Fazeer Sheik Rahim, a macroeconomics lecturer at the University of Mauritius, started blogging in February: An Economist in Paradise. Mauritius, A Rediscovery . He's a Mauritian who has recently returned home from many years overseas, which is why his blog is billed as a "rediscovery."
Rahim has been posting every few days. The posts are carefully prepared essays on economic topics, often suggested by daily life - the economics of playground markets for sports stickers, sorting phenomona and segregation in Port Louis. While they're interesting for economists, they've been written to appeal to a broader audience as well. The audience should also extend beyond people with an interest in Mauritius; despite being billed as a "rediscovery" this is more about economics than Mauritius.
He hasn't been posting on the macroeconomics of the Mauritian economy, or on the Mauritian "growth" miracle. But a lot can be gleaned about Mauritius, and its economy, from these posts. For example, in a post explaining Thomas Schelling's ideas about sorting and self-segregating groups, he points to one of the implications of the export processing zones that contributed so much to Mauritian growth (a full appreciation of the paragraph depends on reading it in context):
The second happened [second perturbation promoting segregating behavior - Ben] in the 1980s with the creation of an Export Processing Zone (EPZ) in Plaine Lauzun, on the outskirts of Port-Louis. It is well known that in the space of 5 years, the EPZ absorbed all of the 100 000 unemployed, doubled income per head, and provided the foundations for the successful economy that we now have. What is less known is the migration of thousands of families from rural areas to the suburbs of Port-Louis, in a legitimate attempt to get their share of the economic miracle. There were prospects not only for those wanting to work in the EPZ but also for street hawkers, food vendors, shopkeepers, mechanics and all those working in sectors which were directly benefiting, like the docks. For the EPZ workers, commuting from the villages was technically feasible, but for the former, living in the capital was essential. Think of our chequerboard again: the middle-class started to move, when they realised that they were now in minority, with possible consequences on the quality of schools their children will attend and on the security of their neighbourhoods (it is worth noting that within the improved economic climate, drugs and prostitution also flourished). ("Segregation", March 6)
Rahim's academic website -with more information on his research and teaching activity - is here: Fazeer Sheik Rahim .
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