On May 30th 2019, President Donald Trump announced a new series of tariffs on products coming from Mexico as a response to the Central American Migration crisis. Unless Mexico substantially reduces flows of migrants, Mexico will face a 5% tariff on June 10th, a 10% tariff on July 1st, a 15% tariff on August 1st, … Continue reading "Trump’s Latest Trade Tantrum: What Do Tariffs Threats Mean for US-Mexico Relations"

Coal in the United States is a dying industry. Coal mines in West Virginia and Wyoming have long been closing their doors, and total coal consumption in 2018 is close to half of what it was a decade ago. It is likely the coal power plants will struggle to survive without subsidies. However, it would … Continue reading "Zombie State Owned Enterprises, Vampiric Corporations, and a Fossil Fuel That Refuses to Die: Why India’s Reliance on Coal is Bad For India and the World"

India, the world’s largest democracy held general elections to the Lok Sabha between April 11th and May 19th. The marathon seven stage process is finally completed, and on May 23rd 2019 results were announced. Narendra Modi and the BJP have won a spectacular victory, and will like win 303 seats out of a total 543 … Continue reading "Permanent Modi-fication: What Does the BJP’s Massive Victory Mean for the Political Economy of India?"

Sub-Saharan Africa has long been a byword for extreme poverty. Common images of Sub-Saharan Africa involve famine and civil conflict, and economists have consistently found extremely poor growth results even after taking all other results into account. The phenomenal growth that has transformed much of Asia for a long time seemed to have been passing … Continue reading "It Turns Out Millennials Aren’t Ruining Everything: How Avocado Toast, Wigs and Cashew are Transforming Africa’s Economy"

On May 3rd 2019, Cyclone Fani made landfall near Puri, Odisha. Cyclone Fani was a storm as intense as a category 4 hurricane, and unleashed winds with speeds up to 130 miles per hour, and a storm surge over 5 feet tall. The storm resulted in scores of homes being washed away, and massive crop … Continue reading "No Phony Storm: How Odisha Survived Cyclone Fani"

Between 2008 and 2018, China was the country most often mentioned in NYT headlines, and was the most commonly mentioned nation in ten of twelve months. China is in the news so frequently, in large part because of its spectacular economic rise, and the United States trade war against China in response. India’s has had … Continue reading "Rubbing Trade Partners the Wrong Way: How India’s Trade Frictions With the World Will Shape the International Trading Regime"

On April 17th 2019, Indonesia held general elections for the country’s presidency and legislature. The election pitted the incumbent Joko Widodo, better known as Jokowi against Prabowo Subianto. Jokowi, often compared to Barrack Obama, is the first democratically elected president of Indonesia from a non-elite background. His opponent, Prabowo Subianto, is a former senior official … Continue reading "Hope and Change or a Road to Nowhere: What do the 2019 Elections Mean For Indonesia?"

Between 2008 and 2018, China was the country most often mentioned in NYT headlines, and was the most commonly mentioned nation in ten of twelve months. China is in the news so frequently, in large part because of its spectacular economic rise, and the United States trade war against China in response. India’s has had … Continue reading "Rubbing Trade Partners the Wrong Way: How India’s Trade Frictions With the World Will Shape the International Trading Regime"

The Burj Al-Khalifah soars above almost a kilometer into the air, towering over the skyline of Dubai. The skyscraper is a testament to soaring ambitions of Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum and the elite that surrounds him. A century ago Dubai’s primary industry was pearl diving, and few outside of the region had heard … Continue reading "City of Golden Opportunities and Broken Dreams: How Dubai’s Midas Touch Is Transforming the World"

On April 11th 2019, India commenced general elections that will determine the composition of India’s parliament and it’s Prime Minister. The elections are a mammoth undertaking that will be carried out over a period of one month. India is the largest democracy in the world, with over 900 million eligible voters, 100 million polling stations, … Continue reading "900 Million Voters, 100 Million Polling Stations, 2,293 Political Parties, 8,000 Candidates and 39 Days of Organized Chaos"