The Challenges of Global Poverty

About this course

The course is free to audit. Learners can take a proctored exam and earn a course certificate by paying a fee, which varies by ability to pay. Please scroll down for more information on the verified and audit track features and see FAQ articles for more information on the pricing structure. Enroll now in this course by selecting the "enroll now" button at the top of the page.

This is an INTRODUCTORY elective course within the International Development Track of the MITx MicroMasters program in Data, Economics, and Design of Policy (DEDP), which provides a path toward the Master’s in DEDP at MIT. Five total courses (3 core, 2 electives) are needed to complete the International Development MicroMasters Program Credential in DEDP. For more information on DEDP MicroMasters program requirements, please visit our FAQ page.

This is a course for those who are interested in the challenge posed by massive and persistent world poverty, and are hopeful that economists might have something useful to say about this challenge. The questions we will take up include: Is extreme poverty a thing of the past? What is economic life like when living under a dollar per day? Are the poor always hungry? How do we make schools work for poor citizens? How do we deal with the disease burden? Is microfinance invaluable or overrated? Without property rights, is life destined to be "nasty, brutish and short"? Should we leave economic development to the market? Should we leave economic development to non-governmental organizations (NGOs)? Does foreign aid help or hinder? Where is the best place to intervene? And many others.

At the end of this course, you should have a good sense of the key questions asked by scholars interested in poverty today, and hopefully a few answers as well.

Course Previews:

Our course previews are meant to give prospective learners the opportunity to get a taste of the content and exercises that will be covered in each course. If you are new to these subjects, or eager to refresh your memory, each course preview also includes some available resources. These resources may also be useful to refer to over the course of the semester.

A score of 60% or above in the course previews indicates that you are ready to take the course, while a score below 60% indicates that you should further review the concepts covered before beginning the course.

Please use this link to access the syllabus and this link to access the course preview. Once you have completed this preview, use the answer key to check your answers.

Comparing the Audit and Certificate Tracks

(Click here for a text based version of this table.)

What you’ll learn

• To identify and analyze some of the root causes of underdevelopment using principles of economics
• To understand the unique constraints and trade-offs the poor face when making decisions
• How to interpret the findings of empirical research that evaluates the effectiveness of anti-poverty strategies, policies, and interventions (including strengths and weaknesses of research)
• A basic understanding of various econometric tools used in development research, which will provide the foundation for participating in more technical courses in development economics

Prerequisites

Previous exposure to economics and some familiarity with statistics will be helpful. However, previous exposure to economics and statistics is not critical to understanding the material and learning from the course. Various resources will be made available throughout the course for students to learn or refresh on the most important topics.