Yes, Precolonial Africa Had Technology and Economic Life before Colonialism

Despite the blooming of literature on preindustrial African technology, the centrality of invention in precolonial Africa remains an obscure topic. Updated research has shown that precolonial Africa was a wellspring of creativity rather than a den of stagnation. Africans employed unique methods in response to environmental changes and were also experts in iron production.

Parabolic Moves Don’t End Well

With the Federal Reserve bound for a fairly large rate increase this Wednesday, plus talk by the White House on whether the definition of a recession should be changed (likely, for no other reason than to avoid a recession) it’s easy to forget about the money supply. Conversations about the root cause of price increases hardly makes headlines. Even before the Austrian school, many expressed concerns with increasing the money supply. Dr.

If Mauritius Is a Tax H(e)aven, Other African Countries Must Be Tax Hells

It is common for commentator to point to corruption, incompetence, malicious Western meddling, and other factors as the source of Africa’s continued economic woes. One seldom hears so-called experts point to taxes as a major impediment to economic development. Even “development economists” do not repudiate Africa’s paradoxically onerous tax regimes.

Is Nationalism a Good Thing? It Depends.

From the United Kingdom to Spain to the Balkans, it has become common practice in Europe to refer to secessionist groups of various types as “nationalists.” Sometimes the term is employed as a pejorative term, and often not. Scottish nationalists, for example, often refer to themselves as nationalists. On the other hand, sometimes the term “nationalist” is employed to disparage separatist groups. It was easy to get this impression during the height of the most recent conflict over Catalan separatism in Spain.