On March 20th, The Economist featured research by the GGDC and UNU-WIDER on the manufacturing renaissance in Africa. A key finding is that the share of people working in manufacturing in sub-Saharan Africa has risen from 7.2% of the total in 2010 to 8.4%.
Continue reading “Column: Manufacturing Hope in Africa”
Evidence from the United States
Historically, productivity growth was not all about high tech sectors and research and development (R&D) expenditure. A new study published The Economic Journal finds that the great majority of productivity originated in other, more ‘run-of-the-mill’ industries. Continue reading “Column: Historical Productivity Growth from Run of the Mill Industries”
The Commercial Transition and the Commodity Price Boom of 1835–1885
This paper uses a new trade dataset showing that sub-Saharan Africa experienced a terms of trade boom in the five decades (1835–1885) preceding the European “scramble for Africa” which was comparable to similar export booms in other parts Continue reading “Column: An Economic Rationale for the West African Scramble?”
American Productivity Growth during the Great Depression
The Great Depression is considered one of the darkest times for the US economy, but some argue that the US economy experienced strong productivity growth over the period. This column reassesses this performance using improved Continue reading “Column: Onwards and Upwards”
The partitioning of Africa by European imperial powers in the late 19th century irreversibly transformed the long-term development trajectories of African economies. Yet, the motives for, and timing of, the scramble remain poorly understood. This column argues that the changes in African Continue reading “Column: An Economic Rationale for the African Scramble”
De Lessen van de jaren dertig
De crisis die de wereldeconomie in 2008 trof stond op gelijke voet met datgene wat de Grote Depressie van de jaren dertig inleidde. In de 12 maanden na de economische piek van 2008 daalde de industriële productie net zoveel als gedurende het eerste jaar van de Grote Depressie. De aandelenkoersen en de wereldhandel daalden zelfs meer. Toch lijkt het erop dat een echte depressie deze keer is vermeden. Continue reading “Column: The Roaring Thirties [dutch]”
Pieter (Jop) WOLTJER 