The standard method for measuring external shocks transmitted to small open economies from the world economy was originally developed by Balassa and subsequently refined by McCarthy for the World Bank and Helleiner for the UNC-TAD. This paper critically evaluates its neglect of the consequences...

This note draws on Polanyi's pendulum in economic policies presented in the the Great Transformation-with swings back and forth between strong restrictions on the market and market domination, each resulting from excesses of the dominant model. The swing he described, when he wrote, was a...

This introduction provides an overview of the special issue. The papers in this issue contribute to our understanding of the contrasting histories of Ghana and Nigeria. The papers confirm the importance of horizontal inequalities as a source of political instability and violent conflict, and...