In Foreign Affairs I explain that the recent growth is partly good news and partly fiction. The GDPs of many African countries appear to be soaring, which is partly a statistical fluke due to recent corrections of decades of bad data. African countries now...
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Year: 2013
Africa at LSE reviews my book – and an interview with the Africa Research Institute
Gerardo Serra, for sale who is a PhD student in the Department of Economic History at the London School of Economics and does fascinating work on the political economy of statistics in Ghana and the Gold Coast reviews Poor Numbers for the Africa at...
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Book Launch at LSE on the Wednesday 22 May at 6 PM
On Monday I present at the Centre of African Studies, University of Cambridge (5 pm, Room S2, Audrey Richards Building) and then on Tuesday at Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. On Wednesday there is a book launch and signing at the London...
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I am discussing my book at Ceri in Paris on May 16
Poor Numbers @ PARIS21 and the OECD Development Centre on Friday 17 May, 11-13h.
Is there really a statistical tragedy in Africa?Where do African statistics originate? How accurate are they? Economic historian, Morten Jerven will be deliberating stats in Africa at a debate hosted by PARIS21 and the OECD Development Centre on Friday 17 May, 11-13h. The...
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Upcoming talks
I spoke at Royal African Society yesterday, and the scheduled talks continues next week: Monday 13 May 17:00-19:00, Oxford University, African History & Politics Seminars Wednesday 15 May 12:15-14:00, Graduate Institute Geneva Thursday 16 May 14:00-17:00, CERI & SciencesPo, Paris Friday 17 11:00-13:00, OECD...
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Bill Gates reviews my book
Favourably and fairly I think. Bill Gates says: Yet it is clear to me that we need to devote greater resources to getting basic GDP numbers right. As Jerven argues, site national statistics offices across Africa need more support so that they can obtain...
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Poor Numbers @ Royal African Society – Wed. 8 May, 6 PM
Poor Numbers: How We Are Misled by African Development Statistics and What to Do about It Date & Time: Wednesday, 8 May 2013, 6-8PM Venue: Brunei Suite, SOAS Speakers: Morten Jerven, Assistant Professor, Simon Fraser University. Respondent: Judith Randel, Executive Director of Development Initiatives. Chair: Dr...
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Foreign Affairs reviews Poor Numbers
According to Nicolas van de Walle in Foreign Affairs Jerven demonstrates with devastating clarity that African governments produce imprecise economic statistics that should not be trusted. Read the full review here.
Ian Scoones on Poor Numbers
Ian Scoones reflects on my book in a two part analysis called: Dodgy data and missing measures: why good numbers matter. Read more here.