When the Classroom Mimics Reality: A Simulation in International Trade and Relations

Abstract:     
Students participate in an international trade simulation in which they are "born" into a country and must produce and sell goods to survive. Countries, ranging in economic power from the United States and Japan to Ethiopia and Somalia, are endowed with a level of raw materials commensurate with their national income, and must produce at a level sufficient to maintain both their population and environmental quality. As a result of this interaction, students discover that there is a reason why poor nations remain poor, and why international relations are so
problematic. Students also see firsthand the economic effects of the production process, such as the declining use of labor and increased use of capital in producing a country's output.

JEL Classifications: A2, F0

Case and Teaching Paper Series