Jason Hickel

This piece directly compares the core's net-appropriation from Africa’s CFA zone to China’s. We found that the core net-appropriated on average 20x more than China across materials, land and water. The disparity is even more extreme in per capita terms. jasonhickel.substack.com/p/unequal-ex...

Meanwhile, as both figures show, China provides a net-transfer of embodied energy and labour to Africa’s CFA zone, representing a degree of reciprocity that is generally not evident in the case of the core.

This piece directly compares the core's net-appropriation from Africa’s CFA zone to China’s. We found that the core net-appropriated on average 20x more than China across materials, land and water. The disparity is even more extreme in per capita terms. jasonhickel.substack.com/p/unequal-ex...

Here are the results in absolute terms, for both direct trade and final demand (the latter capturing resources that transit through third countries).

Who is draining Africa? This figure shows net-appropriation of resources from Africa's CFA zone, illustrating two key facts. 1) Eurozone countries are the biggest appropriators, benefitting from the Francafrique system. 2) Contrary to conventional Western narratives, China's appropriation is tiny.

The model we used provides data only through 2015. In a forthcoming paper we assess trends through 2023, looking not only at per capita but also absolute flows, exchange ratios, price levels etc.

Who is draining Africa? This figure shows net-appropriation of resources from Africa's CFA zone, illustrating two key facts. 1) Eurozone countries are the biggest appropriators, benefitting from the Francafrique system. 2) Contrary to conventional Western narratives, China's appropriation is tiny.

The data comes from this paper, just published in New Political Economy, where you can find the full results and discussion. www.tandfonline.com/eprint/RABZF...

I'm happy to announce this new paper we have, exploring unequal exchange between France and the African CFA zone. Here's a few key points 🧵, and a free PDF at the end. www.tandfonline.com/eprint/RABZF...

At least for the CFA zone, this finding challenges the dominant narrative that China has a uniquely exploitative relationship with Africa. In fact, it is the Eurozone countries that are the main appropriators from this region, while it enjoys more beneficial terms of trade with China.

I'm happy to announce this new paper we have, exploring unequal exchange between France and the African CFA zone. Here's a few key points 🧵, and a free PDF at the end. www.tandfonline.com/eprint/RABZF...

Interestingly, we found that other core Eurozone economies also appropriated large quantities from the CFA zone, much more than non-Eurozone core economies like the USA or UK, apparently benefitting from the Françafrique monetary system pegged to the Euro. Here's the figure for embodied land:

I'm happy to announce this new paper we have, exploring unequal exchange between France and the African CFA zone. Here's a few key points 🧵, and a free PDF at the end. www.tandfonline.com/eprint/RABZF...

I'm excited to announce this new piece we have in Nature Sustainability, on the question of post-growth and China. To me, this is the important point: post-growth *must* take account of world-system dynamics and should facilitate, not compromise, Southern liberation. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Note that our convergence scenario targets $34,000 GDP per capita PPP. This is 50% higher than current global GDP. But our scenario does not include sectoral change, as post-growth should (!), which can enable faster decoupling and increase the level of GDP that is compatible with Paris goals.

I'm excited to announce this new piece we have in Nature Sustainability, on the question of post-growth and China. To me, this is the important point: post-growth *must* take account of world-system dynamics and should facilitate, not compromise, Southern liberation. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

We also ask: in a scenario where the core degrows at a rate of 5%, would China face adverse economic consequences? We find the answer is no, hardly at all. In fact, across the South, any harms due to Northern degrowth would be a small fraction of baseline growth rates.

I'm excited to announce this new piece we have in Nature Sustainability, on the question of post-growth and China. To me, this is the important point: post-growth *must* take account of world-system dynamics and should facilitate, not compromise, Southern liberation. www.nature.com/articles/s41...