In this week’s The Economist (April 1st), a letter published by Professor in Practice, Duncan Green, questions Walter Scheidel’s recent article (Apocalypse then: The lessons of violence and inequality through the ages) for the magazine that questions whether only catastrophe can truly reduce inequality.
Walter Scheidel is overly pessimistic in arguing that only catastrophic events really reduce inequality (“Apocalypse then”, March 4th). Using the […]
Kate Meagher, associate professor in LSE’s Department of International Development, demonstrates why poverty, not cultural values, is the key driver behind Nigeria’s demographic tsunami.
A recent article in the Financial Times on 13 October 2016 drew attention to the looming crisis of falling oil prices and rapid population growth in Nigeria. Under the dramatic headline Dividend or disaster, the article suggests […]
I heard econ rock star Thomas Piketty speak for the first time last week – hugely enjoyable. The occasion was the annual conference of the LSE’s new International Inequalities Institute, with Piketty headlining. He was brilliant: original and funny, riffing off traditional France v Britain tensions, and reeling off memorable one liners: ‘meritocracy is a myth invented by winners’; […]
In his latest article Dr Elliott Green looks at the role of “Precolonial Political Centralization and Contemporary Development in Uganda”. Below is a summary of the article, the full text can be found in the journal Economic Development and Cultural Change
The role of precolonial history on contemporary development has become an important field of study within development economics. In particular […]
In a post for From Poverty to Power, Oxfam inequality number cruncher Deborah Hardoon reviews The Economics of Poverty by Martin Ravallion.
It’s hard to think of a better placed individual than Martin Ravallion to have written this book. Not only has he spent over 30 years working on poverty, including 24 years at the World Bank, but in 1990 it […]
In a post originally published on the Africa at LSE blog PfAL scholar Duncan Njue explores how African countries can become bigger players in global trade.
Economists define globalisation as a process that involves the integration of economies – products and services; labour, capital and knowledge markets – across international boundaries. In the western world, more so in Europe, North America and in […]
Times are changing, and so too must charities. After 75 years in Oxford, Oxfam International will soon be relocating its headquarters to Nairobi, the charity’s executive director Winnie Byanyima announced last night. Addressing a sold-out Old Theatre, Ms Byanyima spoke about her experience growing up in Uganda and the problems that still beset the continent, before announcing that the […]
Reading the Economist cover to cover is an illicit pleasure – it may be irritatingly smug and right wing, especially on anything about economic policy, but its coverage on international issues consistently goes way beyond standard news outlets. This week’s edition had everything from the changing face of Indian marriage to the spread of pedestrian and cycling schemes around the […]
In Robert Wade’s latest letter to the Financial Times (published 20 August), he argues for broader capital ownership to curb inequality – a move he believes could appeal to the whole UK political spectrum. Sir, Chris Giles may be correct that the evidence linking higher income inequality to slower growth is not robust (“Inequality is unjust — it is not […]
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Is it time we challenge richness?
Is it time we challenge richness?
Jovan Johnson, MSc Development Management student, reflects on a recent Beveridge 2.0 public lecture: The Challenge of Richness? Rethinking the Giant of Poverty, and questions whether it’s time we debate wealth and the concept of being rich.
Could we, at some point, witness the remarkable event of the world’s rich lining streets in protests on ‘why they are being targeted’? They probably […]