ECN3677 Regional Economies - Prospects and Tensions in Latin America's Southern Cone
4 Advanced Liberal Arts Credits
Program fee and group international airfare is paid to Glavin Office – program fee includes accommodations, breakfast, airport transport, group round-trip flight from Boston to Uruguay/Argentina, ferry transportation from Uruguay to Argentina, program planned meals, and cultural excursions. Not included: tuition, visa costs, additional meals and personal expenses. This course provides an introduction to the Latin American business environment, with special focus on Uruguay and Argentina. In Uruguay, we explore the dilemmas of the country’s contrasting development opportunities, promoting tourism and sustainable enterprise built on its natural beauty, while pressured to accept environmentally threatening extractive industry investments in mining, pulp, and petroleum. Additional themes include environmental and water rights debates, regional infrastructure investment, and review of South-South trade initiatives. In Argentina, we examine the country’s emergence from the volatile swings of agricultural commodity booms, international debt, and financial turbulence. We explore the challenges of the recently elected Macri government to promote economic development through entrepreneurial initiative directed by market fundamentals. What happens when entrepreneurs design government policy and roll back the state? In addition, we examine regional e-business competition, the “Tango” as a cultural artifact of early economic development, concluding with an appraisal of the region’s prospects in the wake of the adversity of a global financial crisis. We will explore these Southern Cone economies through extensive country site visits and classroom sessions at host institutions, Universidad ORT (Uruguay) and Universidad San Andrès (Argentina).
Prerequisites: (SME2031 or ECN2002) and ECN2000