John Iduh Blog

The computer on which this blog is written, and the device through which it is being read, both rely on rare earth elements whose geopolitical importance has become unmistakably clear over the past year. Yttrium and terbium enable modern colour displays. Lanthanum is found in smartphone camera lenses, while neodymium powers the miniature magnets embedded in speakers. These minerals are equally indispensable to advanced military systems such as radar and drones, as well as to clean energy technologies including wind turbines and electric vehicle motors. China occupies a commanding position in the supply and processing of these materials. In recent trade disputes, Beijing demonstrated its readiness to deploy this dominance as an instrument of state power, restricting exports of selected rare earths in response to tariffs imposed by the United States. Such actions revealed how control over critical minerals can translate into diplomatic leverage. Rare earths are only part of a broader pa...

Economics is the study of the choices we must make as we confront scarcity—the fundamental mismatch between limitless human wants and limited means. At its core, economics begins from the recognition that while human desires are expansive and continually evolving, the resources available to satisfy them are finite. This imbalance is not a temporary condition to be solved but a permanent feature of human existence, shaping individual behavior, social organization, and public policy across time and place. Because resources are limited, every choice carries a cost. To allocate time, money, labor, or natural resources to one purpose is to deny them to another. Economists refer to this reality as opportunity cost, and it lies at the heart of rational decision-making. Whether households decide how to spend income, firms choose what to produce, or governments determine budget priorities, all economic actors are constrained by scarcity and compelled to make trade-offs. Scarcity also explains w...

One of the most enduring insights of economics is deceptively simple: we live in a world of limitless human desires but limited resources. This observation lies at the heart of economic thinking and explains why economics exists as a discipline in the first place. Human wants expand continuously—shaped by culture, technology, status, and imagination—while the resources available to satisfy those wants, such as land, labor, capital, time, and ecological capacity, remain finite. The tension between these two realities defines the economic condition. Human desires are not static. As societies grow wealthier, wants do not diminish; rather, they multiply and become more sophisticated. What once counted as a luxury soon becomes a necessity, and new aspirations quickly replace old ones. Economic growth, advertising, and social comparison intensify this process, ensuring that desire continually outruns satisfaction. From an economic perspective, this means that scarcity is not merely a natural...

There are moments in political life when the authority of institutions collapses under the weight of their own contradictions. Parliaments may legislate, police may enforce, and courts may adjudicate, yet when these institutions manipulate truth and perpetrate injustice, their formal power loses moral legitimacy. In such circumstances, a good name—adorned with trust and integrity—becomes more valuable than the combined authority of Parliament, the police, and the legal system. A good name is not merely a matter of reputation; it is the social embodiment of moral consistency. Trust is earned through repeated alignment between word and action, between promise and practice. Unlike institutions, which derive authority from law, coercion, or tradition, a trusted name derives authority from character. Where institutions command obedience, trust invites consent. This distinction is crucial, for obedience can be forced, but legitimacy cannot. History offers countless examples of institutions t...

Trumpism is often described as a contemporary variant of conservatism, yet a closer examination reveals that it represents a significant departure from the core principles that have historically defined conservative thought. Traditional conservatism, particularly in the Anglo-American tradition, is grounded in respect for constitutional order, institutional continuity, limited government, and gradual change. Trumpism, by contrast, is less a coherent ideology than a political style and movement centered on personal leadership, populist rhetoric, and sustained confrontation with established norms. At its foundation, conservatism has long emphasized the importance of institutions as stabilizing forces in society. Courts, legislatures, bureaucracies, and electoral processes are viewed as imperfect but essential mechanisms for maintaining order and legitimacy. Trumpism exhibits deep skepticism toward these institutions, frequently portraying them as corrupt, captured by elites, or actively ...

Neoliberalism does not exist merely as an abstract economic doctrine or ideological worldview; it manifests itself most visibly as a concrete and coherent set of public policies. These policies are often summarized through what may be called the D–L–P Formula : deregulation , liberalization , and privatization . Together, these three pillars constitute the operational core of neoliberal governance and provide the practical means through which market principles are extended into ever more areas of social life. First, deregulation refers to the systematic removal or weakening of state controls over economic activity. Regulatory frameworks governing labor markets, finance, environmental protection, and industry are relaxed or dismantled in the belief that free markets are inherently more efficient than state oversight. Deregulation is justified by the claim that excessive rules stifle innovation, discourage investment, and reduce competitiveness, even though its social costs—such as fina...

In the early 1980s, neoliberal ideas found a powerful institutional expression in a new model of public administration known as New Public Management (NPM). Emerging first in Anglo-American contexts and rapidly diffusing across the globe, NPM operationalized neoliberal modes of governance within the everyday practices of state bureaucracies. Its central ambition was to remake the public sector in the image of the private market by importing managerial techniques, entrepreneurial values, and competitive logics into government institutions. At the heart of New Public Management lies a fundamental redefinition of the relationship between the state and its citizens. Rather than conceiving citizens as members of a political community entitled to public goods, NPM recasts them as “customers” or “clients” whose needs are to be met through efficient service delivery. Public servants, in turn, are encouraged to abandon traditional bureaucratic norms of neutrality, rule-following, and public du...