On February 1st, 2021 the military of Myanmar, called the Tatmadaw, launched a coup against the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi on paper thin claims of massive voter fraud. The people of Myanmar have decisively rejected the coup, with protests organizing almost immediately after the coup, with hundreds of thousands of people … Continue reading "Will Everything Be OK? : Ethnic Insurgency, Military Dictatorship and Mass Protest In Myanmar"

In December of 2020, the first announcement of effective vaccines developed by Moderna and Pfizer heralded the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, additional vaccines developed by AstraZeneca, Johnson and Johnson, and by the Russian, Chinese and Indian companies have showed effectiveness. Nations across the developed world have raced to vaccinate as many people … Continue reading "Winning the Vaccination Race: Chile’s Success in Mass Vaccination"

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the most dangerous public health threat faced by the United States was the spectacular rise of drug overdoses in recent decades. Between 1999 and 2019 the number of drug overdoses has increased from 19,000 to 77,000. While the early days of the drug overdose epidemic was driven by the unethical prescription … Continue reading "More Lows Than Highs: The Fight Against Drugs in China, Mexico and the Philippines"

On March 17th 2014, Sergio Moro, a little known judge from the Brazilian state of Curitiba, authorized an investigation of suspicious money transfers at a gas station. The resulting investigation, known as Operation Car Wash or Lava Jato, uncovered a web of corruption that shook Brazilian society to its core. The largest construction companies in … Continue reading "Closing The Shop Down: The Dispiriting End of Operation Car Wash in Brazil"

Before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, the global health crisis that kept the most public health experts up at night was the rise of antimicrobial resistant (AMR) microbes. According to the World Health Organization, 700,000 people lose their lives to multi-drug resistant microbes a year. If no steps are taken to control the growth … Continue reading "The Ghost of Pandemics Future: Can India Stop The Rise of Superbugs?"

On February 1st, 2021 the armed forces of Myanmar, called the Tatmadaw, under Min Aung Hlaing, launched a coup against the democratically elected leader Aung San Su Kyi ending Myanmar’s ill fated experiment with democracy. In 1962, the Tatmadaw launched a coup to create an unusually brutal and xenophobic dictatorship. Myanmar’s ethnic minorities have long … Continue reading "Singing The Irrawaday Blues: The Tatmadaw Overthrows Democracy in Myanmar"

In the last episode of the Wealth of Nations podcast, I discussed Ukraine’s spectacular economic implosion in the aftermath of independence, democracy and market reforms. However, Ukraine’s experience was far from universal. Nations such as Poland, Estonia, the Czech Republic and Slovenia successfully adapted to the political and economic transformations of the 1990s, and are … Continue reading "Why Nations Don’t Fail: Building Institutions in Romania"

On August 20th 2020, Alexei Navalny became violently ill on a flight to Moscow. Navalny, who was evacuated to a hospital in Germany, had been poisoned with the nerve agent Novichok by the FSB, Russian security services. Navalny, a long time pro-democracy and anti-corruption activist, had been a thorn in Vladimir Putin’s side. Navalny was … Continue reading "Courage to the Point of Insanity: Alexei Navalny’s Return to Russia"

On August 24th, 1991 Ukraine declared its independence from and dissolution of formal ties with the USSR. Ukraine was supposed to be entering a new era of independent rule, democratic governance and a vibrant free market economy. However, this optimistic vision quickly proved to be a mirage. Between 1991 and 1999, Ukraine’s GDP PPP per … Continue reading "Socialism Without a Plan, Capitalism Without Markets: Ukraine’s Economic Collapse in the 1990s"

On August 13th, 2021 Uganda held general elections for president and parliament. The elections pitted Yoweri Museveni, the 75 year old president of Uganda since 1986 seeking a sixth term, against Robert Kyagulanyi, a 38 year old Reggae star better known as Bobi Wine. The results of the elections themselves are not in question. Businessmen … Continue reading "Aging Autocrat vs. The Ghetto President: Uganda’s Spectacularly Unfair Elections"

On February 16th, mass protests, bringing nearly 1 million people onto the streets erupted in Algeria. These protests were in response to Abdelaziz Bouteflika, long serving president and dictator of Algeria, announcing his ambitions to run for a fifth term in office for the presidency. Bouteflika had suffered a massive stroke in 2013, and had … Continue reading "The Revolution Of Smiles: Can Algeria Go From Stagnation To Progress?"

At the turn of the 20th century, Argentina was one of the wealthiest nations in the world with the GDP PPP per capita comparable to Western Europe and the United States. Argentina’s high standards of living attracted massive flows of immigrants, and Buenos Aires culture and sophistication earned it the title the Paris of Latin … Continue reading "Don’t Cry For Me Argentina, Populism Never Left You"

On October 5th 2020, Indonesia passed the Omnibus Law on Job Creation, a massive overhaul of all laws related to business, will rewrite of amend 77 separate laws, marking a fundamental change to Indonesia’s institutions. The law makes massive changes to labor law, including reducing severance payments for fired workers from 32 months to 19 … Continue reading "Omni-Bust or Boom: How Will Sweeping Business Reform Effect Indonesia"

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has seen a massive economic crisis of unprecedented scope. Just as COVID-19 has hit the elderly, those suffering from pre-existing health conditions, the poor the hardest, the economic crisis resulting from COVID-19 has disproportionately harmed the most economically most vulnerable. In particular, individuals and countries in … Continue reading "Maxing Out the Credit Card: Debt Management in Cambodia, Zambia and Peru"

On August 9th, 2020 Belarus Alexander Lukashenko, dictator of Belarus since 1994, claimed to win an overwhelming victory against the opposition. However, it was clear that the election was rigged, and a massive protest movement that at their peak brought more than a quarter million people to the streets demanded Lukashenko resign and free and … Continue reading "The Belarussian People Want to Evict Lukashenko From Power: Is Lukashenko Really Packing His Bags?"

On January 30th, Nathuram Godse assasinated Mohandas Gandhi, the founding father of India, as Mahatma Gandhi conducted a multi-faith prayer meeting because Godse saw him as too accommodating to Muslim interests. Nathuram Godse had long been a member of multiple Hindu nationalist organizations, although the most powerful the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh) has disclaimed any … Continue reading "Hate Thy Neighbor: The Rise of Hindutva in India"

On November 5th, 2020 Ant Group, China’s leading fintech company, was slated for an IPO expected to raise $30 billion. However, Ant Group was forced to cancel its IPO as financial regulators in the PRC had intimated to Ant Group that new regulations would make its business model untenable. Ant Group controls Alipay, the dominant … Continue reading "Like Crushing Ants: China’s Changing Relationship With Its Emerging Tech Giants"

In 2017, the the world first heard of horrific human rights violations against the Uighur people of Xinjiang, in the northwest quarter of China. An estimated 1.5 million people, out of a total ethnic Uyghur population of 12 million people in China, have been interned in approximately 380 “re-education” camps. The region has been turned … Continue reading "The Bitter Roots of Modern Hatred: The Origins of Genocide in Xinjiang"

On April 2nd, 2018 Abiy Ahmed assumed the position of Prime Minister of Ethiopia. From 1991 to 2018, Ethiopia had been governed by a complex political system that masked the fact ultimate political authority lay in the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF). 57 out of the 61 most senior government positions were controlled by ethnic … Continue reading "Tigray on the Brink: Can Abiy Ahmed Avoid Civil War?"

In Greek mythology, Sisyphus was condemned to roll a boulder up a hill every day of his life, only to watch it come tumbling down as he reached the top. Economic development in many developing countries is a Sisyphean task, as strong decades long progress can be rapidly be undone by adverse international conditions or … Continue reading "Free Trade, Open Borders and Weak Institutions: Why Is Development In Côte d’Ivoire So Fragile?"

On October 18th, 2020 socialist Luis Arce won a surprise victory over the moderate Carlos Mesa. Pre-election polls had predicted a close race between the two candidates, and a run-off victory for Carlos Mesa before the elections. However, the Bolivian people gave a resounding victory to the Movement to Socialism (MAS), with Arce winning 52% … Continue reading "MAS Strikes Back: Luis Arce’s Unexpected Victory in Bolivian Elections"

On November 10th, Evo Morales announced his resignation under duress from his position as president of Bolivia after the head of the armed forces requested he resign to restore social peace to Bolivia. According to opponents of Evo Morales, the former president of the country was forced from office by massive popular protests fighting Evo … Continue reading "Bad Blood: How Political Polarization Got So Bad in Bolivia"

Through September and Ocober of 2020, the government of Narendra Modi ushered three major reforms to India’s agricultural sector. During the 1950s and 1960s, the Indian government created a series of regulations intended to protect farmers from exploitation by big business and moneylenders. These law created the Mandi system, whereby farmers were only allowed to … Continue reading "Farm Bill to Table: Reforming Agricultural Markets in India"

Rajesh Chouhan, a construction worker in the city of Bangalore, walked for ten consecutive days and 1,200 miles to reach his home village of Srinagar Babaganj in Bihar. Rajesh Chouhan was one of millions of migrants who, in the aftermath of COVID-19 and the government response to the pandemic, chose to return to their home … Continue reading "No Migrants In My Backyard: How Bad Urban Planning Created a Humanitarian Disaster in India"