Economics


Based upon your required and supplemental learning materials and resources, complete your assignment. 

  1. Chapter 7: The Political Economy of International Drug Strategies: Going It Alone or Working Together by David R. Mares (2005). Drug Wars and Coffeehouses” 1st Edition.
  2. View the videos https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2016/cbf-03-02-16.mp4
  3. The Economics of Cocaine Capitalism by Rensselaer Lee
  4. Cocaine Madness: Counternarcotics Militarization in the Andes by Coletta Youngers
  5. Columbia says It’s Convincing Farmers to Grow Other Crops by Christopher Woody

Drug trafficking is one of the most resilient and lucrative industries in the world, with estimated revenues of $300 billion a year. Despite the tens of billions of dollars that governments spend every year trying to disrupt them, drug cartels have shown tremendous ingenuity, adaptability, and entrepreneurship to satisfy over a quarter billion customers worldwide. Tom Wainwright will use insights from classical economics and modern business theory to explain how drug cartels work, why they’re thriving, and how the illicit business could be defeated by the laws of economics—that is, by recognizing the futility of prohibition.https://cdn.cato.org/archive-2016/cbf-03-02-16.mp4

Review the video of the CATO Institute and the document by Raenseller Lee as provided for this week’s module. 

  1. Describe how drug cartels are able to recruit new members when their members are murdered. Describe also how the concept of drug cartels’ corporate social responsibility makes it difficult to control drug trafficking in Latin American countries
  2. Do you agree that drugs cartels are actually socially responsible? If not, why not?

In order to contribute to this discussion, you must review the videos and readings on Columbia. You must respond to the principal question as well as comment on the postings of at least two other students.