economic development

good or bad?

Confessions of an Economic Hit Man

essential question:

(A). Is all economic growth a good thing?

answer this question on a sheet of paper

Case Study: Ecuador What are some potential benefits and challenges of Ecuador using foreign aid to build a hydroelectric plant?

BenefitsProduction of electricity

Profits- increase in GNP

Support for infrastructure/ growth

ChallengesAccruing debt

Profits for only a handful of citizens

Destruction of natural habitat

Loss of local land / culture

What do you think?

(B). Do the benefits outweigh the challenges?

answer this question on a sheet of paper

Prologue xxiii“That hideous, incongruous wall is a dam that blocks the rushing Pastaza

River, diverts its waters through huge tunnels bored into the mountain, and converts the energy to electricity. This is the 156-megawatt Agoyan hydroelectric project. It fuels the industries that make a handful of Ecuadorian families wealthy, and it has been the source of untold suffering for the farmers and indigenous people who live along the river.... Because of [such] projects, Ecuador is awash in foreign debt and must devote an inordinate share of its national budget to paying this off, instead of using its capital to help the millions of its citizens officially classified as dangerously impoverished. The only way Ecuador can buy down its foreign obligations is by selling its rain forests to the oil companies."

essential question:

(C). Is all economic growth a good thing?

(D). did your answer change after reading the book excerpt?

(E). why/ why not?