Charter Cities Podcast

The complex history of democracy and its global origins isn’t taught in school. Thankfully, there are plenty of ways to self-educate. On today’s episode, we speak with David Stasavage, a Professor of Political Science and Dean of Social Sciences at the University of New York. He allows us to dip into his incredible wealth of knowledge around the history of this form of governance, as well as giving us his insights and predictions for its future. You’ll hear about the role of technology and geography in the emergence (or non-emergence) of democracy across the globe. We talk about the factors that influence the strength of a city’s fiscal position and David suggests an extreme solution to restoring that power: to disallow the issuing of debt. Next, we talk about the growth rates of autonomous cities, how location and craft guild contribute to growth, and David tells us why the effectiveness of political inclusion rests on how a society is organized. We dive into Olson’s theory of the stationary versus roving bandit, and discuss exit options through the lens of Carneiro’s Circumspection Theory. David weighs in on Herbst’s view that redrawing borders can reduce conflict, and gives us his prediction for how democracy will fare with populism and technocracy in mind. We touch on theories by Henry Pierrine and David recommends Wim Blockman’s research as a rich resource on cities and representation. Tune in for a thorough look into the history of democracy with the future in mind! Key Points From This Episode: •   The topic of David’s recently published book, The Decline and Rise of Democracy.•   The global origins of democracy which contradict the idea of it starting in Athens.•   How technology and geography play into the emergence of democracy (or not).•   Why cities and smaller states could accrue long-term debt as early as the 13th century.•   How the strength of the central political unit dictates the strength of a city’s fiscal position.•   An extreme solution to restoring a city’s fiscal strength: disallow the issuing of debt.•   We discuss the reversal of faster growth rates in autonomous cities after 100 years.•   How location and craft guild influenced the growth of cities throughout history.•   Why the effect of political inclusion depends upon how society itself is organized.•   We discuss Olson’s stationary versus roving bandit theory.•   Exit options through the lens of Robert Carneiro’s Circumscription Theory.•   David weighs in on Herbst’s view that redrawing borders can reduce conflict.•   Why, if you have collective governance first, the possibility for bureaucracy is greater.•   Local elections as a way for autocratic rulers to gather information.•   How David foresees political institutions navigating outdated laws and godlike technology.•   The role of connection and disconnection to the state in decentralization, and local control.•   David’s prediction on how democracy will fare with populism and technocracy in mind.•   Why it might be true that government officials can’t achieve anything alone.•   We discuss the theory outlined in Henry Pierrine’s Early Democracies in the Low Countries.•   Wim Blockman’s research as a powerful resource on cities and representation.•   David’s book in gestation about the future of democracy.  Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:David StasavageDavid Stasavage on TwitterDavid Stasavage on LinkedInThe Decline and Rise of DemocracyCities of CommercyStates and Power in AfricaEarly Democracies in the Low CountriesCharter Cities InstituteCharter Cities Institute on FacebookCharter Cities Institute on TwitterCharter Cities Institute on LinkedIn

There has never been an immortal society. No matter how technologically advanced our own society is, it is unlikely to be an exception. In order to achieve a positive future that defies these odds, it is critical that we understand the hidden forces that shape society. To help us do that is today’s guest, Samo Burja, a sociologist and the Founder of Bismarck Analysis, a consulting firm that investigates the political and institutional landscape of society. Samo is a Research Fellow at the Long Now Foundation, where he studies how institutions can endure for centuries and millennia, and a Senior Research Fellow in Political Science at the Foresight Institute, where he advises how institutions can shape the future of technology. He is also a writer and a sought-after speaker on history, institutions, and strategy, with a focus on exceptional leaders that create new social and political forms. He has systematized this approach as the Great Founder Theory, which he shares with us today.Listening in, you’ll find out why Samo believes that a small number of functional institutions founded by exceptional individuals form the core of society, what an archeological site in Turkey tells us about the history of complex human social behavior, and what his predictions are for the evolution of the American state and its institutions. Learn what role software engineers play in accelerating cultural and perhaps even political change, what the chances are of the entire world becoming ‘weird’, and the effects that mass supersonic travel will have on cities, plus a whole lot more! Tune in today!Key Points From This Episode:•   Samo describes his Great Founder Theory and how it is distinct from “great man history.”•   He weighs in on the natural endowments or geographical determinism arguments.•   How incremental cultural developments and traditions fit into Great Founder Theory.•   How Great Founder Theory differs from theories like Marxism.•   Hear why Samo believes that social and material technology build on one another.•   Some of the most underrated great founders in history; Confucius and King Ptolemy of Egypt.•   What characteristics the great founder of a city needs, including dogged determination.•   The importance of having an awareness of different cultures and how they co-exist.•   What Gobekli Tepe tells us about the correlation between agriculture and early civilization.•   Learn how Gobekli Tepe changes our view on the history of complex human societies.•   Why Samo believes we will continue to find sites that force us to revise our preconceptions.•   The reason for the inward-looking nature of many professions in the Western world.•   How this myopia became particularly apparent in the public health sector during COVID.•   How bureaucracies could benefit from working with talented and widely followed bloggers.•   Samo shares his predictions for the evolution of the American state and its institutions; how decayed institutions are a barrier to technology.•   Some of the reasons Samo has to be cautiously optimistic about the future of the US.•   The cultural innovation that follows forging a new middle-class, as Samo is seeing happening with software engineers in Silicon Valley.•   The bravery required to accelerate this change and engage political processes.•   Samo’s response to the entire world becoming ‘weird’ (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, and democratic) in two generations.•   His reflection on recent alien observations discourse and the possibility of interstellar travel.•   Where to build new cities and how they engage with broader regional and cultural economies.•   Samo explains how he believes a city should be organized politically and otherwise to maximize its development and quality of life.Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Samo BurjaSamo Burja on TwitterSamo Burja on LinkedInSamo Burja on YouTubeBismarck AnalysisLong Now FoundationForesight InstituteWeapons Systems and Political Stability‘Why Civilization Is Older Than We Thought’Slate Star CodexMarc Andreessen

Today’s guest is Feyi Fawehinmi, author of Formation: The Making of Nigeria from Jihad to Amalgamation. Feyi joins us on the show to talk about the period of history in Nigeria that his book covers and we kick things of hearing our guest talk about his reasons for writing the book. After the Civil War in Nigeria, there was a cultural prohibition on developing a sense of history because of the risk of upsetting an unstable political equilibrium. This combined with a very demographically young country means that many people, therefore, don't know the history of the formation of their state. After providing the context behind the book, Feyi dives into the events it covers, beginning in 1804 with a Jihad led by the Fulani in the northwest part of today's Nigeria which led to the Sokoto caliphate. Feyi takes us through the effects of this Jihad, the role of the ending of the transatlantic slave trade, and the events that led up to European colonization. He gets into the tactics the British used to take over and rule Nigeria and then brings us right up to the present moment in Nigeria. After weighing in on some of the current tensions around migration and oil, Feyi gives us his perspectives on whether we can still expect Nigeria to be a state in 30 years. Wrapping up on a more positive note, we speak about Nigeria’s status as a tech hub and hear Feyi’s views on why this might be.Key Points From This Episode:• A biased telling of history in Nigeria after the civil war and how Feyi’s book corrects this.• The situation in Nigeria where Feyi’s book starts from; the waging of a state-building jihad in 1804.• Local slavery practices in Nigeria during the caliphate versus how Europeans treated slaves.• The role of the ending of the transatlantic slave trade in events in Nigeria.• Tsetse flies making animal husbandry difficult and the main role of slaves in Nigeria for transportation.• How missionary educated slaves returned to Nigeria and became a new elite.• The bargain struck by the new elite to stop violent neighboring tribes which led to colonization.• Events that led to the formation of the Hausa-Fulani and Feyi’s definition of ethnic groups.• The diverse amount of languages and ethnic groups in Nigeria and the movements that led to this.• The power play between Europeans in Nigeria and what led to them heading inland.• The role of the maxim gun and the Berlin conference in the spread of colonialism in Nigeria.• Joseph Chamberlain’s approach and how the Europeans developed and governed Nigeria.• Why Britain ended up deciding to amalgamate North and South Nigeria.• The difference between French and British colonialism and the after-effects on former colonies.• The current situation in Nigeria; weaponization of civil war and discrimination against Igbo people.• Climate change causing Fulani migrations to feed cattle and the tensions this is causing.• Feyi’s perspectives on whether Nigeria will still be a state in 30 years.• Thoughts from Feyi on why Nigeria is such a tech hub. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Feyi Fawehinmi on TwitterFormation: The Making of Nigeria from Jihad to Amalgamation

Refugees bring skills, talents, and aspirations and can be a benefit rather than a burden to receiving societies. Realizing this potential relies on moving beyond a purely humanitarian focus to fully include refugees in host-country economies, build economic opportunities in refugee-hosting regions, and navigate the ambiguous politics of refugee protection. In today’s episode of the Charter Cities Podcast, Kurtis Lockhart speaks with Alexander Betts, a Professor of Forced Migration and International Affairs at the University of Oxford, about refugee economics and the role that the private sector, technology, and innovation have to play in the global refugee crisis. Alex currently leads the Refugee Economies program at Oxford, where his research focuses on the political economy of refugee assistance with a focus on African countries. His book, Refuge, co-written with economist Paul Collier, was named one of the best books of the year by the Economist in 2017, and he has written several other books on migration and refugee issues, most recently The Wealth of Refugees, which came out earlier this year. Alex is uniquely qualified to share his insights into the Jordan Compact, as he does in this episode, and he reflects on how displaced people can build economies, the value of providing refugees with basic socio-economic rights and entitlements, and what constitutes meaningful, dignified work for refugee communities. To learn more, make sure to tune in today!Key Points From This Episode:• An introduction to Alexander Betts and his passion for running and debating.• What Alex learned about UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) while working there and how it has informed his work.• How his time in Silicon Valley influenced his thinking and led to Refugee Economics.• Learn about the Jordan Compact and the opportunities it creates for Syrian refugees.• The value of giving refugees basic socio-economic rights and entitlements.• Replicating this special economic zone strategy for refugees in a context-specific manner.• The main impacts of the Jordan Compact, its political successes and economic weaknesses.• Why one of the main challenges has been the gender dimensions of the Compact.• The critiques of the Compact that Alex takes most seriously, including what constitutes meaningful, dignified work for refugees.• Why Alex believes a history of refugee self-reliance has been forgotten.• Hear more about Alex’s research in Africa and the ethical scope for randomized control trials.• The challenge of doing harm to vulnerable populations through random experimentation.• How Alex explored a natural experiment model in Kenya’s Kalobeyei and Kakuma camps.• Why the disconnect between the success of refugee self-reliance and economic inclusion and the lack of adoption more broadly.• Comparing refugees’ economic lives in rural versus urban areas; the pros and cons of each.• What interaction or contact does for social cohesion between host communities and refugees.• How the costliness and fragmentation of African cities can lead to the exclusion of refugees.• The role of cash transfers from organizations in urban assistance models for refugees.• The key support, training, and access to opportunity that refugee-led organizations provide.• Alex reflects on how to get big bureaucracy like UNHCR to embrace change and be more proactive rather than reactive.• Combining status quo options to the benefit of refugees, host communities, and countries.• Hear what Alex is working on now and the inherent value of participatory research methods. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Alexander BettsAlexander Betts on TwitterRefugeThe Wealth of RefugeesRefugee EconomicsUNHCRTalent Beyond Boundaries

Our guest today is Joachim Rücker, who currently serves as a key partner in the Sustainable Development Zone Alliance. Preceded by a varied and fascinating career, Joachim served as a special representative of the United Nations Secretary-General for Kosovo for the duration of its transition to independence and was responsible for its economic reconstruction. He was also the Mayor of a German Industrial City, called Sindelfingen for almost ten years, and has been stationed abroad on numerous occasions with the German Foreign Service in various countries, particularly in Africa. Joachim describes how it all came together in 2017 and 2018 when their company decided to pursue making a positive global impact in migration, humanitarian, and development policies. In our conversation, we discuss Joachim’s work with the Sustainable Development Zone Alliance and how they are utilizing Sustainable Development Zones (SDZs) and Brownfield sites to improve the lives of migrants and increase the transitions from the informal sector to the formal sector. Joachim outlines three key points when considering their new paradigm around integration in cities and the importance of offering integration options for migrants. Find out why it’s important to have an administrative framework in SDZs that exists as a separate entity to the central government, and Joachim explains the importance of collaborating with the local government and grassroots organizations, citing a successful example in Libya when working with local government, even though the central government was fragile and heavily compromised. Finally, we talk about Joachim’s time in Kosovo and how he sees SDZs playing out in the next 20 years. All this and much more. We hope you’ll join us! Key Points From This Episode: ●     Meet today’s guest, Joachim Rücker.●     An outline of SDZs and how they resemble charter cities.●     How the Sustainable Development Zones Alliance is working to support cities during a huge increase in urbanization.●     The challenges of moving people out of the informal sector.●     Why SDZs are helpful tools in moving people out of the informal sector.●     Their use of elements from special administrative and legal frameworks to solve problems.●     Three key points when considering Joachim’s new paradigm around integration in cities.●     Firstly, hear about the importance of avoiding the ‘objects of care’ trap.●     Secondly, Joachim shares why it’s so important for migrants to have a connection with urban developments.●     Lastly, he highlights the necessity of a special legal framework outside of the original city.●     Why migrants are unlikely to return to places where they were violently oppressed.●     The importance of offering local integration options.●     How SDZs determine which sectors of the population to focus on.●     How to go about determining the administration for a particular SDZ.●     The governance authority that SDZs need to be successful.●     What SDZs might look like in 20 years and how they could resemble other decentralized innovations.●     Being in contact with both local government and grassroots movements and organizations when setting up an SDZ.●     Working with local leaders when the central government is fragile, as it is in Libya.●     Why SDZs require donors and investors and how to get them involved.●     Why Joachim doesn’t anticipate hiring problems when countries often have more qualified individuals than jobs available.●     Why a multilateral organization like the UN should be involved in SDZs in a supervisory role.●     The lessons that Joachim draws from Paul Rohmer, the Jordan Compact, and the unfortunate perception of charter cities as neocolonial.●     Joachim talks about his time in Kosovo and the lessons he learned.●     Why Joachim and his team have chosen to pursue Brownfield sites for SDZs and how it informs their broader strategy. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Joachim RückerJoachim Rücker on LinkedInCharter Cities InstituteCharter Cities Institute on FacebookCharter Cities Institute on TwitterCharter Cities Institute on LinkedIn

Our guest today is Alon Levy, a fellow with the NYU Marron Institute. Their research focuses on public transportation and how to apply best practices from cities around the world. Our conversation is about the influence of politics and culture on the cost of building rail-based infrastructure projects across the globe and Alon sketches out many different scenarios, highlighting examples of good or bad construction. Poor building practices often mean cost overrun and surplus extraction and Alon attributes them to cultural elitism, isomorphic mimicry, the ‘design-build plague’, and the hollowing out of the public sector, depending on what country he is speaking about. In the case of the US, part of the reason for the bloated cost premium is a refusal to accept and adopt better building practices from outside its borders and the continued use of outdated models. For some lower-income countries discussed, we see a tendency to adopt practices used by countries perceived to be superior, even though their practices are inherently bad or might not be relevant in a new context. Our conversation also covers recommendations for how a lower-income country like Lagos might approach subway building and the best examples they should follow. For a conversation packed with examples of how political conditions, cultural tendencies, and legal practices influence railway infrastructure building in different countries and the effects this has on cost, be sure to tune in today. Key Points From This Episode: •  How Alon got interested in infrastructure while riding NYC trains.•  Definitions of different rail-based transport types to be found in cities.•  Cost differences of constructing different rail-based transport across the globe.•  Cultural elitism and why there is a cost premium on American rapid transit.•  The high cost of rail transport construction in countries whose planning logistics happen in English and are inherited from America.•  A deterioration in building practices leading to higher construction costs in America.•  The spread of a design-build plague in America and from America outward.•  The role of perceived externality and NIMBYism in producing cost overrun and surplus extraction.•  Hollowing out of the public sector and the overabundance of informal pressures in the private sector.•  The issue of environmental protection laws being enforced by lawsuits rather than internal bureaucracy.•  The evolution of high-cost building techniques in New York.•  Perspectives on effective bureaucracy and the politics of railway building practices in Italy, France, Germany, and Spain.•  How the cost of mega infrastructure projects will evolve considering China and America’s influences.•  The role of isomorphic mimicry and cultural abnegation in inheriting poor building practices.•  Different cultural practices around how close to the city to put that stop’s station.•  Why optimizing for security instead of transportation effectiveness is paranoid.•  Problems with Biden’s infrastructure plan including the budget for State of Good Repair.•  The hallucination that the Anglosphere is the best; American tendencies to point out imagined problems in other cultures as an argument against adopting cheaper methods.•  How Lagos or low-income countries should approach building a subway.•  Perspectives on the internet and outside voices influencing on-the-ground challenges. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Charter Cities InstituteCharter Cities Institute on FacebookCharter Cities Institute on TwitterCharter Cities Institute on LinkedInAlon LevyAlon Levy on Twitter

Today’s guest is Erin McDonnell, Professor of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame. She joins us on the show to discuss her recent book Patchwork Leviathan, which looks at the emergence of bureaucratic pockets of effectiveness, or high performing groups, within otherwise weak state administrations with a particular focus on Ghana. We unpack Erin’s findings on the causes of these bureaucratic pockets of effectiveness, hearing Erin firstly sketch out what she calls the dual habitus brain. In the pockets of effectiveness Erin studied, she found that many of the participants shared an educational profile which they melded with their knowledge of local conditions. We consider other possible causes of pockets of effectiveness such as team dynamics, the ability to use discretion, systems for reward and the acceptance of failure, and human motives that are difficult to measure formally. We also consider some of the characteristics that keep these pockets of effectiveness robust, a particularly unexpected one being the characteristic of built-in redundancy. Other themes discussed are whether the recent discovery of oil poses a threat to Ghanaian pockets of effectiveness, Erin’s personal approach to effective bureaucratic management, and a whole lot more. So for an episode packed with personal anecdotes and local case studies from Ghana and beyond tune in today!  Key Points From This Episode:•  How bureaucracies are made up of human beings, not just rules.•  Erin’s experiences of Ghanaian culture; food, people, and her fieldwork.•  Perspectives on the idea that there is a lot of variation within states.•  Why Erin’s research began with identifying high-performing groups of the state.•  The common educational profile of people in Ghanaian pockets of effectiveness.•  Better transnational institutional transfer after melding foreign practices in a local context.•  How the idea of the ‘founding team’ factors into pockets of effectiveness.•  What principal agent theory gets wrong when studying bureaucracies.•  Perspectives on agency autonomy and how it plays into cultivating pockets of effectiveness.•  How the charter city can become its own pocket of effectiveness.•  Examples of how discretion is a motivating force for people who are pro-socially minded.•  How systems of reward and acceptance of failure can drive motivation.•  Perspectives on the role of clustering and agglomeration in shaping new culture in cities and pockets of effectiveness.•  The role of redundancy in keeping pockets of effectiveness more stable.•  Whether the recent discovery of oil in Ghana poses a threat to pockets of effectiveness.•  The role of informal characteristics in accomplishing tasks in organizations and how these are measured.•  Contrasts and connections between ‘positive deviance’, ‘problem-driven iterative adaptation’, and pockets of effectiveness theories.•  Why Erin is skeptical about the idea of changing civil service codes in Ghana.•  Erin’s personal approach to effective bureaucratic management.  Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Charter Cities InstituteCharter Cities Institute on FacebookCharter Cities Institute on TwitterCharter Cities Institute on LinkedInErin McDonnellUniversity of Notre DamePatchwork LeviathanEpisode 25 with Yuen Yuen AngSaskia SassenThe Weirdest People in the WorldElinor OstromChris Blattman

A largely unexplored counterargument to immigration liberalization is that immigrants who come from countries with worse institutions will make the institutions in their destination country worse. In Wretched Refuse? The Political Economy of Immigration and Institutions, Alex Nowrasteh and Benjamin Powell respond to this argument and today we have Alex on the show to elaborate on their findings. Our conversation begins with a discussion on the foundational piece by Michael Clemens, ‘Trillion-Dollar Bills on the Sidewalk’. This paper finds that the marginal immigrant to the United States from a developing country can expect a fourfold increase in their wages, and the result of a global, free migration policy would be to increase global GDP by about 50% to 150%. Alex then unpacks why immigrating would be the most efficient option for improving an immigrant’s life. He responds to the arguments that immigrants should improve their home countries rather than immigrate and that the home countries of immigrants will worsen thanks to ‘brain drain’. Later in our conversation, Alex addresses the deep roots theory which proposes that the ancestry metrics of societies influence their GDP per capita. He then weighs in on whether culture impacts economic production. We hear about the central finding of Wretched Refuse, which is that immigrants don't worsen economic institutions in places where they go and in some cases improve them. Wrapping up, Alex shares his perspectives on changing immigration visa laws in the US and what the next ten years might hold in that respect. Tune in today! Key Points From This Episode: •  The argument that immigration does not destroy the institutions responsible for prosperity in the modern world to be found in Alex’s book.•  Why immigrants from Yemen will 16X their salary after moving to the US.•  Alex’s response to the ‘Why don’t immigrants fix their home country rather?’ argument.•  The question of brain drain when immigrants leave their home countries and why matters are more complex than this.•  Why the overall economic gains immigrants offer to the US outweigh the threat they pose to some salaries.•  Why Alex is a skeptic when it comes to the deep roots argument for prosperity.•  Perspectives on the many reasons for why economic status of a country can change.•  The impacts of culture and trust on economic growth and whether immigrants erode this.•  Examples of mass immigrations to countries with poor institutions that experienced massive economic reforms in a liberalizing direction as a result.•  Alex’s thoughts on shifting H1B visa allocation from a lottery to a wage-based system.•  How the heartland visa system might encourage higher rates of legal immigration.•  What Alex thinks will happen around immigration liberalization in the next 10 years. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Charter Cities InstituteCharter Cities Institute on FacebookCharter Cities Institute on TwitterCharter Cities Institute on LinkedInJeffrey MasonAlex NowrastehCATO Institute Center for Global Liberty and ProsperityWretched Refuse? The Political Economy of Immigration and Institutions‘Trillion-Dollar Bills on the Sidewalk’‘Post-1500 Population Flows and The Long-Run Determinants of Economic Growth and Inequality’The AnarchyFraser Institute

China’s rapid rise may seem unprecedented, but its journey is oddly familiar. The question is, where have we seen this type of development before, and what does the future have in store? Joining us today to answer this is Yuen Yuen Ang, Professor of Political Science at the University of Michigan. Her research lies at the intersection of governance, bureaucracy, business and innovation and she explores which institutions best enable adaptation. A major focal point of Yuen Yuen’s research is China’s rise since 1978. We open our conversation with Yuen Yuen by asking her about how her cultural nomadism has put her in a good position to understand China’s impressive 43-year development. After hearing how her experiences in Hong Kong, Singapore, and the United States have helped her gain a useful perspective on her studies, we dive into the concept of complex development and talk about why its needs are greater than ever. Following this, we talk to Yuen Yuen about her two books, namely China’s Gilded Age and How China Escaped the Poverty Trap. To help listeners understand China’s meteoric rise in development, Yuen Yuen compares the state to Mcdonald’s and the concept of franchising. She touches on their powerful nature of being centralized, yet having versatility through local variation. China’s “franchised” development is also linked to the way they have used corruption to bolster their development. That isn’t to say that corruption is good though, as Yuen Yuen rather points out how corruption changes in tandem with development. To hear more on China’s current state, their trajectory, and much much more, join us in this deeply insightful and thought-provoking episode. Key Points From This Episode: ●     Introducing today’s guest, Yuen Yuen Ang.●     How cultural nomadism has helped Yuen Yuen’s approach to development processes.●     Yuen Yuen talks about Singapore’s most underrated development factors.●     Hear about Yuen Yuen’s background working in complexity studies.●     The best book that helped Yuen Yuen get to grips with complexity studies.●     Yuen Yuen tells us about her book, How China Escaped the Poverty Trap.●     We boil down development into its most fundamental forms, as written about in How China Escaped the Poverty Trap.●     Why a lot of people in international development are uncomfortable with Yuen Yuen’s book.●     Comparing Chinese bureaucracy to Mcdonald’s.●     The role of SEZs in China.●     We talk to Yuen Yuen about her most recent book, China’s Gilded Age.●     Exploring the nature of corruption in capitalism and how it morphs over time.●     How China’s corruption has evolved as the country has developed.●     Yuen Yuen contrasts her two books.●     Hear about China’s grand crackdown on corruption.●     The drawbacks and doubts that come from China’s efforts to reduce corruption.●     Yuen Yuen talks about her published articles on the Belt and Road Initiative.●     Hear about the beehive campaign.●     We answer: Will China become a technological leader of the future?●     Stay tuned to hear details on Yuen Yuen’s upcoming book.  Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:Charter Cities InstituteCharter Cities Institute on FacebookCharter Cities Institute on TwitterCharter Cities Institute on LinkedInYuen Yuen AngYuen Yuen Ang on LinkedInHow China Escaped the Poverty Trap on AmazonChina’s Gilded Age on AmazonHarnessing Complexity on AmazonUniversity of Michigan

Much talk around climate change focuses on mitigation, with far less attention paid to adaptation strategies. Matthew E. Khan, an Economics Professor at Johns Hopkins and Director of the 21st Centuries Cities Initiative, is a climate change adaptation optimist. His research focuses on urban and environmental economics. At the start of the year, he released two books, Unlocking The Potential of Post-Industrial Cities and Adapting to Climate Change. In this episode, Kurtis Lockhart sits down with Matthew to unpack some of the key themes in his books, along with other insights around urban governance and policies. We begin by hearing about the lack of imagination synonymous with climate change adaptation strategies and why policies that focus solely on carbon footprint emissions are misplaced. The mechanisms for each approach are essentially the same, but the buy-in and application are different. Matthew makes the case for adaptation, and we also get into the long-term thinking that this strategy requires. There are economic levers that can be used to deal with climate change which have a longer timeline. However, they are under-utilized, resulting in little to no sustained change. Matthew also talks about the value of competition and how it can make cities more efficient. Our wide-reaching conversation also touches on the place-based policies, the use of big data and how it can be leveraged to help people make decisions about where to live, why the poor have to be prioritized when it comes to climate change policies, and the importance of experimentation before policies are enacted. This was an insightful discussion, that touched on a range of timely topics, which continue to become more urgent as time goes on. Be sure to tune in to hear more! Key Points From This Episode: •  Matthew’s insights into what happened with the Texas freeze.•  The role that private actors have to play in dealing with climate change-related problems.•  How Matthew and Bill Gates’ book differ and what Matthew would say to Bill if he was given a chance to engage with him.•  There is a lot of optimism about carbon footprint reduction, but pessimism about adaptation.•  How quality of life in a city attracts top talents and large companies.•  Why short-sightedness about an issue like climate change is an urban economics issue.•  Why issuing majors parcels of land during their tenure will inspire long-term thinking.•  How the lack of competition between cities in the U.S. contributes to inefficiencies.•  The importance of competition in creating more liveable cities.•  What Matthew’s work in China revealed about state-owned entities.•  Why placed-based policies work well in China but not in the U.S.•  The benefits of creating hubs around universities and the place-based policies that can follow.•  The poor face the greatest challenges in cities in terms of access, and resilience to climate change.•  The tension that comes with moving poorer people to so-called ‘good neighborhoods’ despite empirical evidence that shows better outcomes.•  Use of economic incentives during refugee crises.•  Benefits of using charter cities as ways to deal with climate change refugees.•  The biggest challenges that come with rezoning land in cities; the coordination failure.•  Matthew’s take on The Wire and the good and bad it did for the reputation of Baltimore.•  Adapting to climate change will not be a problem for the wealthy; the poor will suffer.•  Will the value of land in favelas in Brazil increase as sea levels rise?•  What excites Matthew most about the big data revolution and an example of an interesting big data application.•  Big data and access to information will help people make better decisions. •  Voters can make better decisions when they have better information about candidates.•  Why climate change adaptation measures, like carbon taxes, cannot be applied universally.•  The reason that we are not seeing congestion pricing implemented around the world.•  Why Matthew is a proponent for decentralization; it allows for experimentation.•  Insights into the work that Matthew’s consulting firm does. Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode: Charter Cities InstituteCharter Cities Institute on FacebookCharter Cities Institute on TwitterKurtis LockhartMatthew E Khan on Twitter21st Century Cities InitiativeUnlocking the Potential of Post-Industrial CitiesAdapting to Climate ChangeHow to Avoid a Climate DisasterAlexandria Ocasio-CortezFirst Street FoundationMayor Bill de BlasioThe University of ChicagoDavid RicardoDonald Bren'Why Do The Poor Live In Cities?''The birth of edge cities in China'An Analysis of Nevada's Proposed Innovation Zones LawJump-Starting AmericaJohns Hopkins UniversityThe New Geography of Jobs'The Effects of Exposure to Better Neighborhoods on Children'Stefanie A. DeLucaThe Heckman EquationRaj ChettyThe WireHernando de SotoMilton Friedman'Heat and Learning'Andrew YangSiqi Zheng