By Kyra Ward Economics & International Relations Student The Kubuqi desert has never attracted much attention internationally. Even in China it is dwarfed in significance of the Gobi. Located in the northern region of China, the Kubuqi desert stands on the banks of the Yellow River. Historically, the Kubuqi has been overexploited by its host…
Boycott Economics and the Animal Agriculture Industry
By Vidur Kapur Correspondent, Medical Undergraduate “Britain is a nation of animal lovers.” On first glance, this statement has an element of truth to it: after all, we were the first country in the world to pass animal welfare legislation, and some 40% of UK households own a pet. These pets make up a sizeable chunk…
21st Century Economics: A Conversation with Ha-Joon Chang
Editor-in-Chief Adam Strømme sits down with Ha-Joon Chang, a Prospect Magazine “Top 20 World Thinker”, multi-award winning author, and Reader in Political Economy at the University of Cambridge. Adam Stromme: How did you first become interested in studying economics? Ha-Joon Chang: One is a bit more general, and the other is a bit personal. On…
Prosperity without Growth: A Conversation with Tim Jackson
Editor-in-Chief Adam Stromme talks with Tim Jackson, ecological economist, author of Prosperity Without Growth, and University of St Andrews alum. Adam Stromme: How did you first become interested in sustainability? Tim Jackson: I would say it began in April 1986. I was living in London, having just finished a PhD in Physics from St Andrews but actually…
The Man Behind Chechnya’s Purge of Gay Men
By Conor Tully Correspondent, Undergraduate IR & Russian Student On the 11th of April, Novaya Gazeta reported that over the course of February and March more than one hundred people accused of being homosexual had been illegally detained in Chechnya. Astonished at this development, further research by the Guardian, Meduza and Radio Liberty were all nonetheless…
Information Sharing, Security and Cost Post-Brexit
By Kyra Ward, Editor, Economics Student March 29th, 2017 will go down in history as the day the United Kingdom (UK) officially left the European Union (EU), and the European experiment. While it will take two years to finalize negotiations, March 29th will mark the day that Brexit (Britain’s Exit) became official. No matter how Brexit…
The Basics of Universal Income: Beyond the Divide
By Matthew Findlay Correspondent, Mathematics Undergraduate Student The idea of a universal basic income (UBI) recently entered the mainstream discussion in several countries. Finland is currently trialling the policy, and it is being lauded and criticized by commentators from across the political spectrum. So what is UBI, anyway? According to the basic income website, a UBI…
Sean Hagan discusses the IMF, the Great Recession & Student Careers
Daisy Martin talks with Sean Hagan, General Counsel and Director of the Legal Department at the International Monetary Fund. Daisy Martin: Hello Mr Hagan! Welcome to Saint Andrews and thank you very much for talking to me today. Since you started at the IMF in 1990, what was the biggest economic challenge you have faced…
Blockchain: A Tech Improvement or Revolution?
By Giovy Drysdale-Anderson Editor, Economics & English Student When Bitcoin first launched, few had heard about the world’s first digital currency functioning on a peer-to-peer system. But since its launch by Satoshi Nakamoto on October of 2008, it has played a major role in propelling us into the age of Fintechs. The various changes to traditional industries…
Chinese Aid and Investment: Aiding Africa or Themselves?
By Hodhan Jibril International Relations & Arabic Student In 2006, China invited 48 African heads of state to Beijing and with them, a fierce debate on the nature of foreign investment in Africa. According to Dambisa Moyo, a Zambian-born international economist, Africa needs foreign investment to supplement its growth. Despite the continent’s resources and low labour…
The London Terror Attack: Perspective, Honesty & Hope
By Erika Brady Columnist, PhD Student at the Handa Center of Terrorism and Political Violence The attack in London on 22 March 2017 has, unsurprisingly, been dominant in the British media for the past week. At the outset, the viewer and reader was bombarded with flashy headlines and minute by minute analysis, even when there was no…
Northern Ireland’s parties negotiate a return to power-sharing
By Conor Tully Correspondent, Undergraduate IR & Russian Student On Thursday 2nd March, Northern Ireland went to the polls for the second time in less than a year. The Executive, having withstood considerable pressure in recent years over unresolved issues from the Troubles, had collapsed. A botched energy scheme set up by the first minister —the Democratic…
