The Simulation

As an economic advisor, it is essential that you become acquainted with the challenges that your country faces. To do this, you and your team must begin by researching your country and its statistics. Areas of research include:

• IES Country Classification
• Exports and Imports
• IES Currency
• IES Foreign Aid
• Country Research

IES Country Classification

In the IES program, each country is classified into one of three categories: 1st World, 2nd World, and 3rd World countries. The criteria for this classification system are based on export totals and gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and each have a general set of characteristics in common in the areas of currency, export total, cash endowment, and foreign aid.

1st World Countries (1st WCs):
1st World Countries are those that have the highest standard of living. They are sometimes referred to as “industrialized” or “developed” countries. 1st WCs have the largest number of export coupons, cash endowments, and foreign aid obligations.

2nd World Countries (2nd WCs):
2nd WCs are those that have fairly decent living standards but do not have as many resources to export or they have a lower GDP than that of 1st WCs. They may be described as having “developing” or “emerging market” countries. 2nd WCs have fewer exports and less cash than 1st WCs.

3rd World Countries (3rd WCs):
3rd WCs are those with few resource endowments and exports. They have the lowest standard of living out of the three country classifications. “Underdeveloped” is a common term that describes this category of countries. 3rd WCs have the fewest exports and the least amount of cash of any of the three categories. 3rd WCs export foreign aid coupons for cash.

Exports and Imports

Throughout the IES curriculum, you and your team will be asked to complete many objectives regarding exports and imports. While researching your IES country profile, you may notice that your country has been endowed with certain exports. Be sure to reference these statistics as you progress through the curriculum. For more information regarding exports and imports, proceed to International Trade in the Strategic Improvement Plan section of this page.

IES Currency

In the IES program, each country will be endowed with one of three IES currencies. These three currencies are the WELCO, DEVCO and POORCO and are endowed to 1st, 2nd, and 3rd World countries, respectively. Please refer to the Summit section of this page for more information on Summit currency.

WELCO:
1st WC currency is called the WELCO (wealthy countries). The WELCO is the basic unit of value and is the most valuable currency at the Summit.

DEVCO:
2nd WCs use a currency called the DEVCO (developing country). The DEVCO is worth half as much as the WELCO.

POORCO:
3rd WCs use a currency called the POORCO (poor country) and is worth half as much as the DEVCO.

The fixed exchange rates for the three currencies are:

• 1 WELCO = 2 DEVCO
• 1 DEVCO = 2 POORCO
• 1 WELCO = 4 POORCO

How is the amount of currency your country is endowed with determined? Countries are fixed with a cash endowment equivalent to 50% of their export coupon total in WELCO (rounded up to the nearest whole number). Each country will be endowed with this cash in the form of their respective currency.

For example, if Bangladesh, a 3rd WC, has 15 export coupons, they will begin the Summit with a cash endowment of 32 POORCO (POORCO being the currency for 3rd WCs). Please see the calculation below:

15 (coupons)
    x .50 (fifty percent)
    7.5 (WELCO endowed to Bangladesh)

7.5 is rounded to 8 (WELCO endowed to Bangladesh)

8 WELCO is then converted into the 3rd WC currency which is the POORCO.
Remembering the exchange rate:

1 WELCO = 4 POORCO

  8 (WELCO)
    x 4 (POORCO)
    32 (POORCO endowed to Bangladesh)

IES Foreign Aid

Foreign aid is a means for more developed countries to offer monetary assistance to less developed countries as a gesture of goodwill. You may observe in your IES country profile that your country has been endowed with foreign aid cash or foreign aid coupons. If your country was not allocated any foreign aid cash or foreign aid coupons, you need not reference this section, but if you represent a country that is endowed with foreign aid cash or coupons, please be aware of the trading rules for foreign aid.

Please refer to the Summit section of this page for more information on foreign aid.

Country Research

At the beginning of the IES program, you and your team will be asked to complete your country's fact sheet. This sheet asks for your country's statistics that contribute or reveal information about your country's standard of living. It is your team's assignment to gather the required information. You and your team may choose to refer to the Research Resources section of this site to assist you in this assignment.

After having conducted your IES country research, you will take initiative to create a strategic improvement plan. This includes an assessment of your IES country profile; its political, economic, and social conditions, and its strengths and weaknesses in trade; a proposed set of objectives  and specific goals to address your assessment; and a proposed set of tactics on how you will go about achieving your objectives and goals at the Summit. Your strategic improvement plan will focus around two areas:

• International Trade
• Internal Improvements

International Trade

As economic advisor to a nation with an endowment of export coupons, you are asked to develop an import strategy that you will submit prior to and carry out at the Summit. These export bundles are based on factual export data for each IES country. When designing your import strategy, you will take into account what your country's inhabitants need most or what you assume would increase the standard of living in your country.

Exports and imports are divided into 14 export/import categories. Categories are the same for both imports and exports, primarily because one country's imports are another country's exports. The categories include:

• Unprocessed Food
• Processed Food
• Raw Materials
• Energy
• Consumer Goods
• Capital Goods
• Electronics

• Media
• Tourism
• Offensive Military
• Defensive Military
• Banking
• Science/Technology
• Foreign Aid

The categories mentioned above are very broad and include a range of products. Your country is allocated a fixed quantity of export coupons making up your export bundle. Each coupon bears one of the 14 category names, and these export cards are an indicator in determining what your country is successful at producing. They may even indicate a comparative advantage for the production of these goods in your country.

There is also a possibility that you are not endowed with any export cards in a certain category. This may indicate that your country is weaker in this area of production or that your country may not have a comparative advantage in the production of these goods. As economic advisors, it is ultimately up to you and your team members to determine the resources that will play an integral role in improving your country's living standards and then attempt to import them at the Summit.

Once you and your team have chosen your ideal imports, you will be asked to submit them through the Teachers section of this website. For information regarding the submission of your import goals, please refer to the Data Input Submissions section.

Internal Improvement

You may have found while researching and assessing your country that many issues may not be solved easily through international trade. Allocating a portion of cash for the purchase of internal improvement will help you improve your country's well-being in three areas: education, health care, and infrastructure. One unit of internal improvement will benefit and satisfy ten million inhabitants and may be purchased for 5 WELCO from the Economic Summit Bank during the trading session of the Summit. For more information on and points awarded for internal improvements, please refer to the Summit section.