A guaranteed way to bait someone into a contentious discussion in Nairobi is to ask for their opinion on the value of China’s activities in Africa and how the massive investment in infrastructure and buildings has and will contribute to the development of the continent. Most are quick to dismiss Read more…
Something strange is happening in the United States. Parallel sets of reality exist, disconnected from one another in the discourse over issues like taxes, the tea party, and the debt ceiling. In one reality, there is a very loud and public debate over the growing size of government and the Read more…
The official definition of a famine: More than 30% of children must be suffering from acute malnutrition Two adults or four children must be dying of hunger each day for every group of 10,000 people The population must have access to far below 2,100 kilocalories of food per day This Read more…
The chart above is a bit complicated, but remarkably interesting. For a good explanation, read Felix Salmon. For a below-average explanation of questionable veracity, keep reading. This chart displays the ratio of two ratios. The numerator is the P/E (price to earnings) ratio of all the companies on a major Read more…
Chances are you have never heard of the company Huawei. Founded in 1988, this somewhat secretive Chinese company has become the fourth largest telecoms equipment and service company in the world, just a few billion in revenue behind Nokia. Huawei, with Chinese handset manufacturer ZTE, have prime access to Read more…
The following is a guest post by Joseph Cox, an MA candidate at the Georgetown Public Policy Institute and managing editor of the The Inductive, a blog about U.S. economic and foreign policy. When polled, Americans always cite foreign aid as the budget item most in need of a good Read more…
Casey Anthony, the young mother accused of killing her two year-old daughter Caylee, was found not guilty of first-degree murder. The world, it seems, is very angry that a young girl has been denied justice. Unfortunately, the reaction will be similar to other injustices involving children or sex (in the Read more…
I watched the film “Blood Diamond” for the first time the other day. For those who have not seen it, the movie is graphic, placing the horror of armed conflict in Africa on full display. The director does not seem to pull any punches in terms of violence, choosing to Read more…
The following is a guest post by Gemma North, an associate with Saving for Change, a community finance program run by Oxfam America. ?In 2009, I worked for a microfinance institution called CREDIT in Cambodia. On a field visit, I met a borrower who sold clothing and knick knacks to Read more…
