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Political economy

Political economyEconomic development

Economic development, institutions & geography

Why Here? The Prosperity Puzzle

Why are some countries rich and others poor?

Start with your best explanation of prosperity. Compare twelve countries, keep the case that makes your idea uncomfortable, and test it against historical reversals and malaria research. Build a rival explanation and decide what evidence could change your mind.

How it runsSolo simulation
Time to plan50–65 min
What you produceAn evidence-based explanation with a country comparison, saved sample check, proposed pathway, rival and test
For FunExplore at your paceFor ClassFull activity

For Class requires the complete Full activity and final report action before assignment printing or downloads. Core and Full length choices, where offered, are available in For Fun. Save a progress backup whenever you need to pause.

For class: download your report when you finish, then submit it through your course website. Downloading does not submit it.

Use Save / resume for an editable JSON backup or playable HTML with progress. Review the preview before restoring a backup. Browser saves stay on this device and website; TXT and PDF reports do not restore editable progress.

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Embedding and free-use permissions →
Why Here? The Prosperity Puzzle. Created by Yoav Duman. An open atlas becomes a layered landscape of connected cities, rivers and bridges.

What you can explore

  • Compare GDP per person with institutional and geographic measures while respecting uncertainty and sample limits.
  • Use historical and health research to examine explanations while keeping populations, periods and outcomes distinct.
  • Build a scoped hypothesis and possible mechanism, develop a credible rival, and propose evidence that could distinguish them.
  • Defend a conditional action, consider political obstacles and well-being, and explain what changed or survived from an initial prediction.

TAKE IT WITH YOU

Keep the game. Keep your questions.

Play online or download the self-contained HTML game. No installation or student account is needed.

For Class, complete Full and assemble the report before printing or exporting the assignment. A progress backup lets you pause or move devices; downloading does not submit work.

What the model leaves open

The twelve-country sample is purposive, not globally representative. GDP per person is an output average, not household income or equality. Country associations are not causal estimates. The historical and malaria records retain their own dates, populations and outcomes; neither yields a share of present-day national income gaps. Cover art is a conceptual invented landscape.

AFTERWARD, THINK ABOUT

Which country made your starting explanation harder to defend, and why?

Teaching this activity Debrief, assessment & assignment draft

Bring it back to the room

  • Which country made your starting explanation harder to defend, and why?
  • What did your saved omission check change, and what could it never establish?
  • Which proposed connection is best supported, most complicated or still unresolved?
  • Could your explanation and its rival produce the same observation? What further evidence would help?
  • Who might experience prosperity differently from the national average?

What to assess

Assess the claim and scope, an intermediate process, relevant numerical and research evidence, honest limits, a credible rival and meaningful next test, a conditional action with obstacles and distributional implications, and evidence-based reconsideration. Different substantive positions can be defensible. Software checks recorded components and minimum writing, not the quality of the argument.

Read the complete teaching guide →

Syllabus description, rubric & printable companion →

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Syllabus description & discussion prompts
Syllabus description
Start with your best explanation of prosperity. Compare twelve countries, keep the case that makes your idea uncomfortable, and test it against historical reversals and malaria research. Build a rival explanation and decide what evidence could change your mind. Students produce an evidence-based explanation with a country comparison, saved sample check, proposed pathway, rival and test.
Questions for a discussion board or class debrief
  1. Which country made your starting explanation harder to defend, and why?
  2. What did your saved omission check change, and what could it never establish?
  3. Which proposed connection is best supported, most complicated or still unresolved?
  4. Could your explanation and its rival produce the same observation? What further evidence would help?
  5. Who might experience prosperity differently from the national average?
Open printable teaching companion →