There are five things I noticed about the Zambian economy from just looking around outside and talking to people. To start, labour productivity here is low. There are many tiny shops, often selling very similar products, right besides each other, being quite empty most of the time. Similarly, in many restaurants and bars there is... Continue Reading →
Lusaka, a.d. VIII Id. Mai. MMDCCLXXII, To attend the wedding of two friends of mine, I have travelled to Zambia. In these short travel reports I'll give updates on the fascinating political economic things I encounter here. To start, former president Kenneth 'super-Ken' Kaunda and patriotism in Zambia. Flying in from Johannesburg, it was announced... Continue Reading →
Groningen, a.d. VI Non. Mai. MMDCCLXXII A.U.C., This 246 pages long book gives a short introduction to the (dys)functioning of Soviet society up and to 1952, as seen from the viewpoint of the American historian Rostow in 1954. Peculiarly, he was not an expert on this topic, he wrote the book based on conversations and... Continue Reading →
"It is the historian who has decided for his own reasons that Caesar's crossing of that petty stream, the Rubicon, is a fact of history, whereas the crossing of the Rubicon by millions of other people before or since interests nobody at all. The fact that you arrived in this building half an hour ago... Continue Reading →
Door de koppeling van de Provinciale Statenverkiezingen en de Eerste Kamer overschaduwen de thema's die nationaal spelen de provinciale thema's zo langzamerhand volledig. Sinds de Statenverkiezingen van maart 2019 is het bestaande systeem duidelijk failliet. Een goede oplossing is om de gemeenteraden de Provinciale Staten te laten benoemen: https://www.binnenlandsbestuur.nl/gemeenteraden-ps
Oslo, the first Óðinsdagr of mörsugur, in the 28th year of the reign of King Harald V, Despite Brexit, many Brexiteers maintain that the United Kingdom will maintain excellent ties with the with the EU and its member states. The UK is supposed to regain its sovereignty, but this should not mean that close cooperation... Continue Reading →
Groningen, a.d. III Non. Dec. MMDCCLXXI A.U.C., In his 1970 book Exit, Voice and Loyalty, Hirschman argues there are two ways in which we can influence the behaviour of those around us. Firstly, we can exit, that is, if we are dealing with another person or organisation, and we disapprove of that person's or organisation's behaviour, we... Continue Reading →
Having watched the collapse of France in a mere six weeks, Shirer set out to find out how it was possible that one of the victors of the First World War imploded in face of the German onslaught. This is quite a daunting task, if only because it is hard to avoid many of the... Continue Reading →
Groningen, a.d. IV Kal. Nov. MMDCCLXXI A.U.C., As I described in my last post, it is quite common for conservative parties to draw away attention from poverty and inequality, and instead to focus on issues such as family values, public decency, jingoism, safety or migration. I also argued that the Conservatives in the UK are... Continue Reading →
