Foundations of Economic Prosperity

Course Overview

Explore one of the most important economic issues in the world today—how to create and sustain prosperity—with this fascinating course by an expert in world economics.

Prosperity has transformed the world, yet its story is complex and not fully understood. This course features 24 lectures that provide a comprehensive overview of prosperity, addressing common misconceptions and diving into deeper truths. Professor Drezner examines how prosperity involves multiple disciplines, including psychology, sociology, and political science. You’ll learn about significant case studies that reveal what works and what doesn’t in promoting economic growth. The course also touches on historical examples and contemporary economic phenomena, preparing you for a more prosperous future.

Video Lectures

• The Foundations of Economic Prosperity
  • Duration: 32 min
  • Examining the disparity in prosperity between North and South Korea and debunking common myths.

2. Does Economic Prosperity Make You Happy?
   • Duration: 30 min
   • Exploring the relationship between income levels and happiness through the Easterlin paradox.

3. Varieties of Entrepreneurship
   • Duration: 32 min
   • Understanding productive, destructive, and unproductive entrepreneurship.

4. Individual Prosperity—The Developed World
   • Duration: 30 min
   • Strategies for ensuring individual prosperity in developed nations and the value of human capital.

5. Individual Prosperity—The Developing World
   • Duration: 32 min
   • Challenges for individuals in developing countries and the significance of the rule of law.

6. Foundations of National Prosperity
   • Duration: 30 min
   • Evaluating how individual incentives interact with national prosperity.

• Perils to National Prosperity
  • Duration: 30 min
  • Investigating common explanations for national economic failures and distinguishing public goods and “bads.”

8. Political Foundations of Prosperity
   • Duration: 31 min
   • The relationship between democratic institutions and long-term economic prosperity.

9. Mysteries of the Industrial Revolution
   • Duration: 32 min
   • Understanding the origins of the Industrial Revolution and its impact on economic growth.

10. Sources of Poverty
    • Duration: 30 min
    • Examining the factors that trap individuals in poverty and potential measures to escape it.

• Reducing Poverty with Economic Development
  • Duration: 33 min
  • Strategies employed by the World Bank for economic development in poor countries.

12. National Prosperity in the Developing World
    • Duration: 29 min
    • Viable pathways to prosperity through resource exploitation and export promotion.

13. National Prosperity in the Developed World
    • Duration: 31 min
    • Challenges faced by developed nations in maintaining economic growth.

14. Can Prosperity Be Lost?
    • Duration: 30 min
    • Factors that can lead a country to lose its economic footing, with a focus on Argentina.

15. Inequality and Prosperity
    • Duration: 30 min
    • Investigating the complex relationship between inequality and overall economic health.

16. Globalization and Global Prosperity
    • Duration: 31 min
    • Understanding globalization’s historical context and its effects on economic growth.

17. Great Powers and Global Prosperity
    • Duration: 33 min
    • The role of superpowers in providing global public goods and ensuring international prosperity.

18. The Washington versus the Beijing Consensus
    • Duration: 32 min
    • Comparing two forms of capitalism and their effectiveness in promoting prosperity.

• Political Challenges to Global Prosperity
  • Duration: 30 min
  • Examining the impact of war on nations’ prosperity and why it may be declining.

20. Financial Challenges to Global Prosperity
    • Duration: 31 min
    • Analyzing how financial crises, like the housing bubble, threaten global economic health.

21. Will the Developed World Stagnate?
    • Duration: 29 min
    • Discussing the slowdown in economic growth in developed nations and its implications.

22. Global Prosperity and the Environment
    • Duration: 29 min
    • Addressing negative externalities and environmental challenges tied to prosperity.

23. Ideological Challenges to Global Prosperity
    • Duration: 30 min
    • Investigating critiques of capitalism from various ideological perspectives.

24. The Ethics of Global Prosperity
    • Duration: 31 min
    • Examining the moral dimensions of prosperity and our responsibilities to the global poor.