johanfourieza.bsky.social - Profile | ThreadSky | a Reddit-style client for Bluesky

How the Green Revolution shaped property rights – and what this means for South Africa's land reform process.

submitted 8 hours ago • 0 comments

South Africa has a Presidential Economic Advisory Council. Understanding who these economists are, and the ideas they advocate, should tell us a lot about the country's future economic policy. @drodrik.bsky.social @wandilesihlobo.bsky.social @haroonbhorat.bsky.social @antonioandreoni.bsky.social

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

VAT – despite its flaws – remains one of the least distortionary ways to raise revenue. For South Africa, the alternatives – cutting spending on education, healthcare or infrastructure, or taking on more debt – come with a high risk of being worse.

submitted 6 days ago • 0 comments

How far back should economic history go? Most textbooks start with agriculture, trade, and the emergence of states. But what if we looked further – beyond written records, beyond cities, beyond even the first farms? A wonderful interview with Ola Olsson about the economics of prehistory!

submitted 13 days ago • 0 comments

The recent US Executive Order halting aid to South Africa and prioritising Afrikaner resettlement has sparked debate. While politically motivated, such actions often have underlying economic rationales – whether intentional or not.

submitted 20 days ago • 0 comments

Why did solving longitude reshape global trade? How did a battle outside Vienna shape modern conflicts? What does Protestantism’s spread reveal about new ideas? These are some of the big questions in my 2025 global #econhist course at Stellenbosch University, starting today!

submitted 20 days ago • 1 comment

Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom advertised on the Media24 building during the State of the Nation address in Cape Town today!

submitted 25 days ago • 0 comments

Given Trump's utterances on South Africa today, perhaps it is useful to reflect on the progress South Africa has made after 1994, and the long road ahead. Here's an abstract from the second edition of Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom, out this month (in South African bookshops and on Kindle):

submitted 28 days ago • 0 comments

New hypothesis: Coffee → innovation → growth

submitted 28 days ago • 0 comments

Last year, @noahpinion.blogsky.venki.dev compared Elon Musk to Henry Ford. Maybe. But I think there's another empire builder who deserves the comparison – one whose ambition, wealth, and imperial vision reshaped an entire continent:

submitted 31 days ago • 0 comments

Congrats to @johanfourieza.bsky.social on publishing the Second Edition of “Our Walk to Economic Freedom”. There are new chapters and extensive updates in this addition. I encourage you to get a copy. The book is available nationwide on good bookstores and ebook platforms.

submitted 32 days ago • 0 comments

How should economists think about culture? In episode 7 of the Our Long Walk podcast, Jonathan and I interview @nathannunn.bsky.social about why culture matters, zero versus positive-sum thinking (in the US elections), and why economists should study Africa…

submitted 34 days ago • 0 comments

Econ history community! Please join us in South Africa in May to discuss disseminating economic history to a broad audience. Brad DeLong will deliver the keynote address. We'll also cover accommodation in Stellenbosch in autumn, the best time of year to visit.

submitted 36 days ago • 1 comment

"A great example of digital transformation is the fact that South Africa, a country known for its wealth of gold and diamond resources, has created most of its wealth in the last decade from Chinese kids scavenging for resources in games such as Honor of Kings and PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds."

submitted 38 days ago • 0 comments

South Africa hosts the G20 this year. Want to understand the country's history from a global perspective? The Kindle second edition of Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom is now available!

submitted 41 days ago • 0 comments

Sophia’s remarkable story of freedom sheds light on the often-overlooked history of Cape slavery. While global interest in slavery continues to grow, South Africa lags behind in addressing this aspect of its complex past. But new research is uncovering these hidden narratives.

submitted 42 days ago • 0 comments

What is new in the second edition of Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom?

submitted 45 days ago • 0 comments

Join us at LEAP this semester for an exciting online seminar series.

submitted 47 days ago • 0 comments

AI can narrow inequality—boosting productivity for lower-skilled workers—but only if access expands beyond the wealthy.

submitted 49 days ago • 0 comments

What can readers expect from Our Long Walk, my blog about South Africa's (and Africa's) past, present and future, in 2025? (Also: a free book if you join as a paid subscriber.)

submitted 52 days ago • 0 comments

New podcast interview about my book… and an AI-generated song about it! podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/h...

submitted 54 days ago • 0 comments

What makes a city thrive? Can the lessons from São Paulo help South Africa’s struggling urban centres? And what can a as urbanization accelerates? In episode 6 of Our Long Walk podcast, Jonathan and I interview Benjamin Bradlow. Listen on Spotify or wherever you find your podcasts.

submitted 54 days ago • 0 comments

The future of the world in one map? (Link to full post: www.ourlongwalk.com/p/how-swifti...)

submitted 56 days ago • 0 comments

The largest Afrikaans newspaper published its last printed edition a week ago. I've been a monthly columnist for the last decade, and this was my final column. The long walk continues...

submitted 65 days ago • 0 comments

really interesting post from @johanfourieza.bsky.social on how reliable South Africa's GDP data might be www.ourlongwalk.com/p/the-curiou...

submitted 84 days ago • 1 comment

Given the GDP numbers released last week, I am increasingly worried that Statistics South Africa's numbers may not reflect what is really happening in our economy.

submitted 84 days ago • 0 comments

In today's interview with Adrian Gore, CEO of Discovery in South Africa, we discuss a range of topics, from overcoming declinism, and the power of goal-setting, to how science can bring innovation to South Africa's toughest challenges. Full post: www.ourlongwalk.com/p/south-afri...

submitted 87 days ago • 0 comments

And it's off to the printers! A fully revised second edition, available in South Africa (and on Kindle) in January 2025!

submitted 90 days ago • 0 comments

When the benefits of first-language English outweigh the costs of English as a second language, minority languages like Afrikaans will decline, as it has for the last decade. Between 2010 and 2023, the share of Afrikaans books as a proportion of all books sold in South Africa fell from 17% to 11%.

submitted 91 days ago • 1 comment

The Stellenbosch University choir is special

submitted 94 days ago • 1 comment

What can policymakers learn from economic history? With Leonard Wantchekon, Dave Donaldson, Bronwen Everill, Mushfiq Mobarak, Chris Colvin, Jonas Hjort, @tedmiguel.bsky.social, and 2024 Nobel Laureate James Robinson.

submitted 95 days ago • 1 comment

I made a list of all the economic historians on the economics job market! Help me update the list by tagging those I've missed.

submitted 95 days ago • 3 comments