Michael Kevane

Disappointing, overrated, just not good: What book did you feel you were supposed to like, and didn’t? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?

“The Marriage Plot,” by Jeff Eugenides, and “The Stranger’s Child,” by Alan Hollinghurst. I’d heard Jeff Eugenides on NPR and immediately wanted to read his novel. I adored the first two Hollinghursts. But I found both of these novels somewhat cold and inanimate. That said, there are so many books that I wasn’t able to appreciate until I’d made two or three tries — “Middlemarch,” for example, or “Swann’s Way” — and these may fall into that category. Reading is so contextual, like wine.

via Sylvia Nasar – By the Book – NYTimes.com.

But these companies need no introduction to the continent, which is home to 7 of the world’s 10 fastest growing economies. They are already here. Earlier this year, Walmart finalized a deal worth more than $2 billion to acquire 51 percent of South Africa’s leading retailer, MassMart. G.E. has signed a deal with the Nigerian government to work together on infrastructure and power projects. Six hundred American companies have invested in South Africa alone.Mrs. Clinton’s trip, expected to stretch over the better part of two weeks and nine countries, reflects the shifting image of the continent and the deepening political, economic and security stakes at play here. There was a time in the not-too-distant past when a trip to Africa by a senior United States official would focus largely on humanitarian aid and development assistance to hopelessly poor, war-torn nations.No more. These days, the continent is widely seen as the next frontier for economic growth. Politically, African votes are sometimes crucial in the United Nations, particularly South Africa’s. On the security front, alliances with African governments to fight terrorism and piracy are very important to the United States.

via U.S. Seeks to Step Up Africa Investment – NYTimes.com.

When is tenure not tenure?  The answer according to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals is that the grant of tenure is defined by the terms of the employment contract rather than a philosophical understanding of tenure.  The Cooley law school dismissed tenured Professor Lynn Branham at the end of her one year contract in December of 2006.  There had been disputes over the subjects of the classes assigned to Professor Branham in that period.  The school wanted her to teach constitutional law and torts, though her vocal preference was to teach criminal law.  She did teach those classes in the spring semester and took a medical leave over the summer.  She was again assigned those classes in fall but refused to teach them.  The school dismissed her in December of that year.

She sued Cooley on various counts, most of which were dismissed by the District Court.  The one claim in which she prevailed was breach of contract.  The school had not followed its contractual process that called for a hearing before the full faculty with the possibility of an appeal to the school’s Board of Directors in case of an adverse decision.  The District Court ordered the hearing to be held.  Professor Branham lost by a vote of 89-15 and the Board upheld the dismissal.

The opinion describes the relevant issue at hand:

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First, contrary to Diamond’s claim, there is nothing that contradicts tropical medicine and agricultural science in claiming that these are not major factors shaping differences in national prosperity. That these geographic factors cannot by themselves account for prosperity is illustrated by an empirical pattern we discuss—the “reversal of fortune.” Among the countries colonized by Europeans, those that were more prosperous before colonization ended up as relatively less prosperous today. This is prima facie evidence that, at least in the sample that makes up almost half of the countries in the world, geographic factors cannot account—while institutional ones can—for differences in prosperity as these factors haven’t changed, while fortunes have. Academic research also shows that once the effect of institutions is properly controlled for, there is no evidence that geographic factors have a significant impact on prosperity today.Similarly, major improvements in health technology starting in the 1940s have made significant headway against diseases and have led to unparalleled increases in life expectancy in many parts of the world. But they have not led to faster growth in these areas over the last sixty years in contrast to what would have been expected if the disease burden were a crucial determinant of prosperity.

via ‘Why Nations Fail’ by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson | The New York Review of Books.

Van Der Merwe is what’s become known around the world as a “microbrewer” – a rarity in Africa, where the beer industry is dominated by immense corporations that mass-produce the continent’s most popular alcoholic beverage. He’s at the vanguard of what he hopes in the future will result in increasing numbers of Africans turning away from “bland factory beer” and towards “microbrews,” made with “absolutely no enhancers or unnatural additives being used anywhere in the brewing process.”

Van Der Merwe, however, acknowledges that his quest may remain unfulfilled.

“Brewing beers on such a small scale is virtually unknown in Africa. Africans remain very loyal to the commercial, mass-produced beers and many aren’t willing to experiment with others.

via Zimbabwean Makes Beer at One of Africa’s Few Microbreweries.

Gonja Meat Company is a vertically integrated agribusiness engaged in the slaughter, processing and sale of fresh hygienic meat. The existing practices in Ghana’s meat industry hardly meet food safety standards. Gonja seeks to produce high quality and affordable meats using locally raised livestock, processed in the company’s abattoir and sold through its own sanitary outlet stores. Its offerings will include fresh cut poultry and meat as well as packaged, kitchen-ready products including hamburger patties, sausages, corned beef, roast beef, ham, bacon, kilishi and smoked meat. Gonja owns a full value chain from abattoir located in Kumasi, Ghana, processing plant and retail outlets. The integration model gives the company absolute control of quality, eliminates costly middlemen and offers savings to customers. Gonja will buy livestock from local farmers and add value to the economy. The slaughterhouse opened in 2004 to provide the local butchers with a modern abattoir that conformed to international food safety standards. Gonja had no control of the meat once it left for the market. The butchers continued to disregard sanitation. Gonja changed its model by building a processing plant with outlet store so we could control the whole supply chain.

via African Diaspora Marketplace Awardees | African Diaspora Marketplace.