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Tag Archives: International & World

The conferment of an honorary doctorate at Helsinki University: my speech.

This is a speech delivered to the staff of the University of Helsinki, and to hundreds of students awarded masters’ and doctorate degrees, on the auspicious day of 22nd May, 2022. One of the requirements of the conferment committee was that all speeches should include another language. I therefore began mine in Afrikaans. After the pause below, I summarise the content of the opening paragraphs, so bear with me… Ek wil net kortliks sê dit is n baie lang pad van die klein dorpie,...

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A War No One Can Win – Ukraine and the Weaponisation of Everything

This article first appeared in the Indian journal Economic and Political Weekly on 19 March 2022. Russian Invasion of Ukraine The Russian invasion of Ukraine started on 24 February 2022. Since then, several thousand combatants from both sides and more than 500 Ukrainian civilians have died, bombs have ruined many cities, and more than two million Ukrainians, half of them children, left the country to become refugees. And the sweeping sanctions the West imposed on Russia in response not only...

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A War No One Can Win – Ukraine and the Weaponisation of Everything

This article first appeared in the Indian journal Economic and Political Weekly on 19 March 2022.Russian Invasion of UkraineThe Russian invasion of Ukraine started on 24 February 2022. Since then, several thousand combatants from both sides and more than 500 Ukrainian civilians have died, bombs have ruined many cities, and more than two million Ukrainians, half of them children, left the country to become refugees. And the sweeping sanctions the West imposed on Russia in response not only...

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A War No One Can Win – Ukraine and the Weaponisation of Everything

This article first appeared in the Indian journal Economic and Political Weekly on 19 March 2022.Russian Invasion of UkraineThe Russian invasion of Ukraine started on 24 February 2022. Since then, several thousand combatants from both sides and more than 500 Ukrainian civilians have died, bombs have ruined many cities, and more than two million Ukrainians, half of them children, left the country to become refugees. And the sweeping sanctions the West imposed on Russia in response not only...

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Rentier capitalism is profoundly risk-averse

The following article is based on my speech notes for a presentation to University College London’s Global Business School for Health on 22nd February 2022. The webinar was titled: Health Innovation through Capital and Private Equity Markets webinar. The question panellists were asked to address was this: “….whether capital and private equity markets are actually driving forward better and sustainable health innovation?” I argued that private capital and private equity markets – far from...

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Rentier capitalism is profoundly risk-averse

The following article is based on my speech notes for a presentation to University College London’s Global Business School for Health on 22nd February 2022. The webinar was titled: Health Innovation through Capital and Private Equity Markets webinar.The question panellists were asked to address was this: “….whether capital and private equity markets are actually driving forward better and sustainable health innovation?”I argued that private capital and private equity markets – far from...

Read More »

Rentier capitalism is profoundly risk-averse

The following article is based on my speech notes for a presentation to University College London’s Global Business School for Health on 22nd February 2022. The webinar was titled: Health Innovation through Capital and Private Equity Markets webinar.The question panellists were asked to address was this: “….whether capital and private equity markets are actually driving forward better and sustainable health innovation?”I argued that private capital and private equity markets – far from...

Read More »

Climate crisis, global debt, and the Fermi paradox – a proposal to the IMF

This article first appeared in the Indian journal Economic and Political Weekly on 13 November, 2021.Fermi ParadoxIn a recent article, Yıldızoğlu (2021) reminded us of the Fermi Paradox, which can be summarised as: Although the probability of the existence of other forms of life in the universe is sufficiently high, why have we not met any?Enrico Fermi, the Italian–American physicist and the creator of the world’s first nuclear reactor, was probably not the first person who asked: “but where...

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Climate crisis, global debt, and the Fermi paradox – a proposal to the IMF

This article first appeared in the Indian journal Economic and Political Weekly on 13 November, 2021.Fermi ParadoxIn a recent article, Yıldızoğlu (2021) reminded us of the Fermi Paradox, which can be summarised as: Although the probability of the existence of other forms of life in the universe is sufficiently high, why have we not met any?Enrico Fermi, the Italian–American physicist and the creator of the world’s first nuclear reactor, was probably not the first person who asked: “but where...

Read More »

Climate crisis, global debt, and the Fermi paradox – a proposal to the IMF

This article first appeared in the Indian journal Economic and Political Weekly on 13 November, 2021. Fermi Paradox In a recent article, Yıldızoğlu (2021) reminded us of the Fermi Paradox, which can be summarised as: Although the probability of the existence of other forms of life in the universe is sufficiently high, why have we not met any? Enrico Fermi, the Italian–American physicist and the creator of the world’s first nuclear reactor, was probably not the first person who asked: “but...

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