Author Archives: mkevane

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About mkevane

Economist at Santa Clara University and Director of Friends of African Village Libraries.

Readings on immigration issues in the United States

A good The New Yorker introduction to very recent (October 2018) policy issue of naturalization of permanent residents (green card holders). Hanson, Liu and McIntosh on immigration to the US by low-skilled young workers. Abstract: From the 1970s to the … Continue reading

Posted in Burkina Faso, United States | Comments Off on Readings on immigration issues in the United States

Trying to fix my old turntable in basement I turned into a voyeur

Posted in Personal Kevane life | Comments Off on Trying to fix my old turntable in basement I turned into a voyeur

Don’t watch the Sean Penn Hulu space show

Unless you really enjoy conventional, comfortable story telling. I have lot of sympathy for Sean Penn since he was visiting a relative on the same floor of hospital in LA where my mother was for a time. But I can’t … Continue reading

Posted in Book and film reviews | Comments Off on Don’t watch the Sean Penn Hulu space show

I think I may be done with Iain Banks: Against a Dark Background

I finished Against a Dark Background earlier this week. A basic adventure space opera with a sympathetic android and a fairly obvious bad guy who is slowly revealed.  It moves quickly and occasionally the settings are interesting but quite often … Continue reading

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Legacy of slavery in the United States: a few readings and perspectives

Heather O’Connell and Robert Reece find sizable correlation of extent of slavery with public school enrollment and attendance in the present (see summary here): Drawing from our regression analysis, we argue that slavery history shaped the local social structure in … Continue reading

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Sexual harassment in factories in Indonesia: extraordinary short documentary

Posted in Gender | Comments Off on Sexual harassment in factories in Indonesia: extraordinary short documentary

Tariffs and trade wars, some comments

We are having an informal Civil Society Institute discussion on the tariffs and trade war issue this week, so I  thought I would do a little round-up. My friend Tom Prusa summarizes some of the basics for a New Jersey … Continue reading

Posted in Teaching international trade, Teaching macroeconomics | Comments Off on Tariffs and trade wars, some comments

Photo of readers in Sheigu library in Upper East, #Ghana

Posted in Reading | Comments Off on Photo of readers in Sheigu library in Upper East, #Ghana

Some recent news on the American economy

The Census Bureau a couple of weeks ago released an update on the U.S. economy for 2017. The headline was that real median household income had increased by 2.6 percent, and was about $61,000, and the poverty rate was 12.3%. … Continue reading

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Good interview regarding recent dozo- koglwéogo confrontation in Karangasso-Vigué in #Burkina Faso

Le 12 septembre dernier, des affrontements ont éclaté à Karangasso-Vigué, causant la mort du fils aîné du chef de canton et de deux koglwéogo. Dites-nous ce qui a bien pu conduire à un tel drame.Yacouba Drabo (Y.D.) : Avant d’entrer … Continue reading

Posted in Burkina Faso | Comments Off on Good interview regarding recent dozo- koglwéogo confrontation in Karangasso-Vigué in #Burkina Faso

Loyola University New Orleans student newspaper article on Jesuit presidents

Despite the shift in lay presidents, Dziak said that the men and women taking over these leadership positions were not chosen on a whim. They are qualified to represent these schools and that there is no lack of qualification or … Continue reading

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Excellent articles on Peulh (Fulani) mobilization in central Mali

These are in a book Biographies de la Radicalisation: Des messages cachés du changement social edited by Mirjam de Bruijn that just came out in 2018. (Gated on project Muse, here.) The first is by Modibo Galy Cissé and traces … Continue reading

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Opposition march in #Burkina Faso set for September 29

The leader of the political opposition in Burkina Faso, Zéphérin Diabré, has called for a march of protest on 29 September against what the opposition characterizes as the failed policies of the presidency of Roch Marc Christian Kaboré, at the … Continue reading

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Good background on Katiba Macina, Fulani rebel group in central Mali

A nice summary by Manon Elissa Murray, nothing new but clearly written and organised, if the English grammar leaves a little bit to be desired.  The full text is here. The purpose of Katiba Macina was originally the restoration of … Continue reading

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Reading and French movies on trip to Burkina Faso

On the Air France flight I enjoyed (the standard on a 10 hour flight is low, but they were all better than Deadpool 2) several films (that incidentally I has never heard of): Les derniers Parisiens: A low-budget film about … Continue reading

Posted in Book and film reviews | Comments Off on Reading and French movies on trip to Burkina Faso

American Gods by Neil Gaiman

Read this on the flight to Burkina Faso and then over a few days. Entertaining and occasionally compelling but the writing was just not edited enough to really shine. I appreciated the central idea, but the execution left me unsatisfied. … Continue reading

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Why Steve Bannon is an incoherent blowhard who The New Yorker should disinvite

I’m in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso,doing good things hopefully, talking with interesting people, learning about how our programs to support village libraries are going, and this Steve Bannon-The New Yorker thing comes up and I’m sooooooo disappointed. And pissed. Why? Because … Continue reading

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Never forget this is how people died: Mrs. Fanny Longfellow in 1861

From the New York Times July 12, 1861 A sad accident,which proved fatal yesterday forenoon, befel Mrs. FANNY LONGFELLOW, wife of Prof. HENRY W. LONGFELLOW, at their residence in Cambridge, on Tuesday afternoon. While seated at her library table, making … Continue reading

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Sad television on situation in Arua, Uganda

No charges, tortured and beaten, and possibly disappeared. Justice in its most elementary form. Listen the the lawyers at about 22:00.

Posted in Development thinking | Comments Off on Sad television on situation in Arua, Uganda

Key leader in the Burkina Faso tri-border area interviewed about… how to spend lots of money!

Great interview with Le Pays. L’Emir du Liptako est l’autorité coutumière suprême dans la province du Seno. Sa Majesté a bien voulu nous accorder une interview à travers laquelle il nous fait remonter dans l’histoire de l’Emirat du Liptako. Vu … Continue reading

Posted in Burkina Faso | Comments Off on Key leader in the Burkina Faso tri-border area interviewed about… how to spend lots of money!