By Tom Leprince-Ringuet Correspondent, Internation Relations & Spanish Undergraduate Since the Catalonian referendum of the October 1st, 2017, followed by the unilateral declaration of independence on the 27th, Spain has been plunged into its biggest institutional crisis since democracy was restored in 1975. Spain’s outcome remains very uncertain, as the snap elections of December 21st have…
Author: devonvmaloney
Devon Maloney has worked as Managing Editor of The St Andrews Economist for three years. She is an undergraduate studying Geography. Her interests include climate policy, food security, energy, and water issues.
The Russian Election: If Not Putin, Then Who?
By Murray Lang Correspondent, International Relations & Russian In March, Russia will hold an election. There will be campaigns of a sort. There will be debates and interviews. There will even be opposition rallies and protests. But none of this will change the result that Putin will serve a fourth term as president. But it…
The Economics of Mass Shootings
By Kyra Ward Editor, Economics & International Relations Student Valentine’s Day 2018 has been marked in the United States as one of the many days that has ended in a school shooting. Like previous shootings, this one has brought back the arguments about gun control and regulation, and the extreme backlash causing mass hysteria over…
Fight for a Fair Future: Support the Strike!
By Adam Strømme Editor-in-Chief, Economics and International Relations Student The story which has bought St Andrews to strike action, alongside 60 other universities, is defined by a confusing melange of apparent contradiction, cohabiting alongside outright absurdity. To get the facts straight is, then, a crucially important task. At present, most of the student body is…
How Venezuela Became a State in Crisis
By Victoria Landaeta Correspondent, Undergraduate Student I was born in Venezuela three months before the presidential election of Hugo Chavez sparked the Bolivarian Revolution. I am writing this article to illustrate, through history and personal experience, my country’s journey from being one of the most economically promising and prosperous countries in South America, to the current…
Structural Adjustment Programs: Dependency and Poverty in Somalia and Rwanda
By Hodhan Jibril International Relations & Arabic Student In the early 1980s, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank introduced their Structural Adjustment Programs (SAPs). The programs responded to the international debt crisis in the 1970’s; developing countries could not return loans from North American and Western European banks, which had increased their lending…
Socialism or Barbarism: Reflections on Global Disorder with David North
This week, Editor-in-Chief Adam Stromme sits down with David North, a visiting Marxist scholar, active revolutionary socialist, and Chairman of the Socialist Equality Party in the United States. Background Adam Stromme: Tell us a little bit about yourself, and how you first become involved in socialist politics. David North: I’m part of a generation that…
The Economics of Desertification
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…
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