On Friday, April 17th, juniors and seniors in PLS economics classes gathered together for an International Trade Simulation. The simulation, made available by the Federal Reserve in San Francisco, involved students working in teams as economic advisers to one country. Their goal was to improve the standard of living in their country through GDP per capita, investment rates, governance scores, etc.

During the economic summit, students formed trade alliances, allowing them to avoid paying the universal tariff. The exports they had to trade were based on the same exports their country has in real life. Teams also gained support for trade issues they had prepared, representing one challenge their country is currently facing. Five trade issues were then officially “passed” during the simulation, coming from Kyrgyzstan, Mexico, Bolivia, Israel and South Africa.

The main event of the morning was the actual trade session. Each country?s team had export coupons, representing the actual exports of the country. They had to trade their exports coupons with other countries to import needed goods. They also had the opportunity to take out loans, and invest in their countries through purchasing long term development projects. Some of the wealthier countries were also required to give foreign aid to the less well-off countries. All of the pieces of the project earned points for the team, and in the end, the winning team was Bangladesh, represented by Taylor Brandt and Kyle Jampsa. Second place was only one point behind, and was a tie between Ireland, represented by Christian Parker, Derek Henderson and Abel Araya, and Vietnam, represented by Leanna Scheck and Vy Huynh. Overall, the students gained experience with principles of scarcity, supply and demand, governance and investment, and many other key concepts.

Teacher Holly Schell adopted this project with the hope that students would gain an understanding of the many challenges involved in international trade, the ideas of scarcity, and how trade impacts the standards of living in many countries. She says, ?During the summit, I most loved seeing how engaged and involved the students were in the trading, and working with their teams to meet the import goals they had set for themselves. It was clear, in the end that the teams who had prepared the most beforehand really came out on top at the end of the simulation.?