In a previous post, I talked about street vendors in Lagos. You may be surprised that street trading has been banned in the state. This is one of the first things I heard when I had just arrived here. How come street trading is banned, and you see street vendors all over? It's an indicator…

What is an ethical free rider? Working in an ethically healthy firm has enormous benefits: at the internal level of the organization one may for instance have access to more information or enjoy more freedom and larger responsibilities due to an atmosphere of trust. At the level of external relations, the good reputation may attract investors,…

Oh no, not again, more theory about what economists do!  Don’t worry;  today it’s about Charlie Chaplin and broken glass too.  The other day I read a letter to the editor in the FT titled, “Economics in just one sentence” (in the February 25, 2014 paper version).  It dealt with the question at hand -…

Driving in Lagos (and Nigeria) is quite something. The daily challenge on my way back home is to access the road: this requires crossing two lanes densely populated with cars, and then turn left. Once there, you have to watch for pedestrians who run across, vans loaded with people that overflow, and other cars aggressively…