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...