Ideas Untrapped
74 episodes - English - Latest episode: 4 months ago -a podcast about ideas on growth, progress, and prosperity
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Episodes
History and the Future of Prosperity
March 20, 2024 11:01 - 57 minutes - 52.6 MBIn this episode, I had a conversation with economic historian Johan Fourie, who is a professor of economics at Stellenbosch University, and the author of one of the most enjoyable books on economic history called Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom. We spoke about the resurgence of economic history, particularly in Africa. Johan attributes this revival to multiple factors, including an interest in understanding past economic patterns, technological advancements enabling data analysis, and scho...
The Promise and Challenges of Charter Cities
March 13, 2024 11:50 - 50 minutes - 46.5 MBIn this episode, I had a conversation with Kurtis Lockhart who is the executive director of Charter City Institute - a non-profit that thinks and executes governance models for cities to power developing economies into growth and productivity. Our conversation started with an update on the concept of Charter Cities and how they differ from traditional models like Special Economic Zones (SEZs), particularly in the context of economic development. Kurtis describes Charter Cities as new citi...
Rethinking Good Governance
March 05, 2024 15:35 - 1 hour - 77 MBWelcome to another episode of Ideas Untrapped podcast. In this episode, I spoke to Portia Roelofs who is a Lecturer in Politics at the Department of Political Economy at King's College London, and also a research associate at the African Studies Centre in Oxford. She is the author of a fantastic book titled Good Governance in Nigeria; Rethinking Accountability and Transparency in the Twenty-First Century. Portia critiques the "good governance" agenda, arguing it's a continuation of struct...
LANT PRITCHETT ON EVERYTHING part 2
March 24, 2023 11:00 - 52 minutes - 35.9 MBHello everyone, and you are listening to Ideas Untrapped podcast. This episode is a continuation of my two-part conversation with Lant Pritchett. It concludes the discussion on education with the five things Lant would recommend to a policymaker on education policy, how to balance the globalized demand for good governance with the design of state functionalities within a localized context - along with RCTs in development and charter cities. I also got an exclusive one of his infamous ‘‘Lant...
LANT PRITCHETT ON EVERYTHING part 1
March 17, 2023 11:15 - 52 minutes - 36.2 MBWelcome to the Ideas Untrapped podcast - and my guest today is Development Economist Lant Pritchett. He is one of the most incisive and insightful scholars in the field, and his influence at the frontier of development research cannot be overstated. His research mostly focuses on economic growth, its contributing factors, and the development implications for peoples and countries. It was a privilege for me to talk to Lant, and I took the chance to ask him questions about some of the big them...
SCIENCE, SKEPTICISM, AND TRUTH
March 11, 2023 09:12 - 45 minutes - 31.3 MBHello everyone, and welcome to Ideas Untrapped podcast. My guest for this episode is Decision Scientist, Oliver Beige - who is returning to the podcast for the third time. Oliver is not just a multidisciplinary expert, he is one of my favourite people in the world. In this episode, we talk about scientific expertise, the norms of academia, peer review, and how it all relates to academic claims about finding the truth. Oliver emphasized the importance of understanding the imperfections in aca...
The Illusion of Autocracy
February 18, 2023 07:04 - 33 minutes - 23.1 MBWelcome to Ideas Untrapped. My guest today is Vincent Geloso who is a professor of economics at George Mason University. He studies economic history, political economy, and the measurement of living standards. In today's episode, we discuss the differences between democracies and dictatorships, and their relative performance in socioeconomic development. The allure of authoritarian governance has grown tremendously due to the economic success of countries like China, Korea, and Singapore - w...
Why Education, Electricity, And Fertility Matter for Development
January 21, 2023 10:14 - 1 hour - 56 MBWelcome to another episode of Ideas Untrapped. My guest today is Charlie Robertson, who is the chief economist of Renaissance Capital - a global investment bank - and in this episode we talked about the subject of Charlie’s new book, "The Time-Travelling Economist''. The book explores the connection between education, electricity, and fertility to economic development. The thrust of the book's argument is that no poor country can escape poverty without education, and that electricity is an i...
MUDDLING THROUGH - BANGLADESH'S DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY
December 12, 2022 09:05 - 1 hour - 59 MBThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.ideasuntrapped.com Bangladesh has transformed tremendously in the last twenty-five years. Average incomes have more than quadrupled, and many of its human development indicators have improved alongside. It has also become an export powerhouse with its garment industry, and generally a shining example of development - though things are far from perfect. Five decades ago, w…
MUDDLING THROUGH - BANGLADESH'S DEVELOPMENT JOURNEY
December 12, 2022 09:05 - 1 hour - 59 MBThis is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.ideasuntrapped.com Bangladesh has transformed tremendously in the last twenty-five years. Average incomes have more than quadrupled, and many of its human development indicators have improved alongside. It has also become an export powerhouse with its garment industry, and generally a shining example of development - though things are far from perfect. Five decades ago, w…
PRODUCTIVITY, EXPORTING, AND DEVELOPMENT
November 29, 2022 15:16 - 48 minutes - 67.1 MBWe often speak of economic development as a phenomenon of sovereign national countries, but the process by which that happens is through what happens at individual firms in the economy. The decisions by firms to upgrade their products (services), export, and adopt new technology are the most important determinants of economic development. The incentives and conditions that shape these decisions are the subjects of my conversation with my guest on this episode. Eric Verhoogen is a professor o...
GAMBLING ON DEVELOPMENT
October 18, 2022 09:29 - 1 hour - 116 MBMy guest on this episode is Stefan Dercon - author of the recently published and most excellent book ‘Gambling on Development: Why Some Countries Win and Others Lose’. Development scholars have produced many explanations for why some countries did better than others after the Second World War. Factors like geography, quality or type of institutions, foreign aid, and protective trade policies, have been argued as what explains this divergence in national prosperity between countries. Dercon's...
TALKING CITIES WITH A LEGEND
October 05, 2022 03:05 - 56 minutes - 77 MBI was thrilled to get a chance to talk about cities with Alain Bertaud - he has been one of the most important thinkers in urban planning for the past fifty years. His book Order Without Design is a must-read and an excellent summary of his research (conducted in collaboration with his wife Marie-Agnes, an urban planning scholar in her own right) project with aim of bridging the gap between urban planning and urban economics. Alain is a brilliant and generous teacher who has greatly influenc...
UNDERSTANDING CHINA'S DEVELOPMENT
September 09, 2022 12:54 - 47 minutes - 65.1 MBIt is difficult to overstate China's rise in terms of economic development in the four decades - growing from one of the poorest countries to becoming the world's second-largest economy. China has also become an important geopolitical partner to many developing countries, and it is quite common to encounter talk of the ‘‘China model’’ of development as being more suitable for many African countries that have struggled with economic transformation. Joining me on today's episode is political ...
UNDERSTANDING INNOVATION
June 16, 2022 22:14 - 38 minutesInnovation is the key ingredient to human material prosperity and an essential factor in economic development. But the importance of innovation is often misunderstood because of the common belief that poorer nations need not invent anything new and can always copy existing technologies from the richer nations - hence innovation policies are often missing from the development agenda of most developing countries. My guest today is social scientist and innovation policy expert Dan Breznitz - an...
INSECURITY IN NIGERIA
June 13, 2022 09:08 - 1 hourIf you ask any Nigerian today what the number one problem that they think political leadership should tackle - I am fairly certain security will be the overwhelming answer. In the last week alone there have been two deadly attacks in the Ondo state and Kaduna state with scores of people murdered in their homes and places of worship. Go back a week further, and the number of such murderous attacks would have risen to six. What many Nigerians depressing is that the problem is worsening and spr...
RELIGION AND DEVELOPMENT
May 18, 2022 13:12 - 51 minutesHow Religion shapes and influences the trajectory of a country's development path is a subject I have long been curious about - and I found persuasive answers in the work of Economic Historian Jared Rubin. Jared's book is a tour de force on how rulers and elites use religious legitimacy to propagate their rule - and the developmental implications of such equilibrium. The first part of our conversation is to get him to explain some of the fundamental concepts of his book and analysis. It is i...
FOOD POLICY AND ITS CHALLENGES
March 29, 2022 10:42 - 52 minutesThe invasion of Ukraine by Russia - and the ensuing war - has brought food prices back into the news. This is happening on the back of the Covid-19 global pandemic that also disrupted the food supply chain, causing shortages and rising prices in many countries. So how should countries set national food policies in the face of risks and uncertainties? This is the subject of my conversation with agricultural economist Fabien Tondel. He is a researcher and Policy Officer with the European Centr...
WHY WE COOPERATE
February 01, 2022 11:00 - 46 minutesHuman cooperation has been one of the most common human experiences, yet one of the most contentiously debated. For some, human cooperation is a unique moral achievement given our multitude of interests and differences. Others proclaim that we are ‘‘selfish’’ individual utility-maximizers - and cooperation is only achieved via separate institutional arrangements. Researchers on human behaviour and biology are also divided on whether our instincts for cooperative behaviour originated from ind...
EXPLAINING THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION
January 17, 2022 13:26 - 35 minutesWelcome to another season of your favourite podcast! We are starting off the season by exploring the many explanations of The Industrial Revolution with economic historian and writer Davis Kedrosky. You can learn more about Davis' work from his excellent newsletter here. You can also listen to this podcast through all the other options here. The transcript of the conversation is below. TRANSCRIPT Tobi; So briefly, what is the Industrial Revolution? And what is its significance? I mean, ...
TALKING SUPPLY CHAINS
December 03, 2021 11:38 - 36 minutesSupply chains have been in the news a lot lately - because there have been shortages of many important things like food, semiconductor microchips, heating and cooking gas, and even shipping containers. Prices of many commodities have gone through the roof because of these shortages, and policymakers globally are scrambling to find a solution especially with the holiday season coming around. I tried to unpack some of the issues with Decision Scientist Oliver Beige. We also revisit some of the...
PHARMACEUTICAL RESEARCH AND ITS COMPLEXITIES
November 15, 2021 11:01 - 47 minutesSurely the biggest development in the last year is the record speed with which vaccines were discovered for the Covid-19 virus that shut down the entire world. I spoke to medicinal chemist and science blogger Derek Lowe about the many issues surrounding drug discovery like regulatory constraints, funding, and many other issues in the industry. Enjoy the conversation with Derek Lowe - and the transcript is available for paid subscribers. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss th...
REMAKING A NATION
November 15, 2021 10:48 - 1 hourI spoke to Christopher Ogunmodede about some of the major themes from the events in Nigeria over the past year. We also talked about some of his more radical ideas - like the abolition of the nation-state. Talking to Chris always leaves me more informed and perceptive - and I want to thank him for being always willing to share his knowledge. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.ideasuntrapped.com/subscribe
RULE OF LAW AND THE REAL WORLD
October 21, 2021 08:31 - 1 hourThe problem of the rule of law is inescapable in any society - and even more especially in the context of economic development. Policies that promote prosperity cannot be devoid of considerations for the rights of people who make up the society and the economy, regardless of all technocratic pretensions otherwise. Adam Smith himself stated that economic prosperity thus requires ''a tolerable administration of justice''. Some readers might already start objecting to my treatment of the rule o...
EVALUATION OF INTERVENTIONS
October 15, 2021 15:00 - 51 minutesI had a great conversation with David Roodman - researcher and senior adviser at Open Philanthropy. He played an important role in helping us understand and interpret the evidence on the microfinance phenomenon that was sweeping through the development community a little while back. We also talked about his work in evaluating foreign aid, how his background in mathematics has helped him throughout his career, and why he writes so well. The transcript for this episode is available for paid ...
THE RETURN OF INDUSTRIAL POLICY
September 21, 2021 10:44 - 52 minutesI had a very stimulating conversation with Nathan Lane. Nathan is an empirical economist and an Associate Professor of economics at the University of Oxford. His research focuses on the political economy of development, the economics of the state, and Industrial Policy. Nathan's work combines new methods from data science and traditional micro-data to understand questions at the heart of economic development -in particular, industrial development. His work has focused on the policies behind...
THE TRANSFORMATION CHALLENGE
August 13, 2021 12:30 - 52 minutesMany low-income countries confront the challenge of transforming from an agrarian or resource-based economy to an industrial economy. We can see this in how countries struggle to diversify their exports and sources of public revenues. Nurturing a policy environment for economic transformation - despite the abundance of literature and example for the recent East Asian experience - is often the hardest part of the challenge. Joining me on today's episode to explore this and many more is econo...
SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AND THE COLLECTIVE GOOD
July 30, 2021 14:00 - 52 minutesWelcome to another episode of Ideas Untrapped podcast, where we discuss ideas that promote progress, prosperity, and economic development. We do this by speaking to academics, industry experts, and other creative social thinkers. My guest on this episode is Robert Frank, professor of economics at Cornell University, New York. Robert is my favourite economist because he presents complex ideas in simple intuitive details. His works straddle the nexus of economics, psychology, and biosocial eco...
DEVELOPMENT AS COMPETITIVENESS
July 15, 2021 14:08 - 44 minutesI spoke to macroeconomic analyst Karthik Sankaran about many of his brilliant insights on economic development process. Karthik long and broad experience working on emerging markets shines through our entire conversation. His gift of wit and summarizing complex economic into understandable bits is one of the best I have encountered - as you can tell from his Twitter feed and blog. You can listen directly on this page or through any of the links here. You can also listen to a longer version ...
DEVELOPMENT AND CAPABILITY (EXTENDED CUT)
July 05, 2021 09:18 - 1 hourThe full conversation with Ricardo Hausmann - now with Transcript. This is a subscriber-only post. Transcript Opening musicYou are listening to ideas Untrapped with Tobi Lawson. Tobi Lawson (intro) Welcome to another episode of ideas Untrapped and my guest today is Ricardo Hausmann, who is a professor of economic development at Harvard University, he is a former director of centre for International Development, and is currently the Director of the center's growth lab. Ricardo pioneered an...
DEVELOPMENT AND CAPABILITY
July 02, 2021 11:11 - 44 minutesIt was enlightening as expected to talk to Harvard professor of economic development Ricardo Hausmann. He has a refreshing take on all of my questions - and I believe he is one of the most important thinkers on development ever. You can check out some of his work for Harvard’s CID Growth Lab (where he is the Director) here - you can also find many of his lectures on Youtube. You can listen and download directly on the website or simply search for the podcast on any of your preferred platfo...
Pandemic Post-Mortem
June 16, 2021 13:40 - 49 minutesI spoke to Decision Scientist Oliver Beige on some of the things experts got wrong about the Covid-19 infection pattern, and the policy response. We talked about those exponential predictions that were popular at the height of the pandemic, the things Japan got right, Sweden, and how society and policymakers should evaluate expert knowledge. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.ideasuntrapped.com/subscribe
ANDREW NEVIN ON OTHER THINGS
June 13, 2021 11:00 - 1 hourThe second part of my conversation with Andrew Nevin. We talked about the economic development patterns of India vs China's - and what Nigeria can learn. We also talked about his habits during the lockdown, Amartya Sen, and the habits of mind that shaped him growing up. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.ideasuntrapped.com/subscribe
ANDREW NEVIN ON BIG TRENDS
June 06, 2021 13:38 - 36 minutesAndrew Nevin - who is the chief economist of PwC West Africa - returns to the show for a record third time. I spoke to him about some of the big trends that will matter now and into the future. He provided excellent insights on the socioeconomic implications of population growth and decline, climate change, technology, and why we will need a more robust measurement of human well-being beyond GDP. You can support the show (and our mission to spread good ideas) through this page - you can do ...
CAPITAL AND THE ECONOMY
May 26, 2021 10:00 - 1 hourI had an interesting conversation with investor Andrew Alli. We spoke about how investors price risks, power sector reforms, and his views on the clamour for political “restructuring” in Nigeria. Andrew is a Development Finance veteran and in my opinion, he is still underrated as a public intellectual. Listening options away from the website are all here. You should also subscribe and rate us on any of your preferred platforms. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with o...
UNPACKING STATE CAPACITY
April 29, 2021 17:42 - 48 minutesI learned a lot having this conversation with economic historian Mark Koyama. State Capacity has become an important concept to be understood - especially with the current economic and security problems Nigeria is currently dealing with. A lot of us are also reeling from the consequences of the decisions our governments made in responding to the global pandemic. My conversation with Mark was a bit “wonkish”, so listeners unfamiliar with some of the things we discussed can read the links pro...
From Transition to Decline
April 17, 2021 14:58 - 1 hourInvestigative journalist David Hundeyin found himself having to flee the country recently because his reporting has rubbed some powerful people the wrong way. In this conversation, I started by asking him how Nigeria’s promising democratic evolution ended up at this point. We also talked about former President Goodluck Jonathan’s public relations problem, his "beef" with the non-profit Feminist Coalition that came to prominence during the nationwide protest against police brutality, and other...
Nigeria and the Electricity Problem
March 17, 2021 11:00 - 1 hourIt is quite common to hear people imply that any government that fixes Nigeria's electricity problem will enter the nation's pantheon of sainthood. But even the promise of immortality has not been enough for any meaningful change in the sector. I sat down with Timi Soleye - who is an industry player and insider (he is the President of CRYO Gas and Director of Power at Raven Energy) - for an extended chat on the issues facing the sector. Timi's take ended up being an extended commentary on th...
A NEW VISION FOR NIGERIA
February 24, 2021 14:00 - 39 minutesI had a conversation with former deputy governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Professor Kingsley Moghalu, and it was worth every minute. He explained why the CBN has taken the role it has on economic policy (and how he thinks it has overstepped), the lack of state capacity in Nigeria - and why we need a philosophical basis for governance. I also asked him about his plans for the 2023 elections, what he thinks about the next 60 years of Nigeria, and his alternative vision for the country. ...
THE COLLAPSE OF LEADERSHIP
January 06, 2021 11:30 - 42 minutesIn the first of a series of end of season episodes - host Tobi Lawson talks to Prof. Pat Utomi about the state of Nigeria, and how it all went wrong. You can listen on your preferred platform here, or from the player on the website. You can also rate us on any of the platforms or here - this helps others find the show. This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.ideasuntrapped.com/subscribe
Ideas Untrapped
December 26, 2020 10:00 - 49 minutesIt has been a little over a year since we started the podcast. Host and curator of the show Tobi Lawson is a guest on this episode - to talk about the philosophy behind the project and his opinions on many of the issues the show has discussed. You can rate us here. If you want to support our efforts in bringing you the thoughts of brilliant thinkers through these conversations, you can be a patron here. What our guests and listeners are saying… “Thank you so much…for doing this whole pro...
MAKING A NATION: THE CASE OF NIGERIA II
December 04, 2020 10:00 - 58 minutesHere is the second part of my episode with Chris Ogunmodede. We continued the discussion on Nigeria’s political economy. We touched on institutional memory in the legislature and why we need a stronger civil society. Chris is insightful as always. You can rate us here. If you want to support our efforts in bringing you the thoughts of brilliant thinkers through these conversations, you can be a patron here. TRANSCRIPT TL: This is Ideas Untrapped and my guest today is Chris Olaoluwa Ogun...
MAKING A NATION: THE CASE OF NIGERIA
November 21, 2020 11:01 - 57 minutesI have long admired the thoughts of foreign policy analyst Chris Ogunmodede through his Twitter feed, and it was a pleasure having this conversation with him. Our jump-off point was the tragic fallout from the EndSars protests. Chris’ knowledge and grasp of the core issues ensured he had deep insights on all my questions. (P.S he had some fun bashing economists). You can rate us here. If you want to support our efforts in bringing you the thoughts of brilliant thinkers through these convers...
Prosperity through Innovation
November 04, 2020 08:00 - 50 minutesI had a conversation with Efosa Ojomo of the Clay Christensen Institute. He is the co-author of the book The Prosperity Paradox - along with Karen Dillon and the late Harvard management guru Clayton Christensen. The central argument of the book is that economic development happens when businesses innovate by creating a previously non-existent market. The book has been largely shunned by development scholars and this is where I started my conversation with Efosa. I also go through some other ...
Urban Planning in Lagos
October 15, 2020 09:00 - 32 minutesI spoke to urban planning scholar Taibat Lawanson about most things Lagos city. We discussed housing, overpopulation, infrastructure, and the many problems that have made Lagos hard to live. She described Lagos as a ''complex city'' - and she is a sceptic of developments like Eko Atlantic city. TL: This is Ideas Untrapped, my guest today is Dr Taibat Lawanson who is a professor of urban planning at [the] University of Lagos. You're welcome. TL: Thank you. TL: The first question I'll li...
A Conversation About Police Reforms
October 13, 2020 15:54 - 1 hourI had a conversation with Elizabeth Omotunde, Emmanuel Era, and Ronke Bankole on the ongoing protest against police brutality in Nigeria. We thought out loud mostly on police reforms, what the legacy of the protests might be, and the complicated morass of the Nigerian bureaucracy. Many thanks to my guests for finding the time to offer their thoughts. Like I have reiterated multiple times, this is the moment for the political leadership of the country to use this example to tackle some of the...
Counting the Costs of Trade
October 08, 2020 10:01 - 58 minutesTrade economist Meredith Startz and I talked about her research on the information costs of trade. We discussed the strategies that traders use to lower costs associated with search (ensuring they get their goods to the market on time) and moral hazard costs (ensuring they get what exactly was ordered from their suppliers). We talked about how big businesses use fixed cost strategies to lower costs, the benefits of higher revenue for firms, and how innovative business models can improve cont...
Meta-Institution from the Bottom Up
September 24, 2020 13:00 - 39 minutesI had a very interesting conversation Shelby Grossman - political scientist at Stanford University. We talked about her research on informal trade in Lagos, and what we can learn generally about how institutions form from her findings. You can read this essay for a general background and explanation on what Shelby and I discussed on this episode. Download and other listening options are here - and you can kindly give us a rating here. Transcript TL: Today, I am on with Shelby Grossman. S...
IU Unplugged - with Walle Smith
September 17, 2020 08:59 - 54 minutesThe central bank’s management of the FX market and trade is back in the news again - so here is my conversation with economist Walle Smith on some of the issues. We recorded this two months ago, but some of the fundamentals have a foregoing relevance especially in the current policy climate. I started by asking Walle whether conventional monetary policy has failed in Nigeria. You can get the episode and our other episodes on most of the popular podcast players here - also kindly rate us her...
CITIES AND DEVELOPMENT
August 27, 2020 13:00 - 52 minutesI had a chat with Mark Lutter, founder and executive director of Charter Cities Institutes about the potential of charter cities to boost a nation’s prosperity and development. Our conversation touched on state capacity, why American institutions appear to be failing, and why Silicon Valley elites have no political influence. You can download or listen right in the player above - or from your favourite players and podcast providers here. You can rate us here, this helps others find the show...