Friends of African Village Libraries (I post regularly here)- Daytime session at Sherigu Community Library
- La deuxième journée des activités de café littéraire à la bibliothèque de Boni
- Échanges avec la nouvelle gérante de la bibliothèque de Koho
- Reprise des activités de la bibliothèque mobile Pénélope
- Sortie de la Bibliothèque Mobile Pénélope à l’école Sainte Thérèse
- Bonne nouvelle pour les amoureux de la lecture à Niankorodougou
- Bibliothèque communautaire de Zimtenga ! Les livres attendent patiemment le retour des communautés
- Bilan des activités du mois d’août de la bibliothèque de Bougounam
- Bilan des premières journées du café littéraire
- Nyariga community library, daytime activities
Author Archives: mkevane
Five Chinese to be tried for illegal mining in Ghana
It emerged during the court proceedings that the A-G had filed an affidavit in opposition to the bail application. It pleaded with the court not to grant bail because the activities of the five Chinese contravened the Minerals and Mining … Continue reading
Posted in Development thinking, Economy
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Estimates of Missing Women in Twentieth Century China
The sex ratio at birth in China began to deviate from the normal range in the early 1980s, and has continued to rise during the past three decades. Though some optimistic research studies assert that the sex ratio at birth … Continue reading
Posted in Development thinking, Gender
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The Sex Ratio at Birth for 5,338,853 Deliveries in China from 2012 to 2015: A Facility-Based Study
Seems like exactly the kind of study needed to confirm that the sex ratio is and has been skewed, and the issue was not just an underreporting problem as argued by Shi and Kennedy. There were 2,785,513 boys and 2,549,269 … Continue reading
Posted in Development thinking, Gender
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Daily dose of Akerlof: The rat race
Somehow he succinctly describes the key insight in one page. Here is the full paper at jstor. I vainly searched the web for “Akerlof rat race intuition” and of course there was nothing better, because why bother? The article marked … Continue reading
Posted in Development thinking, United States
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Nice description of textile factory problems in Uganda, from The Economist
Uganda’s main advantages, for the moment, are cheap cotton and labour, and preferential access to American and European markets. When exporting to the rich world “Africa has an 18-35% duty advantage over any other continent”, says Nick Earlham, a shareholder … Continue reading
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Bill Sundstrom three years ahead of me on BIG
But there are virtues to being a late-comer. One does not have to write as much. From 2014: Having acknowledged all these drawbacks of the BIG idea, I still can’t help thinking it deserves a bigger place in our political … Continue reading
Posted in Development thinking, United States
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The American Health Care Act “scoring” by the Congressional Budget Office… the old one…
The relevant quote: CBO and JCT estimate that, in 2018, 14 million more people would be uninsured under the legislation than under current law. The increase in the number of uninsured people relative to the number under current law would … Continue reading
Posted in United States
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Was Clifford Geertz culpably negligent in misunderstanding the mass killings of Indonesian communists in 1965?
Powerful “history of anthropology” from Ben White. In the same year Geertz wrote a chilling footnote, almost an aside, in the landmark ‘cockfight’ article on Bali, where the killing had been relatively more severe than in any other region: “That … Continue reading
Posted in Development thinking
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Wisdom from Martin Ravallion about universal basic income guarantee
Well-worth reading. This discussion should be receiving more attention in the United States. Whether we see universal BIGs in future or not, the current policy debates will hopefully lead us to be less reliant on finely targeted social policies that … Continue reading
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Puerto Rico Declares a Form of Bankruptcy
I am sure President Trump with his extensive experience with bankruptcy, and his many friends owning island property, will be deeply involved in the negotiations and eventual resolution. From NYT. The governor of Puerto Rico, Ricardo Rosselló, said he would … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching international trade, Teaching macroeconomics, United States
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Notes on the op-ed “Everything We Knew About Sweatshops Was Wrong”
In a class I am teaching, we were reading Diane Wolf’s Factory Daughters, and so much about the op-ed by Chris Blattman and Stefan Dercon “Everything We Knew About Sweatshops Was Wrong” seemed to echo what Wolf had to say … Continue reading
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“Deaf and Blind” by Lara Vapnyar
“Deaf and Blind” by Lara Vapnyar, short story in April 24, 2017 The New Yorker. As usual, the blog Mookse and the Gripes has great comments with reader reactions to the story. I found it very readable though a little … Continue reading
Posted in Book and film reviews
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Harsh but a little strange, the words of Zéphirin Diabré leader of opposition in Burkina Faso
Good reporting by Burkina24. Et même si, dit-il, ils ne sont « pas d’accord sur tout », parce qu’ils ne sont « même pas obligés d’être d’accord sur tout », le CFOP affirme qu’il le sont sur un point. « … Continue reading
Posted in Burkina Faso
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Ethics of collecting $400,000 for a speech, random notes
The context is here. Reactions to detractors seem to be: “Hey Ruth Marcus, let me know how many $400K speaking gigs you pass up after doing the toughest job in the world for eight years.” “Seems to me only women … Continue reading
Posted in Development thinking, United States
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Colossal, with Anne Hathaway and Jason Sudekis. I totally recommend it.
Sukie, Leslie and I all liked it. There is nothing to say about it because you just have to go and enjoy it. Then afterwards you will have plenty to talk about!
Posted in Book and film reviews
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Great first paragraph in senior thesis on woman-seclusion in Hausa households
From a senior thesis by Jason Chumley, “Work, Agriculture and the Rise of Female House Seclusion in Post-Colonial Hausaland” (1997) See also, Katja Werthman, “Matan Bariki , ‘Women of the Barracks’ Muslim Hausa Women in an Urban Neighbourhood in Northern … Continue reading
Posted in Development thinking, Gender
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What is Trump administration proposing to do about NAFTA, actually?
In the end these seem like fairly narrow issues to negotiate, and the other parties presumably have some aspects of the agreement that they also would like to change. In a draft letter circulated among members of Congress this week, … Continue reading
Posted in Teaching international trade
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Retaliatory tariffs on Canadian lumber? Even Cato Institute thought it was a bad idea
Protectionist trade barriers in the softwood lumber industry impose great costs on businesses and consumers here in the United States in order to enrich a few lumber producers. To put employment figures in perspective, it is noteworthy that workers in … Continue reading
Posted in Burkina Faso, Teaching international trade
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Ted Chiang’s “Liking What You See: A Documentary” Perfect speculative fiction for a philosophy class!
I could not agree more with Tinkoo Valia’s very positive appreciation. Great speculative fiction (in the form of a non-fiction reportage). Ted Chiang’s “Liking What You See: A Documentary” (novella, thought experiment): What if we could switch off perception of … Continue reading
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If you like anime, see Your Name while still in theaters
I went with my daughter to see Your Name a couple weeks ago, and we both liked it. Somewhat flawed, and not close to Miyazaki-quality, but still plenty good.
Posted in Book and film reviews
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