ECON 225
Global Financial Crisis and African Economic Development Spring 2010
Division II Writing Skills
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Will the global financial crunch create a development crisis for Africa? Just two years ago the International Monetary Fund published the most optimistic growth projections for Africa in decades, predicting rapid growth driven by higher commodity prices, stronger agricultural output and the dividends of years of difficult economic reforms. Today, economic analysts are downgrading African growth forecasts in the face of growing poverty and macroeconomic challenges. Food prices have more than doubled in some countries¿increasing hunger for the most vulnerable groups. Fuel costs¿and subsidy policies in some countries¿are creating macroeconomic imbalances, and the global financial crisis is depressing demand for Africa¿s exports. Private capital flows, which reached record levels until 2007, are expected to decline by $300-400 billion over the next two years, with bank lending falling, portfolio investment declining, and foreign direct investment decreasing. This triple-F crisis¿food, fuel and financial¿is posing renewed challenges to African leaders trying to tackle the imperatives of economic development and pro-poor and inclusive economic growth. This crisis is raising the costs of reforms in countries reliant on exports and international capital for growth. Successful strategies must combine policies more efficiently than ever¿to balance the necessary reforms with initiatives that offset the costs for the most vulnerable. This tutorial will analyze critical questions posed by the emerging crisis: Which countries will be hit the hardest, and how deeply and for how long? Through which channels does the contagion afflict national economies? And perhaps most importantly, what coordinated strategies can African nations develop in order to foster effective responses? This tutorial will explore how policy-makers in Africa are working to build successful inclusive growth strategies, with fiscal, monetary, industrial, trade and labor market policies reinforcing each other rather than working at cross purposes.
The Class: Format: tutorial, will meet weekly for one hour in groups of two
Limit: 10
Expected: 10
Class#: 3587
Grading: no pass/fail option, no fifth course option
Requirements/Evaluation: evaluation will be based on five short papers and on the quality of the student's oral presentations and commentary on the work of his/her colleagues
Prerequisites: Economics 252 (or concurrently) or permission of the instructor
Distributions: Division II Writing Skills

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