What Somali Pirates Reveal About the Global Economy

Pirates off the coast of Somalia continue to target huge ships passing by the impoverished coast. Matthew Lynn, writing for the Financial Times, regards piracy as a metaphor for the global business economy – the pirates know their customers, reinvent careers, conduct research, and maintain employee loyalty by sharing profits. Somalian fishermen were left without livelihoods after foreign factory trawlers over-fished waters off the African coast, while at the same time, international trade in high-value goods expanded. Some of the fishermen looked to the sea for new careers, relying on computer reports and sources in ports to discern what the ships are carrying, then boarding and collecting high ransoms for loads of iPhones or flat-screen TVs. For some industries, the fees are a cost of doing business and are passed on to consumers. Lynn concludes: “Parts of Somalia are growing rich on the ‘tolls’ their seafarers collect from cargo ships steaming between Asia and Europe.” – YaleGlobal