The Democratic Republic of the Congo is currently in the midst of an Ebola outbreak that has cost the lives of 191 individuals. Although a vaccine for Ebola has finally been developed, constant warfare makes it all but impossible to distribute treatment. The recent history of the DRC has been marked by brutal series of … Continue reading "King Copper’s Ghost: The Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Natural Resource Curse"

On Tuesday November 6th, the United States will be holding elections for Congress and a host of state level positions. As the world’s most important economic powerhouse, the actions of the United States government play an outsized role on the economies of the developing world. The current Trump administration has for some time been playing … Continue reading "Globalization Rules, Republicans Drool: Why I am Voting for Democrats in the 2018 Elections"

On November 3rd, 2017 Apple announced the iPhone X, the most expensive in its line of iPhones, with a price tag of $999.  The high cost of the iPhone is in stark contrast to the low wages paid to the millions of workers toiling away in factories in China where the starting pay for an … Continue reading "Race to the Bottom or Race to Prosperity: How the iPhone is Transforming the Global Economy"

On October 28th, 2018 Brazil will vote in the second round of the presidential election. The election pits far-right Jair Bolsonaro against Fernando Haddad of the left wing Worker’s Party. Bolsonaro won 46% to 29% of Haddad in the first round of the elections and most polls have Bolsonaro winning the presidential election with a … Continue reading "What Does Jair Bolsonaro Mean For Brazil?"

Every year hundreds of thousands of Americans spend $41 billion on diamonds. Few purchasers of these diamonds know that nine of out of ten of all diamonds are cut and polished in India, and the obscure city of Surat at the heart of this industry. Surat and the surrounding region employs millions of diamond workers, … Continue reading "Pressure Creates Diamonds, Globalization Creates Industrial Clusters: How Surat Conquered the Diamond World"

On October 4th 2018, Bloomberg Businessweek released a bombshell story on large scale industrial espionage committed by the Chinese security services that has impacted Amazon, Apple and 30 other major corporations. The company at the center of this espionage is SuperMicro, a San Jose based contract electronics manufacturer. SuperMicro is a leading producer of motherboards, … Continue reading "Manchurian Motherboards: Could Chinese Industrial Espionage Could Backfire on Everybody?"

Brazilian politics over the last few years have been a roller coaster ride. Former president Dilma Roesseuff was impeached from office, once beloved president Lula is imprisoned for illegally accepting an apartment from a powerful construction company, and the current Brazilian president the least popular president in the Americas. Operation Car Wash, a major anti-corruption … Continue reading "How Petrobras Built the Worlds Most Expensive Bribe Refinery"

On September 23rd 2018, the final segment of the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou Express link was finally opened to the public after 8 years of construction. The express link will reduce the time of travel between Hong Kong from approximately one hours, to just 14 minutes. The bridge, or more accurately series of bridges and artificial islands, … Continue reading "The Hong Kong-Shenzhen Express Link: Engineering Marvel or Bridge Over Troubled Water?"

Drive through rural Indiana or Iowa, one will pass row after row of soy and corn. The farmers of the American midwest practice some of the most technologically sophisticated agriculture in the world. American agriculture is fully mechanized, makes heavy use agriculture inputs such as fertilizers and pesticides, and reliant upon mono-cropping highly lucrative crops … Continue reading "The Sun Never Sets on Bad Agricultural Policies: How Colonial Administrators, Socialist Bureaucrats, and Multinational Corporations Failed at Farming in Tanzania"

In August of 2018, the fall armyworm (spodoptera frugiperda) for the first time was discovered in India, infesting maize in the Indian state of Karnataka.  It is fall armyworm’s first strike in South Asia. The fall armyworm is is a species of moth endemic to the Americas, and has long been a scourge to farmers.  … Continue reading "Around the World in 60 Crop Failures: The Fall Armyworm Reaches India"