People shouldn’t miss the (chronic economic slump) wood for the (technical recession) trees. While a technical recession in 2016 is highly plausible, we should open our eyes to South Africa’s prolonged stagnation and underperformance of global peers which threatens the very socio-political stability of the country itself.
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RSS feed for this sectionAre trade deficits always bad?
This article of mine was first published in the third-quarter 2015 edition of Personal Finance magazine. When you add up all the transactions each month of South African importing and exporting businesses, you will currently find that more is bought from businesses overseas than is sold to businesses overseas. This is commonly known as a […]
Austerity or Fauxsterity?
Government “austerity” is a myth. They’re more bloated, indebted and suffocating of private sector dynamism than they were before 2008.
Greece’s biggest problem is its anti-capitalist culture
An economic crisis can jolt a fundamentally pro-capitalist nation that briefly lost its way back onto the straight and narrow. But there is no guarantee of this when the culture has descended into infantile anti-capitalism, dysfunctional statism and an antagonism toward entrepreneurial dynamism and self-reliance. For these a crisis may just form part of a […]
Ross Ulbricht’s Trial Wasn’t About Drugs
As the technological tide envelopes the old modes of state parasitism at an accelerating rate, the state is being forced by history’s march of progress into perhaps the most dramatic and unpredictable metamorphosis ever seen.
Busting Deflation Myths
The fear of deflation is sweeping across the globe. By ‘globe’ I really mean the clique of elite policy makers, bankers and the economists they employ. The rest of us mere mortals are positively chuffed about deflation – whoever said “no” to lower prices? So why are policy makers and economists so scared of deflation? […]
Why credit ratings matter
If the South African government does not tighten its belt, sooner or later it will be forced to do so – or embark on a course of reckless borrowing and/or printing money to fund itself. The consequences of the latter choice, as Zimbabwe showed, can be dire.
Rhinonomics: 7 myths busted
Many myths still prevail to justify why rhino horn trade cannot/must not be legalised. Let’s put these myths to bed.
Who Needs the Debt Ceiling?
Calls for a scrapping of the debt ceiling are being heard afresh, but the debt ceiling is a crucial reminder of the reckless spending of the ruling class.
On “Economies of Scale” and Other Magical Incantations
This is a provocative and compelling piece. It challenges the established dogma of economies of scale and makes a case for the economic competitiveness of the small-scale entrepreneur that is demand-responsive rather than the large-overhead producer that produces without regard to preexisting demand.