The Economic Cycle - 2011/12

Although Adam Smith delved into religion in his 1776 Wealth of Nations, mainstream economists have historically stayed clear. This has recently changed[i] and as I cycled through the Holy Land back…

Faisal sells ful (Arabic equivalent of baked beans on toast) & chaai (tea) in a windswept shack on the side of the desert road in northern Sudan. In his spare time he digs in the local area for gold……

When my old boss told me that observing UK inflation flying above 3% would be an exciting moment in my career as an economist in London, I knew it was time to leave. Most African policymakers,…

Joseph is 29 years old and makes a living selling vehicle parts in the dusty trucker town of Igawu in Southern Tanzania. When he approached me during my breakfast and flashed 2 fresh $100 bills, I…

In the UK, the department of transport uses a figure of £1.2m per human life when carrying out cost benefit analysis for new transport projects, for example the building of a new, safer road. I'm not…

"Mzungu, show me the muni!" is the constant request from kids that have greeted me on the side on the road in Malawi. Three questions spring to mind from these experiences: 1) Have all the kids been…

A recent economic study1 found that bicycle ownership can boost household income in sub-Saharan Africa by 35%. I may be biased given my passion for cycling but I think there are indeed some very…

If Africa was a physical battleground between east & west during the cold war of the 20th Century, it can arguably be seen today as the ideological 21st Century battleground between the difference…

The concept of this 'economic cycle blog' was part conceived in Kirkady, the Scottish town which I passed through in my UK warm up ride in 2010. It was most famous in the late 18th century for…

Following a lecture from Tim Harford on innovation and longshots, the importance of innovation on economic growth, and the incentives behind technological advancement, are considered. Following the…

This is a question that anyone with more than a passing interest in Africa would like to know the answer to and one that I hope to understand more during my journey. Before I set off, what better…