The Economic Cycle 2015/16 - The Next Revolution

Ethical consumption in the 21st Century: Bamboo Bikes, Divine Chocolate and Fairphones… Did you know that your smartphone is manufactured using around 40 minerals, often mined in pockets of war-torn…

I’m writing this from the historic city of Malacca in Malaysia, overlooking arguably the most important bit of sea for global trade over the last 1000 years. However, more on this later as I’m…

When an unemployed teacher can rationally afford a taxi ride to Sunday lunch and the driver’s main job is as General Manager of the Coca Cola factory in Cape Town, economists’ alarm bells should…

‘Sport helps to unify a country and, certainly for players, it is colourblind’ Heath Streak, one of Zimbabwe’s most famous cricketers reflects from the office at his academy in the country’s second…

‘At the current rate of poaching, elephants will not exist in Africa in 12 years time’ Kelvin, educational officer for Game Rangers International (GRI), explains to a group of American & European…

In September, the UN launched its new Sustainable Development Goals, amidst great fanfare in New York. If you find remembering Moses’ 10 commandments hard enough, good luck with the 17 SDGs and its…

Kwacha on the run…. I concluded my last blog suggesting that this week I’d be exploring the role of China in Africa using Zambia as a case study. However, my conversations since stepping off the MV…

All aboard the MV Liemba… (literally) In 1915, the German war effort temporarily came to Tanzania and a ‘battleship’ (built in 1913) was transported overland to help the ‘fatherland’ maintain control…

Is the discovery of Oil likely to be a blessing or a curse? We finished our European cycle in Amsterdam, capital of the Netherlands, a city with a rich economic history built around strong trade…

In my first blog on lessons from the financial crisis, I highlighted the importance of history in Economics, looking back to the Great Depression and even further to when China was the world's…

Welcome to the Next Revolution of the Economic Cycle! For new readers, I’m a former city economist (2001-2009) turned teacher who decided back in 2011 to cycle my tandem bicycle back to London from…