Welcome to My Blog
Articles and advice on all things legalSnippet 2021 – 26
Economy Two independent, but related economic articles, were floated this week past: the first a note that the production cuts in China had put pressure on iron ore prices; the second a broadening of this result into a curtailment of the runaway commodity prices (also...
Snippet 2021 – 25
Economy Pundits do not agree on our GDP trajectory for the next year; these are the predictions: Momentum 4% PwC 2.3% Old Mutual 5% The question is we are we going. As far as Rand value is concerned, Prof Grant (a publications editor for the Free Market Foundation)...
Snippet 2021 – 24
Economy The Economist published a note on the effect of CV19 on the world markets: it says that the fault lines that will develop between the jabs-had and the jabs-not will increase. The economies of countries, which attain full inoculation against CV19, will burgeon,...
Snippet 2021 – 23
Economy Those in the know say that our Rand, at its current US dollar exchange rate, is now fairly valued. If one accepts the Big Mac Index, the real value of the rand should be at about R5.93/US $. That index says that ours is the third most undervalued currency. You...
Snippet 2021 – 22
Economy Reform? Us? Those who govern us are not listening: the World Bank says that SA’s medium-term growth outlook is too low to significantly improve socioeconomic conditions and reduce unemployment: Reference Most economists predict that our repo rate will probably...
Snippet 2021 – 21
Economy Our state needs to save money to meet budget restraints. Transnet employees were given a 5% rise. The state has just made an increase offer to it public servants generally of 1.5% plus R1000 – for the bottom end bunch this amounts to an effective 11% pay rise...
Snippet 2021 – 20
Economics C Ryan: ”… the JSE Top 40, in red, looks decidedly pedestrian against the S&P 500, which returned 278% over 10 years against the Top 40’s 28.3%.” Our Reserve Bank governor held, a week-and-a-half ago, that there is a case for lowering the banks inflation...
Snippet 2021 – 19
Economy Our economy is recovering and so is our Consumer Price Inflation rate: speculation holds that the Reserve Bank is expected to begin to hike interest rates later this year. Boring. The truth is not always saleable. An argument was raised this week, that BEE...
Snippet 2021 – 18
Economics You would, no doubt, have seen that our economy is now predicted to grow at some 5% this year. The interesting thing about this is that the economists, who so predict, say that we should be able to maintain that momentum – especially if the government is...
Snippet 2021 – 17
Economy Progress: is unlocking embedded power generation not perhaps a catastrophe? Much has been made of the surprise move to increase the generation threshold for companies without a licence from 1 MW to 100 MW, holding that this would unlock investment and growth,...
Snippet 2021 – 16
Economy The sums involved in dodgy and dishonest deals brokered by our political incumbents in government are staggering: just those in Eskom are said to amount to R178bn; easily enough to vaccinate everyone in South Africa against CV 19. Then there is the R500bn lost...
Snippet 2021 – 15
Economy Let’s forget about tomorrow .. Let’s forget about the money.. For tomorrow never comes… (Sinatra) – us old folks would recall. Today’s generation is in the throes of central bank spending like there is no tomorrow and, we are told that if this had not been...
Snippet 2021 – 14
Economy Aside from the mining sector, high on a commodity-driven boom, our agricultural sector emerged from the pandemic relatively unscathed: the latest Stats SA figures showed a production expansion of 13.1%. Our Reserve Bank losing its bite? Switch Auctions are...
Snippet 2021 – 13
Economy Us ordinary folks reasonably expect the Rand to weaken, our economy and our politics being in tatters and all… Yet the Rand touched its strongest levels in two years this past week: why (in an answer we can all understand)? Because our economy is weak, we...
Snippet 2021 – 12
Economy The NUM wants a wage increase of some 68% for the lowest paid miners, up to a minimum wage of R15K per month, with an average of between 15 – 20% for the others. The rationale is said to be the high profit currently made by mining houses: it is true that the...
Snippet 2021 – 11
Economy SAL has reduced its liabilities from R38bn to R2.6bn and has cut its workforce by almost 80%. The question now is how it will operate and whether it will really be viable, given that air traffic is expected to remain depressed for years and now it needs...
Snippet 2021 – 10
Economy What budget? The ink on the latest budget is hardly dry when we have Ace encouraging students to stand up for their rights to education which he says is ANC policy; Blade immediately folds and extra NSFAS funds are found. Similarly, with the impending lapse of...
Snippet 2021 – 09
Economy Our economy shrank by 7% during 2020 – no longer news but, you might recall that, a year ago, a GDP shrinkage of 7% was the minimum projected loss when lockdown was introduced. Upper GDP loss limits were estimated at some 15%. Even our projected maximum state...