Course Title
“Restoring Peru’s Andean Miracle: Business, Government, and the Social Sector”
Professors
Lisa Baldez, Professor of Government
Richard McNulty, Executive Director, Leadership Development; Lecturer
Dates
March 2023
Destination Cities
Lima, Cusco, and Machu Picchu
Course Description
Peru is a country of stunning contrasts – geographically, demographically, historically, and economically. It spans arid deserts, the high Andes, Amazon headwaters, and temperate coastal zones. Natural resources include fertile agricultural land, rich fisheries, vast mineral resources, and world-class archaeological sites. The country has long been divided between an elite, mostly descended from European colonizers, and indigenous and mestizo groups largely marginalized socially, politically, and economically.
Peru is, on many dimensions, an economic success story of the early 21st Century, but the country has experienced economic booms many times in its history. The compelling question is whether Peru is now on a stable growth and development trajectory, or will the country revert into yet another cycle of instability. The country experienced widespread and sustained insurgencies in the 1980s, then epidemic levels of government corruption and a breakdown of democracy in the 1990s. Yet in the past 15 years, Peru has experienced sustained high rates of economic growth, made gains at reducing poverty and building transportation and business infrastructure, and increased the size of its middle class.
This “Peruvian miracle” is particularly impressive in contrast to other countries in the Andean region. In neighboring Ecuador, Bolivia, and most notably in Venezuela, leftist populist governments dominated the first decades of this century, pursuing policies that discouraged private investment and failed to convert the commodity booms into sustainable growth. Peru, on many counts, appears to be exceptional.
One might expect that these accomplishments would be built on a foundation of a stable and effective government in which Peruvians are increasingly confident. Nonetheless, Peru’s politics have remained volatile. Parties come and go, often not surviving from one election to the next. Peruvians evidently do not attribute the country’s successes to the stewardship of their elected representatives. The central questions we will address during this GIX are:
- Can Peru build a strong middle class to sustain growth and political stability?
- How successful has Peru been in expanding access to economic opportunity, education, finance, health care, housing?
- Would strengthening the formal sector promote gender equality?
- What are the opportunities and challenges for entrepreneurship in this developing economy?
- How does Peru’s history and cultural heritage shape its current business practices?
- Will Peru avoid the populism that has affected its neighbors -- Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil?
On this GIX, you will meet business leaders, government officials, academics, entrepreneurs, and ordinary citizens to help answer the above questions. You will have opportunities, more generally, to engage with diverse populations, seek different perspectives, and hone your cultural competency. And along the way, you will experience the exquisite restaurants of Lima and the awe-inspiring wonder of Machu Picchu.