International Economic Summit

Prepare for a role play. Read the situation and the roles, and follow the procedure.

The situation

The global economic crisis of 2009 deeply affected practically every country of the world. An international economic summit is being held in 2009 to discuss the situation.

The roles

1. The moderator. You are to run the flow of the summit by setting the problem and giving the floor to the participants or experts and organising a discussion. You may express your personal opinion as well.

2. A chieftain of an African tribe. You live in a small community with a traditional economy. The population is involved in hunting and primitive agriculture, which has not been changed for centuries. If they experience scarcity they declare a war to the neighbouring tribe and take the values by force. You do not feel any global crisis. Try to convince the rest of the audience of the benefits of your way of driving the economy.

3. A politician from North Korea. Your society has experienced planned economy for many years. There is not much diversity in your economy, nevertheless you do not suffer from the global economic crisis. People of your country are convinced that if you want to suffer less you should reduce your desires instead of increasing producing. Try to convince the rest of the audience of the benefits of your country’s way of driving the economy.

4. A qualified doctor from the USA. You are convinced that market economy is the best, and the USA is the best example of it. You do not want to realize that the American society is doing well thanks to the efforts of the rest of the world. You think that all the difficulties are temporary and they will not influence the global social development on the whole. Try to convince the rest of the audience of the benefits of your country’s way of driving the economy.

5. A programmer from Japan. You think that the main resource of economic development is the brain. You find the way out of the crisis in introducing new technologies and give examples of other countries following the same direction. Try to convince the rest of the audience of the benefits of your country’s way of driving the economy.

6. A businessman from Singapore. You find the way out in creating favourable business conditions, eliminating corruption and an efficient use of natural resources and an efficient use of the geographic position of any country. Try to convince the rest of the audience of the benefits of your country’s way of driving the economy.

7. A public servant from Belarus. You think that “pure” market economy is unsocial. You are convinced that it will not do without the government’s interference. Try to convince the rest of the audience of the benefits of your country’s way of driving the economy.

8. Experts in economics (3-4 people). You are to listen to the representatives and pass a professional judgement.

9. Students (the rest of the group). You are to put questions to the experts and participants and express your views based on your professional knowledge of economics.

The procedure

1. The moderator opens the summit.

2. The participants in turn take the floor and make their reports, saying their opinion of what should be done to the world's economy.

3. The moderator organizes the exchange of views and opinions.

4. The moderator closes the summit.

After the role play the moderator evaluates the participants’ reports. The moderator's performance is evaluated by the group.