Politicians assume that voters cannot face the financial truth. To democracy experts this is just wrong. Involving voters results in better budgets as shows history from ancient Greece.
GDP has many flaws. We need a better way to measure economic progress.
Tasmania’s ageing population matters because as people get older they become more reliant on the services provided by governments (for example pensions, health and aged care).
Dave Hunt/AAP
Population growth for growth’s sake (as a proxy for economic growth), without consideration for the demands this creates might actually compromise Tasmania’s economy.
Shoppers browsing vegetables at a farmers market.
Pixabay
A new land administration system that responds to changed ownership patterns of Zimbabwe’s agricultural land is needed if the country is to harness its farming potential.
Brought to its knees by the recklessness of the Zuma presidency, the South African economy needs a new deal. The ANC’s new leader Cyril Ramaphosa needs to act quickly if he’s going to make his mark.
IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde at the “G20: Compact With Africa”.
Reuters/Mike Theiler
South Africa will be well advised to start preparing itself for an International Monetary Fund programme as the country faces a deepening economic crisis.
One person’s trash is another person’s breakfast.
Sascha Kohlmann/Wikimedia Commons
New South African research supports evidence that urbanisation has a positive impact on people’s lives and must be managed appropriately for development.
Social progress is not just a dream. But humanity needs to combine its forces and move away from exclusive currents if it wants to make it real.
Sylvia Fredriksson/Flickr
Humankind has today reached a historical peak in developing its strengths. It should use it to create a human community of nations inclusive on all fronts : scholars can help.
An illegal money changer holds bond notes outside a bank in Zimbabwe’s capital Harare.
Reuters/Philimon Bulawayo
Years of political instability and economic mismanagement under the rule of ZANU-PF have left Zimbabwe’s financial system in chaos. The country is living on borrowed time and borrowed money.
Workers at the Dangote cement mine in central Nigeria. Africa’s industrial policy favours big companies, not small.
Reuters/Akintunde Akinleye
The problem with Africa’s model of industrial growth is that it privileges the formal at the expense of the informal and big corporations at the expense of small businesses.
Indonesia should start a nationwide movement to combat digital illiteracy, a hidden inequality that persists in much of the country.
Reuters/Beawiharta
Indonesia has a lot of catching up to do to provide its people with skills, including digital literacy, to find jobs in a shifting landscape propelled by innovation in digital technology.
Uganda’s small and medium sized enterprises would facilitate firm growth.
REUTERS/James Akena
Trade and investment between Indonesia and Australia is very little despite their proximity. But there are signs of change in the way Australia thinks about Indonesia.
A controversial article in a respected academic journal recently made the argument for colonialism. Here, a man is carried by Congolese men in a photo from the early 20th centiry.
An academic article that asserted the benefits of colonialism caused an outcry and resulted in calls for its removal. A post-colonial expert explains why.