Economic Research Forum (ERF)

Harry Pettit

Author

Harry Pettit
Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of the West of England

Harry Pettit is a lecturer specialising in social and cultural geography in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management at the University of the West of England. His PhD, entitled '"Without hope we would die": class, affect, and meritocracy in Egypt', focuses on the emotional experience of class immobility among young lower-middle class men in contemporary Egypt.

Content by this Author

Selling hope without reward: youth unemployment in Egypt

Many young educated Egyptians face difficulties locating secure employment that matches their skill levels and provides a solid foundation for marriage. This column argues that current initiatives intended to tackle the problem are promoting a false sense of hope to youth who become stuck in cycles of precarious work. Policy-makers should instead focus on addressing chronic shortages of secure white-collar work, as well as inequalities in access to capital, education and social connections.

Most read

Empowering Egypt’s young people for the future of work

Egypt’s most urgent priority is creating more and better jobs for its growing youth population. This column reports on the first Development Dialogue, an ERF–World Bank joint initiative, which brought together students, scholars, policy-makers and private sector leaders at Cairo University to confront the country’s labour market challenge. The conversation explored why youth inclusion matters, what the data show and how dialogue and the forthcoming Country Economic Memorandum can inform practical pathways to accelerate job creation.

Preparing youth for the workforce of the future

As economies undergo rapid digital and green transformations, young people face a growing mismatch between their skills and what the modern labour market needs. This column argues that enabling youth to compete in the workforce of the future requires systemic reforms in education, skills formation and labour market institutions, especially in developing economies.

Connectivity and conflict: understanding the risks of inequality in the Middle East

While high inequality does not always lead to conflict, new research reported in this column shows that widespread internet access acts as a catalyst, transforming economic grievances into political instability. For policy-makers in the Middle East and North Africa, this means that as digital connectivity expands, the security costs of ignoring economic disparities rise dramatically. The combination of idle youth, high inequality and high-speed internet is a volatile mix.

The political economy of stalled structural reforms in MENA

There is a persistent pattern to the structural reforms that are required to underpin economic progress in the countries of the Middle East and North Africa: ambitious strategies are announced and partially implemented, but ultimately they are diluted or reversed. This column argues that the repeated stalling of reform is not primarily a failure of economic design. Rather, it reflects deep-seated political economy constraints rooted in rent dependence, elite bargaining and weak institutional credibility. Without addressing these underlying dynamics, reform efforts are likely to remain symbolic rather than transformative.

Closing the gender gap in political participation in MENA

Women across the Middle East and North Africa participate less than men in politics – not only in political parties and elections, but also in petitions, boycotts, protests and strikes. This column reports evidence from ten countries showing that differences in education, employment and political attitudes explain part of this disparity, yet a significant gender gap remains.




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