Think Global: Sub Saharan Africa

 By: Sam Whitty             The global financial crisis of 2007-2008 was a result of the increased liberalization of the economy and the risks that came with it. In countries across the globe, the economy was gradually deregulated. This was due to the idea that any government interference in the economy hampered its innate equilibrium. Instead, the disappearance of economic regulations did not balance the global economy but introduce it to even greater risk. The global financial crisis of 2007-2008 was caused by a global acceptance of higher risk investments that introduced a false confidence in the global economy.                  A large part of the deregulation of the global economy was led by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. In the 1970’s, these organizations offered poorer nations financial aid if they agreed to follow guidelines that would liberate their economies ( 2 ). In these agreements, the countries were required to devalue their currency, reduce state in

                   The Global Financial Crisis or Great Recession which sparked from a U.S. real estate mistake, spread like wildfire across the globe. One specific area hit hard was the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The DRC saw economic growth stop to a halt and looked towards foreign aid to pull them out of the standstill.                        The economy seized to a halt as a result of the Global Financial Crisis. The global Financial Crisis is defined as happening between 2007-2008 but most of the effects weren't felt until 2009 when economic growth declined from 6.2% in 2008 to 2.8% in 2009. Along with the economy coming to a halt, the DRC saw a sharp increase in inflation. Inflation rose to 53.4% in 2009 compared to 27.6% in 2008 and an objective inflation rate of 48.7% which was set by the government, but the target was missed and their effort to control the rate of inflation failed. ( Walliser ).                     The impact of the Global Financial Crisis had an i

  Blog #3: Ethiopia and the Global Financial Crisis of 2007-2008 By Halie Schuster                     The financial crisis of 2007-2008 spurred from a catastrophe in the United States’ real estate market. The effects of this crisis rippled across the world and transformed into the Global Financial Crisis and subsequent Great Recession, crippling the world economy. Africa countries, and more specifically Ethiopia, were not immune and Ethiopian lives suffered because of it. However, the impact of the crisis on Ethiopia was primarily indirect.                       It’s important to note that Ethiopia’s economy was not completely integrated with the global financial system. Issac Paul explains in  The Global Financial Crisis: Origin, Contagion, and Impacts on Ethiopia  that “in Ethiopia’s financial sector, mortgage borrowing is not a particularly significant activity of the national economy, is not directly affected by any “Sub-Prime Mortgage” crisis” ( Paul, 2010 ). So, while Ethiopia w

By: Sam Whitty               Nationalism is a movement of pride for one's nation and the support of policies in the interest of that nation. Nationalism is the opposite of globalization because globalization works to achieve cooperation between all people in every nation. Zakaria writes in The Post-American World that "countries are [increasingly] less willing to come together to solve common problems" (pg. 34). This is precisely because nationalism fuels competition between countries instead of cooperation. Because countries are not as willing to work together to solve global and national problems, inequality is a serious problem in many countries around the globe.               Nationalism in Malawi stems from their recent independence from British colonial rule in 1964. After British explorers and Scottish missionaries gradually took control of Malawi in the 19th century, they named the region the Shire Highlands Protectorate and renamed it Nyasaland in 1907 ( 1 ). The