Venezuela: A Petrostate’s Fall from Grace and The Exodus of Its People

In 1976, Venezuela’s economy was booming amid an oil crisis, and Caracas (its capital) was one of only four destinations to which Concorde, the fastest and most expensive aircraft of its time, alighted. However, the Venezuela of 1976 is a world away from the Venezuela that is currently under the dictatorship of President Nicolas Maduro. In fact, from the 1950s to the early 1980s, Venezuela … Continue reading Venezuela: A Petrostate’s Fall from Grace and The Exodus of Its People

Nico Sesson FarreMay 18, 2023April 22, 2025Leave a comment

Economics, Finance and Markets

Economic implications of having a real-life golden goose

WARNING: THE FOLLOWING ARTICLE CONTAINS SPOILERS A few weeks ago, I watched a great film called Puss in Boots. In the movie, Puss teams up with the infamous feline burglar Kitty Softpaws and his childhood frenemy Humpty Dumpty to steal the golden goose and save their hometown, San Ricardo, to make their foster mother proud. They eventually succeed, and the villagers of San Ricardo get … Continue reading Economic implications of having a real-life golden goose

Lucas PinsentMay 18, 2023Leave a comment

Business and Technology, Chart of the Month, Environment, International

Chart of the Month – May 2023

This Chart of the Month revisits the EU Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS). An explanation as to how it works can be found in the July 2021 Chart. In that article, we asked whether the EU ETS could hold its value, and whether the increase in costs of pollution would prove too great a burden for firms and the poorest households. Now, we can try to answer … Continue reading Chart of the Month – May 2023

Zihan TianMay 18, 2023December 4, 2023Leave a comment

Asia, Development, Environment

The Indian Agriculture Issue

Providing food for over 1.3 billion people in the second most populous country (at time of writing) in the world is challenging. However, in 2019, this already arduous job had been compounded by a perfect storm of issues, ranging from a reduction in income to climate change reducing crop yields. This left farmers desperately looking to their government for help. In response to their cries and … Continue reading The Indian Agriculture Issue

Tanish NavamaniMay 9, 2023May 9, 20231 Comment

Business and Technology, Development, International

The World should be More Careful with Automation…

The question of automation replacing jobs has been especially debated in recent times. This was initially because of COVID-19, which substantially increased investment into developing new technology due to skyrocketing demand for digital goods. Then, with the breakthroughs in artificial intelligence (AI) research, such as the invention of ChatGPT, the public has begun to worry about higher skilled jobs being at risk too. This essay … Continue reading The World should be More Careful with Automation…

Zihan TianMay 9, 2023May 9, 20232 Comments

Development, History, Middle East and Africa, Politics

From Guns to Gold: The Wagner Group’s exploitation of Africa and Ukraine

PMC (“Private Military Company”) Wagner, more commonly known as The Wagner Group, is a paramilitary organisation based in Russia. Founded in 2014, Yevgeny Prigozhin a Russian oligarch and a close confidant of Russian president Vladimir Putin, took over the company shortly after its founding. The Wagner Group first came to prominence during the Donbas conflict in Ukraine from 2014 to 2015. The Wagner Group’s activities … Continue reading From Guns to Gold: The Wagner Group’s exploitation of Africa and Ukraine

Nico Sesson FarreApril 28, 2023April 22, 20251 Comment

Asia, Development, Finance and Markets, International

Microfinance: What went wrong?

In 1983, Mohammed Yunus founded the Grameen Bank. His idea was simple: the bank would grant tiny loans, often no more than $100, to women in rural Bangladesh who had no access to credit. In the following decades, repayment rates for some schemes were as high as 98%, and Yunus attracted major funds from backers such as the Ford Foundation. In 2020, more than $50 billion of credit was being given to the poor – this time, by giant global banks, … Continue reading Microfinance: What went wrong?

thomasbpotterApril 28, 2023Leave a comment

Development, Middle East and Africa

Nigeria’s Reliance on Oil

The idea of universally accessible electricity and safe public infrastructure – in the likes of roads – has become widely regarded as basic and expected in the west. However, in Nigeria, blackouts and unsuitable roads have become regular encounters. It is now ranked as amongst the bottom 20 nations via the Global Peace Index; crime rates have reached some of the highest levels in the … Continue reading Nigeria’s Reliance on Oil

bamisayetApril 28, 2023Leave a comment

China, Development

The holes in the road – has China’s Belt and Road initiative been too ambitious?

Over the past ten years, the world has witnessed the staggering growth of China from a developing nation to the worlds second largest economy by GDP. One of its most notable projects is its infamous Belt and Road initiative. This has led China to become the biggest creditor in the world, larger today than the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World bank, driving billions of dollars of … Continue reading The holes in the road – has China’s Belt and Road initiative been too ambitious?

phillipsb5April 28, 2023Leave a comment

Asia, Development, Environment

The Lost Snow Leopards: Seven Steps to Rejuvenate Central Asian Economies

Central Asia (made up of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan) has historically been a dominant player on the world’s economic stage. Its role as the heart of the legendary Silk Road (the main land corridor between Europe and Asia) and the USSR’s mining powerhouse in the 20th century rightfully earned these countries the nickname ‘the Snow Leopards’. However, the USSR’s collapse in 1991 has left the region at risk of … Continue reading The Lost Snow Leopards: Seven Steps to Rejuvenate Central Asian Economies

Sean TanApril 28, 2023April 28, 2023Leave a comment