Today, about four out of every five dollars spent in the OECD economies purchases services or intangible goods. This “dematerialization” of economies demands a more nuanced understanding of what drives productivity. The word “productivity” typically calls to mind industrial assembly lines pumping out cars or washing machines, breakfast cereal or shoes. The word may also conjure images of crops being harvested, livestock being butchered, or houses being built. It is less likely to elicit thoughts of haircuts, streaming television, or mortgages. Yet nowadays, it is largely these kinds of intangible goods and services that define economies. Many economists equate “total…

A man by the name of Bello Inua Anka, who is married into the Muhammadu Buhari family, is threatening me over the PUBLICLY available video that I—and thousands of other Nigerians—shared on social media showing de facto president Mamman Daura celebrating his 80th birthday with (more than 30!) family members and government officials in a posh London hotel while people starve to death in Nigeria. He asked me— and reached out to a valued friend of mine to prevail upon me— to take down the video on the excuse that his children are in it and that they’re being endangered.…