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 LSE blog.
According to Gerardo;
Jerven gracefully mixes the analytical tools of the economic historian with insights taken from the work of economic anthropologists and political scientists into an organic whole. However, prescription the main virtue of the volume relies probably in the amount and quality of new empirical evidence presented: Poor Numbers is a pioneering attempt in opening the black box of African statistical offices, and understanding the dynamics underlying not only the production of African data, but also its role in policy-making.
Read the full review here.
Just posted as well, at the Africa Research Institute, Jonathan Balla records a conversation with me about Africa’s GDP conundrum. One of the things we discuss is
What can be done to improve the capacity and effectiveness of national statistical offices?
Read the full interview here.
Tomorrow (Wednesday 22 May) the conversation about Poor Numbers continues at the LSE Bookstore, where the book will be available. On Thursday, I am giving my last presentation in UK this time around. The ODI hosts a talk on Poor Numbers, it but it is an invited and not an public event.