17th of October, 2024 Over the years, “Fortress Europe” has relied on a mix of bribery and force to keep out undocumented migrants fleeing wars, famine, and conditions of extreme poverty in Sub-Saharan Africa. But such measures are no solution to a problem that ultimately stems from much larger global and historical forces. LONDON – In 2023, 150,000 migrants crossed the Central Mediterranean in small boats from North Africa, fleeing war, pestilence, and starvation in their own...
Read More »Why are so many African and Asian nations ambivalent about Russia’s invasion? International identity politics
Americans agree on few issues, but one thing they have come together on is condemnation of Russian aggression. Western Europeans too. But not so the rest of the world. To explain India’s muted diplomatic reaction, Western papers emphasize the fact that India gets most of its arms from Russia, but here is an interesting NPR panel broadening the view: FRAYER: And the news commentary here about sanctions and diplomacy is also often sympathetic to Russia. Listen to how one of India’s most...
Read More »Women’s Economic Empowerment and Control over Time in Sub-Saharan Africa (Nov 1-2)
Biographies Patricia Blankson Akakpo is a Programme Manager of the Network for Women’s Rights in Ghana (NETRIGHT) – a women’s rights and economic justice advocacy network. Patricia holds a BA in political science with philosophy; MA in development studies with specialization in human resources and employment; and gender studies; and a diploma in development leadership. Patricia joined NETRIGHT in 2003. She has over twenty-five years of experience in gender and development in Ghana working...
Read More »IPA’s weekly links
Guest post by Jeff Mosenkis of Innovations for Poverty Action First some good news – congratulations to development economist and dewormer Ted Miguel, social psychologist of diversity and justice Jennifer Richeson, gynecologist and Nobel laureate, Denis Mukwege of the DRC, and the other newly elected members of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. For researchers working on (or interested in working on COVID in low- and middle-income countries): to facilitate collaboration, with...
Read More »IPA’s weekly links
Photo: Larry George II on UnsplashGuest post by Jeff Mosenkis of Innovations for Poverty Action For your travels this weekend I’ve put up some favorite podcast recommendations, plus some bonus reading, and kids’ podcasts. (Though they’re all potentially kids’ podcasts, in that when my kids misbehave in the back seat I threaten to put on an econ podcast and they shape up pretty quick.)The Nathan Nunn article on rethinking economic development was very readable. He argues that instead of...
Read More »Vladimir Putin signed dozens of MOUs with African countries this week but can’t match China — Joe Penney
By the time the inaugural Russia-Africa Summit closed on Thursday afternoon in Sochi, Russia, president Vladimir Putin and his administration had signed dozens of memorandums of understanding (MOU) and other agreements with the African countries that attended. The agreements include military cooperation, agricultural development, biotechnology, and oil and gas. They range from the minor, like Democratic Republic of Congo’s deal to sign data storage software, to more ambitious, like...
Read More »Thomas Fazi — French Colonialism Is Alive and Kicking in Africa, Has the Continent in an Iron Grip
Thomas Fazi is an Italian journalist and collaborator with Bill Mitchell on several books.The US is not the only neo-imperialist. It is joined by France and Great Britain.spikedFrench Colonialism Is Alive and Kicking in Africa, Has the Continent in an Iron Grip Thomas Fazi See also Disproportionate focus on corruption of national leaders distracts from the systemic theft of Ghana's wealth Slate98.3 percent of Ghana’s gold remains in the hands of multinational corporations Celina Della...
Read More »IPA’s weekly links
(Didn’t think I’d get a chance to use this again) Guest post by Jeff Mosenkis of Innovations for Poverty Action Congratulations to Emi Nakamura, winner of the Clark medal. Noah Smith explains her work and why it’s rare for macroeconomists to win it.And congratulations to World Bank Chief Economist & Yale professor Penny Goldberg on her election to the National Academy of Sciences.A few years ago, the “Worm Wars” broke out when a team reanalyzed data from a classic finding on the benefits...
Read More »Ada Agada — A truly African philosophy
Review of ‘Consolation philosophy’ understands the human being as a unity of feeling and reason, in a cosmos rich with primal emotion… Here I offer a brief presentation of this African philosophical synthesis, which I hope will help to resolve the dilemma eloquently put forward in 1997 by professor of philosophy at Penn State University Robert Bernasconi: ‘Either African philosophy is so similar to Western philosophy that it makes no distinctive contribution and effectively disappears; or...
Read More »Pavel Nastin — Jihadism Spreads like Wildfire Across Africa
Don't forget Africa. The most populous cities in the world are projected to be in Africa by the end of the century.NEOJihadism Spreads like Wildfire Across Africa Pavel Nastin
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