Using Markets to Solve Social Problems

ECON 1021 Subject & Catalog Number

Description

This course will demonstrate how one can use the power of the free market to address some of the most vexing social and economic problems of our time, with a particular emphasis on issues that plague minority communities and women. The course will give students an introduction to social finance and impact investing in a manner that does not require prior coursework in Economics. It is intended not only for those interested in finance or social justice, but also for students with a disruptor spirit.   Students will study situations in which market-based approaches were used to solve problems in areas such as education, discrimination, economic mobility, crime, healthcare, food instability, and the future of work. In the context of these topics, the course will provide an introduction to basic principles in finance and for-profit enterprises, venture capital, and other alternative investment strategies. The course will include discussions with leading investors and entrepreneurs who are determined to have positive social impact and culminates in a team-based capstone project in which you build your own startup to take on an important social issue and demonstrate its commercial viability.