Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom: SA author's book 'the first to bring Africa in from the margins'
The Money Show interviews author Johan Fourie, Professor of Economics at Stellenbosch University.
Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom by Prof. Johan Fourie. X/@JohanFourieZA
Every week The Money Show interviews the author or reviewer of a new or trending business book.
This week Stephen Grootes talked to Johan Fourie, Professor of Economics at Stellenbosch University.
He's the author of Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom, a revised edition of which came out this year.
The book's been described as the first 'to bring Africa in from the margins and place it centrally into the big narratives of world economic history'.
High praise indeed from James Robinson, co-author of Why Nations Fail.
With a plethora of schools of thought and publications available on how and why economic development happens, Prof. Fourie highlights two lessons from his book.
"There are lots of explanations and potential explanations on why nations fail, and many instituional arguments... I would say that economic historty teaches us that INNOVATION really matters..."
"Our knowledge of nature, which we'd call science, helps us to be productive and we should use that knowledge to make us more productive so any policy we think about should advance our understanding of the world, and that advancement should be used in the service of society."
"Secondly, once we are more productive and we produce these bigger surpluses, that an elite do not extract that surplus for themselves."
"It can easily happen once there's innovation that a small elite - either a politcal or in olden times perhaps a religious elite, simply extract those surpluses for themselves and most humans do not benefit from them."
"What helps us to move forward is applying those two lessons to each policy we think about when we talk about new policies today."
"Ultimately, the lesson from history is the focus on innovation, on technology. Politics is theatre and South Africans love their politics, but ultimately it's these underlying technological forces that really change us, but those things move slowly."
Prof. Johan Fourie, Author - Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom
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Description on nb Publishers:
How did Einstein help create Eskom? Why can an Indonesian volcano explain the Great Trek? What do King Zwelithini and Charlemagne have in common?
These are some of the questions Johan Fourie explores in this entertaining, accessible economic history spanning everything from the human migration out of Africa 100 000 years ago to the Covid-19 pandemic. Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom is an engaging guide to complex debates about the roots and reasons for prosperity, the march of opportunity versus the crushing boot of exploitation, and why the builders of societies – rather than the burglars – ultimately win out.
Join the author on this enriching journey through an African-centred history and the story of our long walk towards a brighter future.