By Peter S. Wenz. The solution to reducing unemployment? Inefficiency; according to philosophy professor Wenz’s (Take Back the Center) bold manifesto, which poses seemingly paradoxical solutions to America’s economic ills. While labor inefficiency would appear to doom the U.S. economy by making American workers even more expensive than they already are, Wenz points out that European countries have strong labor unions and reduced work weeks, and they still enjoy favorable trade balances. True, the European approach requires more socialistic practices than American voters would likely support: government-provided daycare, medical care, and leisure, paid for by significantly higher taxes. But Wenz…
Author: CASADE
Joseph E. Stiglitz. Reviewed by Professor Thomas B. Edsall. Joseph E. Stiglitz’s new book, “The Price of Inequality,” is the single most comprehensive counterargument to both Democratic neoliberalism and Republican laissez-faire theories. While credible economists running the gamut from center right to center left describe our bleak present as the result of seemingly unstoppable developments — globalization and automation, a self-replicating establishment built on “meritocratic” competition, the debt-driven collapse of 2008 — Stiglitz stands apart in his defiant rejection of such notions of inevitability. He seeks to shift the terms of the debate. It is not uncontrollable technological and social…
Kiertisak Toh and Prahlad Kasturi. Many fragile states experienced conflict and its adverse impact on poverty and development at the end of the Cold War in the late 1980s. The conflict-trap on development and global security concern spawned empirical research on how policies should be distinctive in the conflict-affected and post-conflict recovery to avoid the recurrence of conflicts. The literature on aid effectiveness in fragile states is relatively limited in comparison to a much larger body of literature on aid effectiveness for all aid recipients. In this paper, we apply cluster analysis and robust regression to a set of OECD-DAC-designated…
John O. Ifediora. In natural resource-dependent economies the prevalent and common understanding is that the principal natural resource that sustains the economy is endowed by nature to the citizens, and thus collectively owned. Its development, exploitation and maintenance are always and everywhere entrusted to the central government whose primary duty is the efficient governance of the affairs of the citizenry, and the assets held in trust on their behalf. It is in this sense that governments are entrusted with the husbandry of natural resources that sustain the nation, and judiciously apply revenues derived from such resources to human and…
John O. Ifediora. The current state of affairs in Nigeria would perplex and disturb any observer with the mildest of interest in the country. But for the millions of inhabitants who live the daily experiences of the havoc wrecked on the economy, the seemingly intransigent problems take on existential dimensions. Begin with the obvious….a worsening adult unemployment rate, a free-falling purchasing power of the currency, made more burdensome by rising prices for almost all consumer goods and services, declining quality of healthcare services, and continuous depreciation in quality and kind of available social services. The paucity of electricity is a…
Elliot Kraft. The African Union (AU) plan to launch an All-Africa passport for citizens of the continent’s 54 member states, the benefits and risks of which are riddled with complexity for foreign investors. In the wake of Brexit, African countries party to the AU are moving in the opposite direction. The all-Africa e-passport, designed to transcend visa restrictions on the continent and encourage a freer movement of people, goods, capital, and services, will be launched at the 27th AU Summit in Kigali, Rwanda (10th – 18th July). Initially, the privilege will only be extended to particular government officials and heads…
By Mike Smith. Book Review. Boko Haram’s pledge of allegiance to Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has seized attention for an insurgency that has killed thousands and threatens the security of Nigeria’s northeastern neighbours. But, as Boko Haram: Inside Nigeria’s Unholy War makes clear, the Islamist group’s caliphate also mirrors the existential troubles gripping Africa’s most populous country as it stands on the brink of its most open elections for almost two generations. The March 28 presidential and parliamentary polls were postponed from February 14 to give a new multinational military force time to drive Boko Haram from…
In a speech entitled, “Nigeria’s electricity challenges, a road map for change,” The Minister of Power, Works, and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, provides a bold assessment of the state of electricity generation, transmission, and distribution in Nigeria. While the picture he paints of the industry is ugly, he does so with dispassionate accuracy that gives the audience a good understanding of what plagues one of the most important sectors of any economy. His speech in its entirety: Ladies and Gentleman, When I assumed office as minister, maybe I should have done some of the more traditional things. To tell you that…
Samuel Ramani. University of Oxford. On April 3, 2016, the Panama Papers release revealed that Nigeria’s Senate President Bukola Saraki, ex-Senate President David Mark and other notable former cabinet members, had funneled assets to offshore tax havens. This revelation was the latest in a string of embarrassing setbacks for the anti-corruption campaign launched by Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari after his election victory last March. On April 9, Nigerian anti-corruption NGO CACOL (Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders), condemned Buhari’s silence on the Panama Papers. These criticisms once again fuelled speculation that Buhari’s strident anti-corruption rhetoric is merely a cynical ploy to weaken…
Oluwakemi Okenyodo. As in much of Africa, the vast majority of security threats facing Nigeria are internal, often involving irregular forces such as insurgents, criminal gangs, and violent religious extremists. Effectively combating such threats requires cooperation from local communities limited by low levels of trust in security forces who often have reputations for corruption, heavy-handedness, and politicization. Tackling modern security threats, then, is directly tied with improving the governance and oversight of the security sector, especially the police. Key paths forward include clarifying the structure of command and oversight, strengthening merit-based hiring and promotion processes, and better regulation of private…