The course investigates how economics grow, the meaning of "development", and the barriers individuals and countries face in achieving development. Topics include the poverty trap; how population growth affects economic growth; the rationale for government intervention in peoples' fertility choices; rural-to-urban migration and its socioeconomic implications; how credit market frictions affect economic activity and whether they can lead to poverty traps; how microcredit works and whether it helps to alleviate poverty; and the role of the state in economic development.