In 1993 France instituted the European Banana Regime placing quotas on banana imports from outside of their trade preference agreements with Europe’s old colonial trading partners, the African, Caribbean and Pacific nations. […]
Gavin Chait
Economist, data scientist, entrepreneur, author. Fascinated by the frontiers of human progress: innovation vs ignorance; wealth vs poverty. Oh, and coffee. @GavinChait and https://gavinchait.com
Google contemplates Evil; the distress of being a monopoly
Microsoft’s success in operating systems spawned an entire industry of hackers dedicated to finding flaws in the software and creating exploits and viruses. The most expensive computer virus was the MyDoom attacks […]
One Laptop Per Child, now costing 75% more …
I have had an ambivalent attitude to the One Laptop Per Child project ever since Nicholas Negroponte, stumped for an answer on the ultimate purpose of the computer, declared, “… there is […]
Jobs are from Mars, Business is from Venus
It is astonishing the lengths that humanitarian and development organisations will go to avoid talking about business or to businesses. International Labour Organisation (ILO) Director-General Juan Somavia speaking at the XIth African […]
A social entrepreneur you’ve never heard of … Raymond Ackerman
When Richard Branson or Oprah Winfrey arrive in South Africa to distribute largess you are left in no doubt that these are television stunts designed to maximise their brands. Too much showmanship […]
Just because Bush was wrong doesn't mean the troops should come home
Depending on who you speak to, the British have occupied Northern Ireland for over 800 years. Since 1921, when Ireland was partitioned into North and South, the British have been locked into […]
Internet Bubble 2.0: the future of dotcom depends on the mobile phone
In March 2000 the original dotcom Bubble 1.0 burst. With hindsight there were lots of reasons that it happened: vastly overvalued stocks in companies that didn’t sell anything and lost cash in […]
Nine signs that Open-Source is fast becoming a fascist movement
There are technology purists who – no matter what Microsoft does – will believe them evil. After all, they charge for their software. Linux’ most compelling argument has been that – for […]
Jacob’s ANC Ladder: the power of the state, the power of the party
Jacob Zuma has announced his candidacy for the South African presidency. Zuma is the ex-deputy president, fired for connections to corruption in a multi-million Rand arms deal. It gets worse: his financial […]
The Virginia Suicides
That fat bastard, Michael Moore, has had a lot to say about the tragedy in Virginia. His answer is simple: “America is a violent country.” Oh, and he blames the NRA for […]
Progressive Culture | Scholars & Rogues 