Taught By:
Kent Glenzer
Graduate School of International Policy & Management
Middlebury Institute of International Studies
Course Description:
How can we change public economic policy? How can we make effective evidence and theory based economic arguments that have a greater chance of influencing the decisions of public officials? Taking a real-time problem-centered approach, this course will build career-ready competencies in three areas: policy research in general, economic analysis, and economic policy advocacy. Students will work together as a single team on how sustainable local investment could be better achieved here in the City of Monterey and the wider region. The inspiration for the course is the ComCap17 (Community Capital 2017) conference that will occur here in Monterey – MIIS is a co-host – from September 10-13th. Some of the country’s leading scholars and practitioners in the community capital movement will be in town during those days, and students will have an opportunity to interact and network with them. The target for our work will be decision makers – possibly public, possibly private, possibly nonprofit – in and around the City of Monterey. During the semester, we will define the issues, learn and undertake economic analysis of them, identify policy options, formulate concrete and actionable policy asks, and undertake advocacy.
Student Campaigns:
The course will include a large number of guest speakers, actors whose work is focused on changing economic policy. We anticipate a good deal of just-in-time education, as we will be simulating the situation that professional policy researchers/analysts/advocates face on the job, a situation in which they frequently have to learn new material and become quickly proficient and convincing on a new topic.