Please consider submitting to this panel on the legacy of Samir Amin that I am co-convening with Maria Dyveke Styve (University of Bergen) and Ushehwedu Kufakurinani (University of Zimbabwe) at the Development Studies Association (DSA) conference at the Open University, Milton Keynes, June 19th to 21st 2019. Continue reading “Samir Amin’s Legacy and Relevance Today (DSA 2019 Panel)”
Category: Publications
New Working Paper: Imputing Away the Ladder?
I recently published Imputing Away the Ladder? Implications of Changes in National Accounting Standards for Assessing Inter-country Inequalities as a Working Paper with Jacob Assa with the Global Poverty and Inequality Dynamics Research Network.
Read our blog post for the GPID network here. I also summarized our arguments in a Twitter thread.
Our findings were also covered in UnHerd. You can download our data here.
Book Review: The Global Political Economy of Raúl Prebisch
I recently published a review of The Global Political Economy of Raúl Prebisch (ed. by Matias Margulis, 2017) in the Review of Radical Political Economics. Download the review here.
New paper: ‘Caveat emptor: the Graduation Approach, electronic payments and the potential pitfalls of financial inclusion’
Paulo dos Santos and I recently published a piece in Policy in Focus 14 (2): 55-57. This is a publication by The International Policy Centre for Inclusive Growth. You can also read the piece on Developing Economics.
New Edited Volume: Conversations on Dependency Theory
An e-book I co-edited on dependency theory was recently published on the Institute for New Economic Thinking’s (INET) website. The e-book is the first volume of the e-book series Dialogues on Development and it includes 13 interviews with prominent scholars who have differing views on dependency theory.
Read about the e-book on INET’s website.
Download individual chapters (interviewees in brackets):
- Preface by Professor Jimi Adesina, College of Graduate Studies, University of South Africa
- Introduction: Why Should We Discuss Dependency Theory Today? By Ushehwedu Kufakurinani, Ingrid Harvold Kvangraven, Frutuoso Santanta, and Maria Dyveke Styve
- Chapter 1: A Dependency Pioneer (Samir Amin)
- Chapter 2: Dependency Theory and Its Enduring Relevance (Adebayo O. Olukoshi)
- Chapter 3: The Relevance of Dependent Development Then and Now (Peter Evans)
- Chapter 4: Whither Dependency Theory (Sabelo Ndlovu-Gatsheni)
- Chapter 5: The Caribbean Plantation Economy and Dependency Theory (Rex McKenzie)
- Chapter 6 – A Theoretical Revolution in Time and Space (Ramón Grosfoguel)
- Chapter 7: The Informal Empire of London (Andy Higginbottom)
- Chapter 8: The Political Economy of Africa and Dependency Theory (Patrick Bond)
- Chapter 9: Dependency Theory Today (Miguel Angel Centeno)
- Chapter 10: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same (Ian Taylor)
- Chapter 11: Dependency Theory Is Alive in Different Guises (Matías Vernengo)
- Chapter 12: Dependency Theory and Chinese Special Economic Zones in Africa (Honita Cowaloosur)
- Chapter 13: Varieties of Dependence in Europe (László Bruszt)
New article: Better than Cash, but Beware the Costs
Paulo dos Santos and I recently published Better than Cash, but Beware the Costs: Electronic Payments Systems and Financial Inclusion in Developing Economies in Development and Change. The article dissects and critically evaluates the assumptions behind the policies promoted by the Better Than Cash Alliance.
Here is the abstract:
This article considers current proposals for using electronic payments systems to promote financial inclusion — that is, to widen the availability of financial and monetary services in developing countries. While such systems can generate significant savings in the operation of monetary systems, payment services markets are typically uncompetitive and require regulatory and broader state interventions to ensure those savings are widely distributed. The use of those systems to broaden the reach of for-profit lenders raises a number of concerns, as a growing literature has documented how microcredit initiatives in developing countries have resulted primarily in expansions in consumption credit to households, often under predatory terms. The authors advance two original arguments in this connection. First, the perverse results of many microcredit initiatives reflect the underdevelopment of the areas concerned: without broader development strategies, potentially transformative productive projects are rare and unprofitable to finance. In contrast, widespread unmet consumption needs ensure consumption credit offers lenders a profitable alternative business orientation. Second, and in light of this, electronic payments platforms can contribute to economic development by enabling the establishment of well-regulated or public systems of electronic ‘narrow banks’ restricted from lending, but capable of widening access to affordable payments, savings and insurance services.
Report on Eurobonds in Sub-Saharan Africa
I recently published the report Bond to Happen? Recurring Debt Crises in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Rise of Sovereign Bond Issuance. The report assesses risks and opportunities associated with Eurobond issuance in sub-Saharan Africa. The case studies in the report expose a lack of accountability when it comes borrowing processes in a selection of sub-Saharan African countries. In fact, the process of bond issuance is often plagued by lack of transparency and ultimately legitimacy, from the perspective of the citizens of the issuing country. As this is playing out in the context of a defective framework for sovereign lending and borrowing and a flawed system for debt restructuring, issuing Eurobonds entails many serious risks.
Read some coverage of the report:
- Bond to happen? Recurring debt crises in Sub-Saharan Africa and the rise of sovereign bond issuance (December 9th, 2016, Social Watch)
- Bond to happen? Recurring debt crises in Sub-Saharan Africa and the rise of sovereign bond issuance (December 8th, 2016, Righting Finance)
- Are Norwegian Investments in Sovereign Bonds Responsible? (November 9th, 2016, SLUG)
- Bond to Happen? Recurring Debt-Crises in Sub-Saharan Africa and the Rise of Sovereign Bond Issuance (November 9th, 2016, SLUG, in Norwegian)
- Statsobligasjoner i Afrikanske land – på vei mot nye gjeldskriser? (October 29th, 2016, Dagsavisen, in Norwegian)
- Recurring debt crises in sub-Saharan Africa and the rise of bond issuance (October 7th, 2016, Bretton Woods Project)
- Rapportlansering i Washington (October 7th, 2016, SLUG, in Norwegian)
New article on Determinants of Borrowing Costs in Sub-Saharan Africa
A paper I wrote with Aleksandr Gevorkyan was recently published in the November 2016 issue of the Review of Development Economics. The article is Assessing Recent Determinants of Borrowing Costs in Sub-Saharan Africa. Empirically the paper finds that sovereign bond yields are significantly influenced by global volatility, commodity prices and global liquidity—all factors that are out of the control of the sub-Saharan economies in question.
The research was picked up by UN News Centre and the Schwartz Center for Economic Policy Analysis, and we published op-eds on the findings on Interfima, Developing Economics, Chartered Institute of Development Finance, and Seeking Alpha.
Rethinking Economics Norway Takes Off
Rethinking Economics Norway, an organization I co-founded and am a board member of, officially became an organization this August. The network now consists of more than 60 Norwegian economists, including professors, professionals, and students at all levels (BA, MA, PhD).
We have received a lot of media attention so far (see the website), including this piece by the whole board in Aftenposten and this piece by Ebba Boye and I in Dagens Næringsliv (Norway’s largest business newspaper). There was also a 6 page piece in Klassekampen on our movement, also citing my book review of Anwar Shaikh’s Capitalism.
Several Economics professors have responded to our critique of the Economics discipline, as they do not agree that there is a need for a wider variety of theories to be taught at Norwegian Economics departments. As the Norwegian Economics departments are thoroughly mainstream, we clearly still have a lot of work to do.
New book chapter: “The Changing Character of Financial Flows to Sub-Saharan Africa”
Financial Deepening and Post-Crisis Development in Emerging Markets Current Perils and Future Dawns (ed. by Aleksandr V.Gevorkyan and Otaviano Canuto) was published recently. In it, I have a chapter on the changing character of financial flows to sub-Saharan Africa (pp. 223-245). Continue reading “New book chapter: “The Changing Character of Financial Flows to Sub-Saharan Africa””