2 comments

  • apsec112 20 hours ago

    This is silly. Reading the original paper (which is behind four links and then a registration-wall):

    "Egypt’s bond yields are consistently around 15% while Thailand’s is 2.5%, thus resulting in significantly higher repayment costs. At the same time, according to the sentiment model derived, 66% of Egypt’s news articles in global media were negative, compared with 32% of Thailand’s. More positive coverage in the media would result in proportionately lower bond yields."

    This doesn't even try to establish causality (the words "causality" and "causation" aren't in the paper). It jumps directly from correlation to causation. There are obvious causal paths that don't flow through media coverage - eg., if X% of people worldwide are just anti-Africa racists, that would cause both negative media sentiment and worse borrowing opportunities, without the first necessarily causing the second.

  • UncleEntity 19 hours ago

    > Typically, election coverage is narrowly focused on the horse race between the incumbent and main opposition party or parties. In Africa, it is often peppered with stories of election violence and rumours of corruption...

    I can honestly say I have never heard a story of election violence or rumors of corruption involving a Dutch election in my entire 53 years on this planet. Not saying it doesn't happen just I have never heard such a thing.

    South Africa (during and post-apartheid) on the other hand...

    They chose to make this comparison, not me.

    Malaysia and Thailand are both dodgy now and again, with the Thai military taking power a couple times IIRC, but are both relatively stable compared to Egypt. Kenya and Nigeria I know nothing about their election practices.