Introduction: Why Progress?
Session 1 · Tue Sep 1
What this course is about
This is a course about one of the most important questions in economics and social science: why do extraordinary improvements in human welfare happen in some times and places and not others? And what threatens them?
We will spend the semester examining the origins of progress — the Industrial Revolution, the institutions that sustain innovation, the cities that concentrate it, the individuals who drive it, and the risks that could reverse it. We draw on economics, history, philosophy, and data.
Session structure
This first session is organized around introductions and a writing exercise, not a lecture. Come prepared to meet your classmates and to think out loud about big questions.
Logistics for Session 1: - Take attendance and confirm enrollment - Brief course overview (10 minutes): what we cover, how it works, what the assignments are - Introductions in pairs: name, where you’re from, one reason you chose this seminar (5–10 minutes) - Opening reflection (25–30 minutes): in-class writing, then small-group share-out - Course housekeeping: Baltimore Video groups assigned by Thursday; site choices confirmed by end of first week
The opening reflection is the first graded assignment. Students keep it — they’ll revisit it in the closing reflection at the end of the semester.
Opening reflection
In class today you will write a short reflection — about one page, handwritten or typed — in response to this prompt:
What do you think the world’s biggest unsolved problem is, and why?
There is no right answer. The goal is to record your current thinking before the course shapes it. You will return to this reflection in our last session (December 10) and write a closing response: how has your thinking changed?
Give students 20–25 minutes of quiet writing time. Resist the urge to discuss beforehand — you want their unprimed instincts, not their first attempt at the course’s answer.
After writing, ask 3–4 students to share in one sentence what problem they named. Don’t evaluate or correct. Just note the range. Common answers: climate change, inequality, political polarization, AI, poverty, mental health. All of these will come up during the semester.
Close with a single framing question: “By the end of this course, I hope some of you will have changed your answer — not because you were wrong, but because you understand the question differently.”
What students around the world say
You will write your own answer to this question in class today. Before you do, it is worth knowing what students at other universities say when asked the same question.
Since 2021, CORE Econ has posed the same question — What is the most pressing problem that economists should address? — to students on the first day of introductory economics courses at universities in the United States, Brazil, the UK, and beyond.
Inequality, climate change, poverty, housing, and inflation appear consistently. Notice what students across very different countries share — and where their concerns diverge. After you write your own answer today, come back to this word cloud and see where yours fits.
Show the word cloud after students have written their answers, not before — you want their unprimed instincts first. The word cloud is useful for two purposes: (1) it shows students they are part of a larger community of people asking the same questions; (2) it previews the course arc — most of the words that appear prominently will be addressed directly in the course.
Point out that these are students’ answers, not economists’ answers. One goal of the course is to equip students to think about these problems more rigorously — which sometimes means changing the question, not just improving the answer.
Connections
Sets up: Everything. The opening reflection establishes a baseline that the course will complicate. Session 2 begins the empirical work: are our instincts about the world’s biggest problems accurate?
Arc note: The opening reflection → closing reflection arc is the backbone of the course’s personal dimension. Students who engage honestly with both will have a tangible record of intellectual change. Remind them at the start of each module that their opening answer is waiting for them in December.
Reading guide
No reading assigned for Session 1. The first reading (Rosling, Factfulness, Introduction + Chapter 1) is assigned for Session 2 (Thu Sep 3).