TechPlus+ | Technology & Development Redux
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Uber in Abuja
Read more: Uber in AbujaLast March, Abuja, the Capital of Nigeria, became the 400th city where Uber has launched operations. However, it was not the first city in the country as Uber started operations in Lagos 18 months earlier. A couple of weeks ago I was in Abuja for business reasons. I spent there almost two weeks. The hotel…
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Status of ICT diffusion in Nigeria
Read more: Status of ICT diffusion in NigeriaI have been engaged on a short term Nigeria-based consultancy on the role ICTs1 Just in case, ICTs = Information and Communication Technologies. could play in promoting citizen engagement in public policy and decision-making processes – or what some call e-participation. Part of the job requires research on the rate of ICT diffusion in the…
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App-based Car Services in Guadalajara
Read more: App-based Car Services in GuadalajaraThe last time I visited Guadalajara, Mexico, was in 2011. Jalisco’s Electoral Institute (IEPC in Spanish) invited me to take part in a seminar on technology and citizen participation. Gathering proceedings were published later on and are still available here. Back then, regular taxis were one of the main options for moving around the city. Cabs in…
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Relation between ICT Adoption and State Capacity
Read more: Relation between ICT Adoption and State CapacityIntroduction According to many observers, the rapid diffusion of new ICTs such as the Internet and social media has empowered people worldwide. Today, social media users, for example, have direct access to the public sphere and can thus launch campaigns to sway public opinion. These new channels have given voice to millions of people who…
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More on Measuring Human Development
Read more: More on Measuring Human DevelopmentIn a previous blog, I examined the relationship between GDP and the Human Development Index (HDI), which the UN Development Programme (UNDP) has published annually for the last 25 years. In this post, I want to dive deeper into the latter and explore some of its potential policy implications. HDI components and calculation The HDI…
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Is Postcapitalism on its way?
Read more: Is Postcapitalism on its way?For most people, including many well-known economists, the 2007 global economic crisis was a rude awakening: It seemed to have come out of nowhere, but it certainly managed to bring deep pain to billions of people – and pockets. Soon thereafter, calls to revisit Marx’s theory of capitalism became frequent from both left and right.…
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Saving Capitalism – or Democracy?
Read more: Saving Capitalism – or Democracy?Few will doubt both globalization and technology are putting many people under economic stress. Symptoms of this in the US and other industrialized countries include raising inequality, stagnant wages, less opportunities and decreased social mobility, and little to no improvement in living standards for most. Together, they have created an environment characterized by widespread distrust…
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State Formation in Latin America
Read more: State Formation in Latin AmericaContrary to accepted views, Latin American(LA) States are still comparatively incipient and have been so since independence in the 19th Century. But they have also managed to avoid large-scale and continuous wars between them, in sharp contrast with Western European states. How can we explain this apparent paradox while taking into account regional differences among…
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Measuring Well-Being and Human Development
Read more: Measuring Well-Being and Human DevelopmentGDP: Thanks, but no thanks A recent issue of The Economist had a couple of articles (plus the issue’s cover) on measuring prosperity, defined as advancing living standards over time. Nowadays, gross domestic product, GDP,1 We can also include here GDP’s sibling, Gross National Income or GNI. is king for measuring such progress. However, The…
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Economics Rules or Economics Rule?
Read more: Economics Rules or Economics Rule?After the 2008 crisis, many observers expected changes of some sort in current economic thinking and academic teaching. After all, most mainstream economists never saw the crisis coming – with some even claiming the era of crises was over. For many non-economists, the crisis demonstrated once again the perils of economics, the “dismal science”. Eight years…
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Technology and Development in History
Read more: Technology and Development in HistoryNowadays, the diffusion pace of technologies on a global scale is unprecedented. This is true for Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) best represented by the Internet (and all its newer platforms) and mobile technologies. Most will also agree that technologies somehow play a decisive role in fostering economic development and economic growth. While that might be true…
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Digital Dividends Déjà Vu
Read more: Digital Dividends Déjà VuBackground The first time I run into the notion of digital dividends was at the end of the last century. At the time, the first dot-com boom still running at full steam, totally unaware of the looming crash. Building on the hype of the new technologies and of the Internet in particular, the G-8 launched…
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A “social” history of Bitcoin?
Read more: A “social” history of Bitcoin?A recent article by one of its lead developers argues that Bitcoin, defined as an experiment, has utterly failed. While the initial concept was to develop a form of digital money that was completely decentralized and autonomous from any bank or institution, today, Bitcoin is controlled by a few people. Besides, Bitcoin technology has now…
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Best Films – 2015
Read more: Best Films – 2015A relatively slow year when it comes to films. Unlike previous, this year I only managed to see 99 films. That is almost 50 films less than last year. I am sure I missed quite a few. Around 700 films are annually released in the US. I probably saw maybe 10% of these, at most.…