Social Institutions How do the institutions in society affect you?

This Week  Recap “Declining by Degrees”  Take a brief look at International Political and Economic Institutions

Things to think about  What are the various forces that come together to give you the quality of education you receive?  Be able to tell the difference between the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization.  How have the goals of the World Bank and IMF affected Nicaragua?

Declining by Degrees  Are students prepared for college? –How do the professors deal with unprepared students? –What about student’s social life – how does it interfere with education? –How does work and family life affect student’s ability to participate in class?  What are professors told is the most important thing to get tenure? –What happens as a result of this focus?

Declining by Degrees  How do the economic constraints (lack of money) at the universities affect your classroom experience? –Large class sizes? –Part-time teachers? –Student teacher interaction?  How do the students and teachers work together (unintentionally) to lead to lower expectations in the classrooms?

Declining by Degrees  What are professors doing about these problems?  What are the universities doing about these problems?  How do you feel about these issues? –Is it ok for students to do as little as possible and get by? –Should universities make education more demanding?

What are the main points?  Funding for education has declined. –Larger class sizes, more part-time teachers –Bigger student loan debt and more work –More demands on professor’s time  As a result, professors adopt strategies to cope. –Less work for students –Curving grades = grade inflation  Students respond by lowering their expectations –Socialize more, study less –Some have work or family, so they study less  Universities focus on money, not students –Court donors for new buildings –Less professors –Higher tuition and focus on recruiting out of state students  What do student’s learn? –Who benefits from an uneducated public? Some professors, students and administrators resist these trends to provide a higher quality education.

Global Political and Economic Institutions  World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development)  International Monetary Fund (IMF)  World Trade Organization (WTO)

Origins of the World Bank, IMF and WTO  These institutions arose out of the plans by the US to avoid financial crisis after WWII. –World Bank was to give loans to reconstruct Europe, but gave loans to poor countries instead. –IMF gives loans and advice for dealing with short term financial crisis. –Global Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) became World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1996.

Global Political and Economic Institutions  World Bank (International Bank for Reconstruction and Development) –Loans for “development” projects to encourage economic growth.  International Monetary Fund (IMF) –Deals with short-term economic crisis through loans and restructuring a nation’s economy.  World Trade Organization (WTO) –Oversees trade between nations to encourage the free flow of goods and growth of economies

Goals of WB, IMF and Neoliberalism  Encourage economic growth through the removal of barriers to trade. –Reduce tariffs and price subsidies on goods –Encourage competition by “getting prices right” –Focus your economy on “comparative advantage” Produce one, or a few, products for export –Reduce expenses on social and governmental expenditures Eliminate subsidies for basic foods Cut health care expenditures and begin fees for care Cut social services and education (in some cases) –Discourage unions –Sell off state property such as natural resources, electricity and water to private companies

Nicaragua  Debt incurred by the dictators of Nicaragua still had to be repaid.  Country devastated by war with “contras” who were illegally supported by US.  Economic crisis arose from falling coffee prices and a bank scandal like US S&L crisis.  IMF imposed conditions that forced the country to focus on repaying debt to the wealthy in Nicaragua and eliminated pay increases for teachers and public employees.

Nicaragua  Nicaragua is now the poorest country in Latin America with the highest rate of debt per person.  It spends 2 and a half times more on debt repayment than on health and education combined. –Over half of the population live below the poverty line –Two fifths of poor children are malnourished –Three quarters of the poor live in rural areas, and half of these are extremely poor, unable to meet their daily food needs

Things to think about  What are the various forces that come together to give you the quality of education you receive?  Be able to tell the difference between the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and World Trade Organization.  How have the goals of the World Bank and IMF affected Nicaragua?