Archive for the ‘Developing economies’ Category
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/2016/03/21/world/melinda-gates
Summary: Work around the house and for the family is unpaid work and mostly done by women. This reduces their labor force participation and ultimately hurts the GDP of a country. Melinda Gates suggests reducing the work through innovation for the developing countries and redistributing the work amongst partners for developed countries. Higher levels of equity between the sexes will contribute to a stronger social fabric and economy.
Original Air Date: March 23, 2016
Length: 8 minutes and 29 seconds
Link: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2017/10/13/557645729/episode-800-north-koreas-capitalists?utm_term=nprnews&utm_content=bufferffd48&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
Summary: Learn about a little group in North Korea, called the ‘donju.’ The economic prosperity that they developed went on to support the country’s nuclear program and contributed to the growth of their economy. This was all made possible when Kim Jong Un began allowing consultants from overseas to educate North Korean entrepreneurs on accounting, trade, and management. They did this without daring to actually call it a spread of capitalism, as North Korea still remains a strict socialist country.
Original Air Date: October 13, 2017
Length: 24 minutes 25 seconds
Discussion prompt (1): Having listened to this podcast, what type of economic system do you think North Korea has? What impact do you think this system has on people, businesses and the government. Use specific examples from the podcast to support your answer.
Discussion Prompt (2): The podcast points out that in N Korea’s economic system “the state technically owns everything.” How does this impact the ‘Donju’? Think particularly how it impacts the incentives they face to start and grow a business (contributing to economic development).
Discussion Prompt (3): Why would entrepreneurship not be something typically observed in a Centrally Planned/Socialist country? How are the economic incentives of this system related to this lack of entrepreneurship? According to this podcast, how did the economic actions of the Donju contribute to economic growth in N. Korea?
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/2016/03/21/world/what-made-brazil-s-economy-bust
Summary: Brazil was an emerging economy and a member of the BRICS. However, in March 2016 a huge corruption scandal exploded into an economic crisis and demand for the impeachment of the president followed by a political regime change. Marketplace looks into how Brazil changed course of progress in the last 10 years.
Original Air Date: March 21, 2016
Length: 3 mins 53 seconds
Link: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/11/13/455941812/episode-663-money-trees
Summary: The Planet Money team investigates ‘carbon offsetting’ and the good it does for the environment as well as the pros and cons that accompany it.
Original Air Date: November 16, 2015
Length: 17 minutes 52 seconds
Link: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/06/19/415804477/episode-634-worst-case-scenario
Summary: The Planet Money team investigate current problems in our economy that could create the next economic crisis.
Original Air Date: July 19, 2015
Length: 16 mins
Link: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2015/09/09/438948679/episode-649-china-china-china
Summary: In this podcast, the Planet Money team attempt to decipher why economic news about China is so popular in the media and if the indicators are something we should worry about including the stock market and economic growth.
Original Air Date: September 9, 2015
Length: 17 minutes 9 seconds
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2014/10/29/359624435/episode-578-how-to-steal-a-million-barrels-of-oil
Summary: The Nigerian Internet hosts many ads for stolen oil, inspiring the question: how? Why? Nigeria has one of the top oil reserves, and it is controlled by the government. They lose about $10 million a day from oil theft. This podcast dissects how they get away with it.
Original Air Date: October 29, 2014
Length: 19 minutes 30 seconds
Discussion Question: The podcasts says that this problem is for the Nigerian government to solve. Should it be an international issue?
Prompt: The podcast does not reflect on the legally sold oil, and the effect the stolen oil has on that market. Write how you think the stolen oil would change the market for legal crude oil in the international arena, paying specific attention to the quantity and the prices.
Link: http://freakonomics.com/2014/10/02/fixing-the-world-bang-for-the-buck-edition-a-new-freakonomics-radio-podcast/
Summary: Return on Investment (ROI) analyzes at the most efficient way to spend money. An example given is the difference between curing malaria and HIV/AIDS. To cure malaria, it would cost about $1,000 per person, while it would cost ten times that to cure HIV/AIDS, and it is decided that they would rather save 10 people from malaria before they save one from HIV/AIDS. The United Nations, with their Millennium Development Goals coming to a close, will be looking to set new goals in 2015, to be completed by 2030. One of the issued they will focus on is how they are setting goals, and how to be more efficient with the help of the Return on Investment analysis.
Original Air Date: October 2, 2014
Length: 43 minutes 34 seconds
Prompt / Discussion: You are a member of the United Nations, and are put in charge of coming up with new development goals for 2015. You have $100 billion to invest in various development aid. Discuss how you would prioritize between an important, expensive goal (such as getting all kids into school, which was one of the Millennium Development Goals), and something that might not be seen as highly important, but cost effective.
Link: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/08/16/212645252/episode-480-the-charity-that-just-gives-people-money
Summary: The GiveDirectly charity gives money to the poor and asks for nothing in return. The Planet Money team takes a quick look at this strategy.
Original Air Date: August 16, 2013
Length: 6 minutes 12 seconds
Prompt: Make a list of pros and cons for this strategy of aid to developing regions of the world.
Link: http://www.marketplace.org/topics/sustainability/boom-and-bust-story-crop-called-guar
Summary: Guar is a small bean, and it had a recent rise and fall in the marketplace. Besides being an additive to thicken many foods, it’s also used in fracking. When fracking took off, the price of guar rose. As the price increased, Texas farmers started growing a lot of it, until Pakistan and India–which grow 98% of the guar combined–caught up to the demand. As a result, oil companies stopped hoarding it, and the prices dropped. The Texas farmers were left without buyers, and caused a chain reaction of bankruptcy.
Original Air Date: October 9, 2014
Length: 2 minutes 47 seconds
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