Situated in western Nigeria, some 70 kilometers (113 miles) east of Nigeria’s commercial city of Lagos, Oluwa Forest Reserve is facing severe pressure from smallholder farmers and big plantations. On Highway A121, a major route between Lagos and the city of Ore that bissects the reserve, Mongabay observed heavily loaded trucks and motorbikes driving plantain […]
LOS BAÑOS, Philippines Built on wooden stilts and tied to endemic bangkal trees (Nauclea orientalis) are the homes of the Manobo Indigenous tribe, seemingly floating on the waters of the largest freshwater wetland in the Philippines: the Agusan Marsh. The floating village and community depend on the rise and fall of water, being well-adapted […]
On November 28, Pope Francis lamented the recent rise of individualism, which he linked to a rise in violence. While his counsel contains a valuable lesson in charity, it also contains the worrisome seeds of communitarianism and socialism, the snuffing out of individual initiative. The Pontiff is notorious for not staying within his proverbial lane, nor following his comparative advantage in theology, instead offering economic advice. Many of his economic views have potentially dire consequences for those he is most intent on helping: the poor.
On November 28, Pope Francis lamented the recent rise of individualism, which he linked to a rise in violence. While his counsel contains a valuable lesson in charity, it also contains the worrisome seeds of communitarianism and socialism, the snuffing out of individual initiative. The Pontiff is notorious for not staying within his proverbial lane, nor following his comparative advantage in theology, instead offering economic advice. Many of his economic views have potentially dire consequences for those he is most intent on helping: the poor.
Parts of this paper were presented at SSS-AIU, Study Group and EGROW Foundation webinars, O P Jindal Finance Global Finance Conclave and Rajagiri Conference on Economics and Finance. Enthusiastic feedback helped improve it. In particular, the author thanks Charan Singh for the invitation to develop one of her op-eds, Arvind Virmani, Amartya Lahiri and an EPW referee for