By Dambisa Moyo
Democracy, economic growth, and political reform
Subject
Themes
Global unrest has become the defining characteristic of the twenty-first century. From the Arab Spring to Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, citizens worldwide express fury at political establishments that fail to deliver economic growth and improve living standards. This wave of discontent stems from a fundamental crisis: liberal democracy, long celebrated as the optimal system for prosperity, struggles to generate the sustained economic growth necessary for human progress.
Global unrest has become the defining characteristic of the twenty-first century. From the Arab Spring to Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, citizens worldwide express fury at political establishments that fail to deliver economic growth and improve living standards. This wave of discontent…
Published in 2018 during a period of intense global political upheaval, Edge of Chaos emerged as Dambisa Moyo's provocative contribution to debates surrounding democracy's capacity to deliver sustained economic prosperity. The book arrived in the wake of Brexit, Trump's election, and rising populist…
Economic growth stands as the foundation of human progress, societal stability, and improved living standards. Without sustained growth, poverty deepens, unemployment rises, social cohesion fractures, and political systems destabilise. The relationship between growth and wellbeing manifests in three…
Unprecedented headwinds erode the three key drivers of economic growth: capital, labour, and productivity. These structural impediments pose existential threats to global prosperity, creating conditions economists describe as potentially leading to economic depression for which existing policy tools…
Democratic systems suffer from inherent short-termism that undermines long-term economic policymaking. Politicians prioritise immediate electoral gains over addressing structural economic challenges because they must satisfy electorates to remain in office. This myopia leads to inferior policy…
Protectionism and isolationism offer no remedy for economic stagnation despite their political appeal. Historical evidence demonstrates that retreating from globalisation produces higher unemployment, reduced economic performance, and stagnating living standards. Yet politicians embrace these…
Democracy must adapt or further decay. Ten radical reforms aim to revive political decision-making quality, enhance civic responsibility and voter engagement, and forge democracy where politicians pursue and voters support long-term policymaking approaches to achieving economic growth. These…
Nearly three decades after the Berlin Wall fell, promising stability and growth through market capitalist democracies, the world again teeters on chaos. Expressions of discontent surged following the 2008 financial crisis, from Occupy Wall Street to anti-austerity marches across Europe and Arab…
Economic growth proves utterly vital to survival, success, and stability. Without it, living standards deteriorate, poverty deepens, and political systems dest abilise. South Africa exemplifies this challenge. More than twenty years after apartheid ended, living standards remain dreadful.…
Understanding why some nations grow whilst others stagnate holds the key to creating future growth. Simon Kuznets, the godfather of GDP measurement, categorised countries into four types: developed countries, underdeveloped countries, Japan (nobody knows why it grows), and Argentina (nobody knows…
Three key drivers of economic growth, capital, labour, and productivity, face erosion under unprecedented headwinds that threaten to permanently dampen global growth. These structural impediments create conditions economists describe as potentially leading to economic depression for which existing…
Protectionism offers no remedy for economic stagnation despite its political appeal. Historical evidence demonstrates that retreating from globalisation produces higher unemployment, reduced economic performance, and stagnating living standards. Yet politicians embrace these inferior policies…
Liberal democratic capitalism faces formidable challenges from alternative models that question whether democracy is a prerequisite for economic growth. The formidable economic performance over recent decades of nations that are not liberal democracies, representing 64 percent of the world's elected…
Political myopia represents the fundamental problem undermining democratic capitalism's capacity to deliver sustained economic growth. Democratic systems suffer from inherent short-termism as politicians prioritise immediate electoral gains over addressing structural economic challenges. Needing to…
Democracy must adapt or further decay. Ten radical reforms revive political decision-making quality, enhance civic responsibility, and forge democracy where politicians pursue and voters support long-term policymaking. First, policymakers should bind governments and successors more firmly to…
By Dambisa Moyo
Subject
Themes
Global unrest has become the defining characteristic of the twenty-first century. From the Arab Spring to Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, citizens worldwide express fury at political establishments that fail to deliver economic growth and improve living standards. This wave of discontent stems from a fundamental crisis: liberal democracy, long celebrated as the optimal system for prosperity, struggles to generate the sustained economic growth necessary for human progress.