Skip to content

Category: Self-Promotion

Published November 28, 2011

DC Folks: Talk on Food Prices and Food Riots at the CGD on Monday, December 5

I will be giving the Center for Global Development’s Massachusetts Avenue Development Seminar next Monday, December 5, 2011, at 4 pm. In case anyone would like to meet beforehand, I am free in late morning and early afternoon, so please drop me an email.

Here is the announcement for the seminar:

The Center for Global Development presents
a Massachusetts Avenue Development Seminar (MADS) on

Food Prices and Riots:
Estimating How the Level and Volatility of Food Prices Shape Social Unrest in the Developing World, 1990-2011

Featuring
Marc Bellemare
Assistant Professor of Public Policy and Economics
Sanford School of Public Policy, Duke University

With Discussant
Ed Carr
Associate Professor
Department of Geography, University of South Carolina
and
American Association for the Advancement of Science Fellow
United States Agency for International Development

Monday, December 5, 2011
4:00pm–5:30pm

at

Center for Global Development
1800 Massachusetts Avenue, NW, Third Floor, Washington, DC
*Please bring photo identification*

Paper Abstract:  Can food prices cause political unrest? Throughout history, riots have frequently broken out, ostensibly as a consequence of high food prices. This paper studies the impact of food prices on political unrest using monthly data at the international level. Results indicate that in the period 1990-2011, food price increases appear to have led to increases in political unrest, whereas food price volatility has been associated with decreased political unrest.

Published November 9, 2011

The Causes and Consequences of Famine (Slides)

Last Wednesday, I took part in a panel discussion at Wake Forest University titled “The ‘F’-Word: Famine in the 21st Century,” on the current famine in the Horn of Africa.

The other two participants were Charles Kennedy and Sarah Lischer, both professors in the political science department at Wake Forest. Sarah talked about the humanitarian consequences of the current famine, most notably the refugees coming into Kenya. Charles talked about US foreign policy in the area. I learned a lot from both their presentations, given that they covered topics that I was not familiar with.

Here are the slides I used for my talk, which was titled “The Causes and Consequences of Famine.” The link opens a .pdf document. Note that this was not a research seminar, but a talk aimed at a general public.

Published November 1, 2011

The “F” Word: Panel on Famine in the Horn of Africa at Wake Forest University, November 2

I will be one of the panelists discussing the current famine in the Horn of Africa at Wake Forest University tomorrow, November 2, 2011. The discussion will take place from 5 to 6:30 pm in room 410 of the Benson Center.

If you are a student at Wake Forest University, or if you happen to be in Winston-Salem on Wednesday, please join us for the discussion. Don’t be shy and come say “Hi!”