin American Political Economy (LAPE). The emphasis is on political economy based on the belief that an adequate understanding of the complex reality of the region cannot be grasped by the application of economic principles and models alone. In truth, a thorough understanding of the region would require that we study it along many dimensions including its history, geography, culture, and sociology besides its economic and politics. As this would be impractical, we confine ourselves to political economy as a kind of imperfect compromise. At times, however, we shall step outside of even this broadened perspective as it suits our immediate needs. A particular focus of this course is the growth in the political, economic, and diplomatic relations between China and Latin America and the U.S. response to this.

Co-instructor for the course is Fulbright Scholar-in Residence Mr. Marcelo Echague-Pastore. Mr. Echague-Pastore works as an economist for the government of Paraguay. He holdsa Master’s degree from the Graduate Institute for Policy Studies in Tokyo and additional certificates from Development Bank of Latin America and American University in Paraguay.

Instructor: Dr. Donald Richards

Donald G. Richards has taught in the economics department at Indiana State University since 1985. His teaching specialties include macroeconomics and international economics. He also teaches several courses in the General Honors curriculum including GH 201: Smith, Marx and Keynes and GH 301: Food Hunger and Sustainable Agriculture.

Please contact Dr. Richards if you have questions about this course.