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Category Archives: Politics
The dustup between Paul Paul Kéré and Rémi Dandjinou over the Burkinabè army’s preparedness
Totally relevant for those who call for former President Compaoré’s return to “help” deal with the insurgency. From the comments section: Cher Maître,Vous n’allez pas vous faire oublier un peu?Qu’est ce que le ministre a dit qui ne soit pas … 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
Posted in Burkina Faso, Politics, Sahel
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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
Posted in Burkina Faso, Politics, Sahel
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Excellent summary of Ansaroul Islam and terrorism problem in Burkina Faso
Ansaroul Islam has carried out at least 78 attacks in northern Burkina Faso since December 2016, according to a dataset compiled from open-sources by the authors, which provides a picture of the group’s TTPs. The group’s primary targets are civilians … Continue reading
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My brother Tim Kevane’s law article on… something called the Viking Pump decision
I have little idea of the technicalities here, but I thought that any paragraph starting with “bitter irony” should be highlighted. The bitter irony of the noncumulation provision is that an insured will now be able to designate the tower … Continue reading
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Emotional arcs of storytelling: Confirmation that some stories are like others
Today, that changes thanks to the work of Andrew Reagan at the Computational Story Lab at the University of Vermont in Burlington and a few pals. These guys have used sentiment analysis to map the emotional arcs of over 1,700 … Continue reading
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57 years ago today, Canto 1 of John Shade’s Pale Fire completed
The poem always gives me the shivers. Especially the stanza I had to learn by heart for Mrs. Kramer’s third grade class in English language arts. We had to stand in front of the class. Yes, she was an odd … Continue reading
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Humans, on Amazon Prime, is the smartest science fiction series in a long time
I strongly recommend Humans. Imagine Never Let Me Go made as a TV series. The synths are complex, their interactions amongst themselves and with humans are complex, the human families are complex. This is not one of those ridiculous sci-fi … Continue reading
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Super interesting story about peer review at the AER, from George Borjas
And this is where things begin to get interesting. Over a month ago, an anonymous post appeared at Economics Job Market Rumors (EJMR), a popular internet forum frequented (I am guessing) by many young economists. This post noted that Family … Continue reading
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Puerto Rico debt situation will be very politically charged
They shouted angrily about “colonialism” and called for a Prexit, or Puerto Rican exit, from the United States. They denounced the “junta” — or federal control board — that will soon direct this island’s failing governance and finances. Late Thursday … Continue reading
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Brexit in standard macroeconomics model
Since I am teaching MBA macroeconomics this summer, here is Brexit in the standard AD-AS model. It ignores the zero lower bound, which complicates things, and also assumes that the short run negative effects we have seen this week persist. … Continue reading
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Jack Rasmus and Alex Field tussle over our current systemic fragility
In the European Economic Review. Jack and Alex are going to have to use polite words to work out their differences. I am not a macroeconomist, so I am not going to spend too much time figuring out for myself … Continue reading
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Local agricultural techniques are not always best, evidence from Burkina Faso
It’s nice to see a randomized trial of three different techniques for planting tree seedlings. The locally developed Zaï technique did not fare well. A similar study is available here. Time for farmers to change? In the Sahel of Africa, … Continue reading
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The funny thing is there seems to be more talk in Burkinabè media about Zida’s malfeasance than Compaoré’s!
Que risque le général Zida ? Il risque deux choses, du point de vue redévabilité de la comptabilité publique il risque d’être poursuivi mise en accusation comme le demande il n’y a longtemps les citoyens. Je pense que si le … Continue reading
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Short documentary on life in Burkina Faso, gold mining and youth and poverty
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Gold keeps on rolling in… Burkina Faso
West African Resources issued a press release saying they had found gold at 175m… their share price quadrupled… from .05 to .20…. wish I were an expert in gold mining press releases and knew what to make of it.
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Immigrants and unemployment in the United States
Interesting question in the first day of macro. Maybe a Trump-effect? First off, immigrants who are legally permitted to work are eligible for unemployment insurance. Second, the Bureau of Labor Statistics does report unemployment numbers for the total population regardless … Continue reading
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Q, by Luther Blissett
Luther Blissett is an Italian quartet who co-wrote Q in 1999. I saw a reference somewhere when doing some background reading on Ada Palmer’s Too Like the Lightning. Maybe an interview with here somewhere, like this one. Anyway, Q is … Continue reading
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IMF reviews Burkina Faso and approves US$26.2 Million Disbursement
Following the Executive Board’s discussion today, Mr. Min Zhu, Deputy Managing Director and Acting Chair issued the following statement: “Despite challenging internal and external circumstances, Burkina Faso’s performance under the Fund-supported program has remained satisfactory. Although the terrorist attacks posed … Continue reading
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Supreme Court passes the ball to Congress on bankruptcy
Last week the Supreme Court insulted Puerto Rico by saying its people aren’t sovereign. This week the court added injury to the insult, denying Puerto Rico access to federal bankruptcy laws that would have created a path to recovery for … Continue reading
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