Welcome to My Blog
Articles and advice on all things legalSnippet 2022 – 17
Economy South African appear to be taking an economic pounding at present. Inflation is at a 13-year high, households are reducing expenditure, including reducing reliance on domestic workers and so on. On the other hand, things are probably not as bad as one might...
Snippet 2022 – 16
Economy We have been immersed in Eskom woes for some 15 years and no decisive and thoughtful political initiative has been taken to sort out the problem. The problem is not just Eskom – the problem is our politicians. The Bitcoin price varied from $10k to $60k and...
Snippet 2022 – 15
Economy This week past the Prez cited the motor industry as a prime example of the success of state assistance en route to calling for state assistance within our economy (an ideological position). I recalled son number one commenting on such assistance some years...
Snippet 2022 – 14
Economy You might recall that I had, last week, made a note on the risk of world stagflation having increased. Our economy is picking up but so is our inflation rate. The problem is that the pick-up of our economy is modest, if that and inflation is certainly not...
Snippet 2022 – 13
Economics A burning topic is the petrol price and its potential effect upon our economy. On the one hand there is a push for the state to drop the taxes which almost doubles the price of our fuel; on the other is the hard fact that our government is short on income...
Snippet 2022 – 12
Economy Load shedding has an undeniable effect on our economy. The following post reflects a few estimates on the cost of that impact on our GDP: Reference Business The cancellation of R17bn Rand of SANRAL tenders, predictably has resulted in it potentially being...
Snippet 2022 – 11
Economy The rise in our inflation rate to 5.9% probably prompted the Reserve Bank to raise the Repo rate by a half percent this week past. Why control of the inflation rate matters, is that inflation erodes the value of money and the Reserve Bank mandate is to protect...
Snippet 2022 – 10
Economy It would be fair to say a that South Africa was rescued from penury following on lockdown by the mining sector. On the face of it, the mining sector is flying: is this really so? A survey has placed us amongst the world’s ten most unattractive mining...
Snippet 2022 – 09
Economy It would appear that a worldwide economic recovery is underway and we are not unaffected by this. Good signs are that our Rand has stabilised and strengthened against other currencies and that both Fitch and Moody’s have upgraded our debt outlook from negative...
Snippet 2022 – 08
Economy Broke? A report on Defenceweb dealt with a litany of woes, revolving around funding which has resulted in inadequate training, lack of readiness, the un-serviceability of combat craft and so on. Much the same may be said of our civil service which is well-paid...
Snippet 2022 – 07
Economy Topical news is a note on what will happen if Russia defaults on its debts? Exactly this happened in 1998 and interest rates shot up all around the world – ours hit 25%. The suggestion made was that Russia will probably default on its debts in the next month...
Snippet 2022 – 06
Economy Four things greater than all things are women and horses and power and war. Kipling I’m a sporadic reader of the history of war and my understanding is that, generally, the crowd with the deepest pockets wins. The below graph, drawn from the World Bank, is...
Snippet 2022 – 05
Economy What has happened in the Ukraine happened to Georgia: what does a state do when the majority of a population in a province wants to belong next door? Mr Putin simply capitalised on this, twice. Anyway, we will pay more for petrol but our tax revenues from...
Snippet 2022 – 04
Economy This week our Minister of Finance will explain his budget to us. Have you ever wondered why we trail comparable countries in development? Consider the graph below: a hundred years ago, we were more or less on par with other colonial countries, yet we lag their...
Snippet 2022 – 03
Economy The value of the Rand, to some extent, reflects how others see us. For years the Big Mac index has been the laymans rule of thumb to the purchasing power of our currency. That index currently holds that a big Mac costs 55% less here than in the US. Who, at our...
Snippet 2022 – 02
Economy ReviewTheFuel# is a petition started by the AA for a review (read lowering) of the fuel price structure to take pressure off consumers. Fanciful: our state is virtually broke and just this tax raises R85bn which is solely needed by those who govern for...
Snippet 2022 – 01
Economy Performance: Our economy has stabilised and is set for a 1.5 -7% GDP growth this year (the World Bank had said 2.1%). With a population growth of 1.5% and a burgeoning inflation rate, such growth is not going to impact meaningfully on unemployment. Most of the...
Snippet 2021 – 38
Economy The primary economic news of this week past must be well known to all those who pay attention; some notables are – That our expected GDP growth for next year is softening, given the expected impact of omicron. That twenty-eight banks have now been drawn into...
