On how democratic change happens

For the economist Albert Hirschman, democracy thrives not on strong opinions but on doubt and flexibility.

The exploration of this theme was triggered by Nigeria’s Twitter ban which is proving costlier than just a regular internet shutdown.

As of Day 61, the Twitter ban had cost Nigeria $366.9 million, only Myanmar and India have had worse losses. Nigeria’s ban has affected 104.4 million internet users in the country. The loss and subsequent poverty of the people are due to poor economic management and ignorance.
 
Like most disciplines, the field of development economics came into being not because of disinterested intellectual curiosity but rather due to pressing social needs. In the late 1960s, the cue to the continual reorientation of our work has normally come from the sphere of politics; responding to that cue, students turn to research on issues of political prominence. Theories are propounded, data collected and the literature on the new problems expand.
 
In the case of economic development, the cue was the new postwar political order occasioned by the demise of empires, the onset of the Cold War, and the birth of newly independent states of the Third World. While the new discipline had a good dose of Cold War hawks, it also attracted many talented economists enticed by the prospect of contributing to the advancement of less developed countries like Nigeria, Pakistan, and Brazil.