When the Classroom Mimics Reality: A Simulation in International Trade and Relations
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.
The World Trade System: A Classroom Experiment 1
Introduction What is globalization? How does international trade work? Which country wins, which country loses by opening its current and capital account? Are the rich getting richer and the poor getting poorer? These are some of the questions that are often raised by students early on in courses on International Economics as well as in Macroeconomics, the moment we move on to international relations. With the support of a game (or experiment) simulating the current world trade system, we can tackle these questions. Through first-hand experiences the students themselves will come up with answers and clues that can be compared with the real world. The discussions of the trading relationships as well as of their economic implications and results will broaden the students’ understanding of international trade.
Instructional Simulation of a Commercial Banking System
An instructional simulation program that models a commercial banking system is described. The program allows students to manage a hypothetical bank in an imperfectly competitive environment where both local and national markets and a central bank exist. Students' portfolio moves seem to be represented by a linear model where asset acquisitions are functions of time and recently observed market interest rates for assets.