Emily, Interesting terminology, business-focused in theory, but governmentally-focused in practice. Banerjee and Duflo speak about a "poverty mentality" in their book, Poor Economics, and explain the complexities of the impoverished class. People are not born with even a basic understanding of economics, and often will grow up in societies where the government has traditionally provided for individuals. That is why you may see many people make enough money to survive, but not enough to thrive. The idea of growing wealth through entrepreneurship may be foreign, and because of that, education may be the key to providing individuals in Nicaragua with the ability to create and sustain wealth for themselves and for those around them. References: Banerjee, A. V., & Duflo, E. (2011). Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. Public Affiars.

Emily, Very comprehensive outline of the ECON 360 project. I'm excited to hear more, as I've been to Honduras and have friends that have lived for periods of time in Nicaragua, and know that they have had governmental struggles which have attributed largely to the breakdown in the nation's economic status. Was Nicaragua's GDP at a competitive level before the political unrest? Cowen and Tabarrok describe several institutions which stimulate economic growth: property rights, honest government, political stability, a dependable legal system, and competitive and open markets (521). Nicaragua is missing several of these elements, which certainly seem to be contributing to the lower GDP. It seems that many of the countries in that region struggle with similar challenges, but I wonder what would make Nicaragua's situation better and/or worse than others around it? Honduras, for example, had the highest murder rate in the world in 2012, and this was recognized as one of the nation's largest hurdles to overcome (Facts of Mozambique - History, Climate, Geography, n.d.). Today, that rate has reduced to half that rate, which has no doubt played a large role in the country's GDP (ibid). Nicaragua is not the same as Honduras, so I wonder what solutions will be needed to uplift this nation. References: Cowen, T., & Tabarrok, A. (2015). Modern Principles of Economics (3rd ed.). Worth Publishers. Facts of Mozambique—History, Climate, Geography. (n.d.). Retrieved September 3, 2021, from https://www.mozambique.co.za/About_Mozambique-travel/mozambique-facts.html

References: Banerjee, A. V., & Duflo, E. (2011). Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty. Public Affiars.

Christian, I am excited to see how your project progresses, as I expect we will have quite a few similarities for economic stability between our nations (I am studying Mozambique). I am also interested in understanding the differences between these two countries in Africa, and why some socioeconomic policies and practices will fair better in one versus the other. Banerjee and Duflo articulate in their book Poor Economics, "the lack of a grand universal answer might sound vaguely disappointing, but in fact it is exactly what a policy maker should want to know - not that there are a million ways that the poor are trapped but that there are a few key factors that create the trap, and that alleviating those particular problems could set them free and point them toward a virtuous cycle of increasing wealth and investment (13). I trust that we are able to at least identify some of these areas, if not to add more tools to the tool belt of governments, corporations, and individuals to increase GDP.