In 1979, on the eve of China’s economic reforms, what is Shenzhen today was little more than a handful of rice farming and fishing villages. Today, Shenzhen is the wealthiest major city in Shenzhen in China with a GDP per capita three times the national average. Apple’s iPhone factory along employs 140,000 people in Shenzhen, … Continue reading "The Special Economic Zone That Didn’t Bark: The Mystery of Slow Economic Growth in Hainan"

On August 27th, 2018 President Donald Trump announced a bilateral trade agreement with Mexico that would mark a major alternation of NAFTA. Proposed changes include raising domestic content requirements from 62.5% to 75%, mandatory use of North American steel and aluminum, and 40-45% of labor paid wages of $16 an hour for all automobiles covered … Continue reading "NAFTA is Dead, Long Live NAFTA?"

President Donald Trump recently tweeted “South African Government is now seizing land from white farmers.” This is, like many of Donald Trump’s previous statement, economical with the truth. This is a rerelease my podcast episode on the backstory of Robert Mugabe’s disastrous land seizures of white farmers, and an introduction on why recent steps towards uncompensated … Continue reading "No, South Africa is Not About to Descend into Race War"

Zheng He, the great Chinese admiral, embarked on a series of voyages or  exploration and trade in the early 15th century that extended from Surabaya, Indonesia to Malindi, Kenya. Zheng He stopped in what is today Sri Lanka an all seven of his voyages due it’s strategic location in the Indian ocean. The voyages were … Continue reading "A Chinese White Elephant Reserve in Sri Lanka?"

On August 13th, 2018 President Donald Trump signed the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018. FIRRMA aims to expand the powers of CFIUS, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, an inter-agency council that has the power to block foreign investment to the US that is seen against American industries. FIRRMA expands … Continue reading "Putting National Security on FIRRMA ground?"

Slumdog Millionare, the hit 2006 movie, tells the story of Jamal Malik, a boy who grew up in the Mumbai slum of Dharavi. Dharavi has long captured the imagination of the world.  However, a lot of the media portrayals focus on the extreme poverty of Dharavi, without providing a greater context for India’s slums. Today’s … Continue reading "The Real Slumdog Millionaires: Gangsters, Bureaucrats, Entrepreneurs and the Making of Dharavi"

On July 29th 2018, Hun Sen and his Cambodian People’s Party one an overwhelming victory in the 2018 general elections. Hun Sen will be the continue his 33 year rule of Cambodia for the foreseeable future. Hun Sen’s election was not especially interesting. Hun Sen has successfully hobbled the opposition through suppression of the free … Continue reading "Hun Sen, Commander in Thief of Cambodia"

On April 14th 2014, 276 girls were kidnapped from a government secondary school in the town of Chibok in northeastern Nigeria. The abduction focused global attention on the Boko Haram crisis in northeastern Nigeria, but the crisis had been festering for a long time. The current crisis was sparked by the assassination of Mohammed Yusuf, … Continue reading "Northern Nigeria’s Insurgency Factory: How a Century of Neglect and Corruption Created Boko Haram"

On July 8th 2018, Abiy Ahmed and Isaias Afwerki, the leaders of Ethiopia and Eritrea pledged to end decades of hostility and conflict. The two leaders shared hugs and laughter, hopefully marking a deeper thaw between the two nations. Today’s introductory episode is going to take deeper look into the complex relationship between Ethiopia and … Continue reading "Can Eritrea and Ethiopia Hug It Out?"

Few countries in the world suffer from inequalities as massive as Brazil.  The brutal poverty of the favelas on the hills overlooking Rio De Janeiro is a stark contrast to the wealthy neighborhoods in the center of the city.  The average member of Brazil’s 1% earns 36 times as much as the median worker (The … Continue reading "Mo Inequality, Mo Problems in Maranhão"