Posted: February 11th, 2015

Confessions of an Economic Hitman

Paper, Order, or Assignment Requirements

Term Paper: For this assignment students will review Confessions of an economic hit
man. To develop an analysis of the relevance of this memoir to the study of the politics of
development students must draw on and cite concepts and approaches covered in the
required texts and in the lectures during the first eight weeks of the course. In this paper
students will provide an introduction that briefly imparts their views on the book’s
principal contributions to an introduction to international development studies. They will
then proceed to present in an organized manner their perspectives on each of: (i) the
strengths of the analyses presented in the book relative to other interpretations of
development covered in POLS*2080; (ii) the weaknesses of the analyses relative to other
perspectives on development covered in the course; (iii) the opportunities around the
world that presently exist for this book to improve development outcomes; and (iv) the
threats around the globe that could impede efforts to pursue the changes desired by the
author.

Students will then offer a brief conclusion. In the conclusion students will clearly
present answers to the two (2) following questions: (a) do the strengths of the book
outweigh its weaknesses or vice versa; and (b) do the opportunities for the author to
realize his desired reforms presently outweigh the threats to his programme or vice
versa? In the concluding section students should draw upon the evidence presented in the
paper and on course material to support their answers to these questions. Finally, students
should include a summary statement – one sentence maximum – at the end of their
introduction that imparts the answers they give to the two questions in the conclusion.