Fenced Fourth Estate

How could you not take subversive pleasure in this letter-duo found in the week’s Economist?
SIR – Philip Bowring’s account of the Far Eastern Economic Review’s encounter with the Singapore government is inaccurate (Letters, October 17th). In 1987 the government restricted the circulation of the Review after it had engaged in Singapore’s domestic politics. But an [...]

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The Wrong Path

Everything reminds Milton of the money supply. Well, everything reminds me of sex, but I keep it out of the paper.
So said Robert Solow of Milton Friedman. I’ll beg Solow’s and your indulgence, Reader, for these days I have wine on my mind, and I can’t keep it out of the blog.
A few days ago [...]

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Minty Fresh

At some point in the past few days I acquired an unusually decrepit–even for Rwanda– 2,000 franc note (~$4); not only is it nearly torn asunder, but it’s also missing a quarter sized chunk at the top of the bill. So is it still worth 2,000 francs? The National Bank of Rwanda would say yes, [...]

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In Vino Veritas

Several projects command my attention on any given day, but the one consuming most of my time at the moment is a wine business I run with the financial backing of a few expats. We’re currently importing 19 types of South African wine and retailing it in Kigali. In the past week or so, we’ve [...]

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Crock Full of It

I think it was Jay Leno who had a bit long ago with the observation that while we know we’re more likely to die in a bathroom accident than on a commercial flight, we’re always going to worry about the latter more because no one’s ever opened their medicine cabinet and been sucked out into [...]

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