On July 1st 2018, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, better known as AMLO won, a landslide victory in the Mexican presidential election. AMLO one 53% of the vote in the presidential election, and a majority in both the Chamber of Deputies and Senate and marks the first time a single candidate and party will have so … Continue reading "Mexican Man Given Worse Job in the Nation"

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away there were Trade Wars. The American Republic under President Ronald Reagan faced an economic invasion from Japan. Sony Walkmen and Toyota automobiles flooded American markets, and American factories closed under the onslaught and many feared American capitalism was outdated compared to the Japanese model. Although … Continue reading "Trade Wars Episode V: Donald Trump Strikes Back"

Abiy Ahmed was appointed Prime Minister of Ethiopia in April of 2018 after years of protests against corruption and ethnic favoritism. It was initially expected for him to be a cautious and modest reformer, but has instead unleashed a whirlwind of reforms. Prime Minister Ahmed has moved to end Ethiopia’s longstanding border dispute with Eritrea … Continue reading "Abiy Ahmed in the Fast Lane"

Almost every product in the grocery store contains some palm oil. It can be found in bread, instant noodles, shampoo, chocolate and many others. It is omnipresent in processed foods, but has also been reviled as an agent of global warming and ecological damage. Every year, Singapore and other cities throughout South East Asia are … Continue reading "Is Palm Oil Destroying the Planet?"

On New Years Eve of 2000, as the world was preparing for the party of a millennium, a small army of programmers in the Indian city of Bangalore were feverishly debugging software in anticipation of the Y2K bug. At the time, India was a minor player in the global software ecosystem. Today, India exports $55 … Continue reading "How Bangalore Became the Outsourcing Capital of the World"

Starting from June, seasonal winds running across the Arabian ocean will deposit a massive amount of rain across South Asia. The monsoon is vital to over a billion people in the region. 60% of India’s farmers are almost entirely dependent upon the monsoon rains, and almost everyone is indirectly dependent on the rains. Although the … Continue reading "I Don’t Bless The Rains Down In Punjab"

Today’s podcast episode will be looking at the life and career of Nawaz Sharif former Prime Minister of Pakistan. His family, alongside that of the Bhutto’s have long towered over Pakistan’s politics. The Sharif family enterprise rose rapidly during the rule of Zia Ul-Haq, and forged close links with the political class. The family benefited … Continue reading "Nawaz Sharif: Crony Capitalist, Corrupt Politician, and Successful Reformer?"

On May 8th 2018, President Donald Trump announced that the United States will be leaving the Iran Nuclear Deal Framework. This episode introduction is going to look at how Donald Trump’s decision will likely impact the Iranian economy and Iran’s politics. The US imposed sanctions from the very genesis of the Islamic Republic, and these … Continue reading "Episode VI, Return of the Sanctions"

Mexico signed NAFTA in 1994 as a part of a broad plan to revive Mexico’s economy and move it from an inward-looking state dominant model, towards an outwardly oriented market driven economy. The results have been mixed at best, and Mexico has consistently had one of the slowest growing economies in the developing world since … Continue reading "The Pedal Not to the Metal: Why is Mexico’s Economy Stuck in Low Gear"

Today’s podcast is a brief update on Puerto Rico’s electricity situation. Puerto is currently suffering from it’s worst blackouts since hurricane Maria due to a crane colliding with important transmission lines. I will be discussing how the geographical placement of Puerto Rico’s powerplants makes the entire system less resilient, progress on managing Puerto Rico’s debt … Continue reading "Puerto Rico’s Latest Blackout"