Johan Fourie
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johanfourieza.bsky.social
Johan Fourie
@johanfourieza.bsky.social
Chair of Economics, History and Policy at Stellenbosch University. Author of Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom. Blogger at www.ourlongwalk.com.
And we have a winner of the inaugural Our Long Walk Essay Competition!

It was this graph that got me hooked on the winning essay...
June 13, 2025 at 8:58 AM
Economic History of Developing Regions needs a new editor!
April 7, 2025 at 7:01 PM
We’ll explore economic history through 64 papers by 150 authors, blending core themes with the latest research—27 papers were published or released as working papers in 2024, and over a third of the readings are new this year.
February 11, 2025 at 4:12 PM
Our Long Walk to Economic Freedom advertised on the Media24 building during the State of the Nation address in Cape Town today!
February 6, 2025 at 12:17 PM
Econ history community!

Please join us in South Africa in May to discuss disseminating economic history to a broad audience. Brad DeLong will deliver the keynote address. We'll also cover accommodation in Stellenbosch in autumn, the best time of year to visit.
January 26, 2025 at 11:47 AM
Join us at LEAP this semester for an exciting online seminar series.
January 15, 2025 at 8:40 AM
What makes a city thrive? Can the lessons from São Paulo help South Africa’s struggling urban centres? And what can a as urbanization accelerates?
In episode 6 of Our Long Walk podcast, Jonathan and I interview Benjamin Bradlow. Listen on Spotify or wherever you find your podcasts.
January 8, 2025 at 2:51 AM
The future of the world in one map?

(Link to full post: www.ourlongwalk.com/p/how-swifti...)
January 6, 2025 at 10:31 AM
And it's off to the printers!

A fully revised second edition, available in South Africa (and on Kindle) in January 2025!
December 3, 2024 at 5:21 PM
When the benefits of first-language English outweigh the costs of English as a second language, minority languages like Afrikaans will decline, as it has for the last decade. Between 2010 and 2023, the share of Afrikaans books as a proportion of all books sold in South Africa fell from 17% to 11%.
December 2, 2024 at 2:10 PM
What can policymakers learn from economic history?

With Leonard Wantchekon, Dave Donaldson, Bronwen Everill, Mushfiq Mobarak, Chris Colvin, Jonas Hjort, @tedmiguel.bsky.social, and 2024 Nobel Laureate James Robinson.
November 28, 2024 at 9:29 AM