Event teaches economics and international cooperation
Walt Disney once said, “Our greatest natural resource is the minds of our children.” In this period of financial uncertainty, what better to invest in than teaching these children the fundamentals of economics, trade, and international cooperation?
More than 300 area high school students participated in the 2008 International Economic Summit’s Los Angeles regional event, sponsored jointly by USC Law and the USC Marshall School of Business, and held Dec. 4 at USC’s Town and Gown.
Students came to the regional summit in the attire of their assigned countries—such as Japan and Chad—and participated in trade and alliance negotiations, discussions on trade issues, a summit bank, and a flag quiz, among other activities.
“I thought it all went off very smoothly,” said Lecturer in Law Doug Levinson, who coordinated USC Law’s participation in the event. “It seemed to be a positive environment and the kids were having fun.
“They seemed to learn a lot, to enjoy themselves, and to be proud of their accomplishments.”
The world trade simulation program is part of the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco’s economic education program.
Students who participated in the regional summit had first been through a 10-week curriculum in their high school economics classes, focusing on the complexities of trade and globalization.
Levinson, through the Federal Reserve Bank, annually trains high school teachers on how to teach the international trade and macroeconomic aspects of the IES curriculum.
He sees his role with the IES program as an extension of USC Law’s commitment to community service.
“We are trying to serve our community by using law school resources, in this instance, to help educators help kids,” Levinson said. “That’s our purpose in participating.”
In the International Economic Summit (IES) program run in high schools up and down the West Coast, groups of about four students are assigned a country and are responsible for formulating a plan to improve living standards for their population through trade. After participating in mini-summits at their respective schools, the top groups from each school are invited to participate in the regional summit.
During the event, several USC Law staff members, led by Katherine Guevarra, assisted with the scoring of the various competitions. When the high school students voted on which trade issues were most important to their delegations, these USC Law volunteers counted several hundred ballots in just two hours so the event could continue.
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