It all comes together in the Budget
Since Government started releasing the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS) in the fourth quarter every year in the run-up to the next budget, the February Budget event has lost some of its...
View ArticleFirst thoughts on the National Budget
If there were any surprises in this year’s budget, they were primarily on the positive side. The Minister not only stuck to his previously announced intentions to proceed with consolidating the...
View ArticleFrom redistribution to wealth creation
It is generally accepted that the state has a role to play in the distribution of income in order to promote social stability, or to ensure a more equitable society. What is regarded as equitable or...
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The changing role of the Reserve Bank
As the Monetary Policy Committee has kept the repo rate unchanged at 5,5% for 16 months, interest in the Reserve Bank’s activities has waned. The realistic prospect of no change in the repo rate being...
View ArticleIs a fiscal policy council the answer?
There is no denying that, rightly or wrongly, in the opinion of some people the credibility of South Africa’s fiscal policy has been impaired. The most recent downgrading of South Africa by all three...
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The economic consequences of stricter bank regulations
The process of stricter regulating of financial institutions and markets following the global financial crisis is still in full swing, with the banks in the spotlight. The ongoing European crisis...
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Europe at the crossroads
The European crisis has been in progress for more than two years and the end is not in sight yet. Week after week the world holds its breath, waiting for some breakthrough to occur, only to be...
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A ray of light in the darkness
During the past month reporting on the South African economy has been dominated by the events at Lonmin’s mine at Marikana and the negative picture painted of the mining industry and South Africa at...
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Is SA’s macroeconomic policy still on track?
As a result of the global financial crisis in 2008, macroeconomic policy makers faced new challenges that required them to think outside the box. These challenges differed from country to country,...
View ArticleTo invest or not to invest?
Over the past 20 years, South African business people have repeatedly being accused of having called a so-called “investment strike”, in other words of having made a conscious decision not to expand...
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The sustainability of the South African welfare state
In political terms South Africa can best be described as a social democracy with the typical characteristics of the welfare state. Social spending now account for approximately 60% of total government...
View ArticleFive years after the Lehmann incident : Part 1
For most people the collapse of the American investment bank, Lehmann Brothers, in September 2008 was the start of the North-Atlantic financial crisis owing to the highly visible impact it has had on...
View ArticleFive years after the Lehmann incident : Part II
In the first part of my retrospection of the collapse of the American investment bank, Lehman Brothers, in September 2008 and the ensuing financial crisis in the North-Atlantic countries, I focused on...
View ArticleThe economics of passive investment management
The National Treasury (NT) recently released a discussion document on charges in South African retirement funds for public comment before it formulates specific policy proposals in this regard. For...
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Monetary policy in perspective
The unexpected decision by the Reserve Bank Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) on 29 January to raise the repo rate by 50 basis points indicates a turning point in the state of monetary policy. It is...
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Fiscal realism required
Over the years the Medium Term Budget Policy Statement (MTBPS), the 2014 version of which is due on 22 October, has developed an importance of its own, comparable to that of the main budget. From a...
View ArticleThe first Budget to increase taxes in order to raise revenue
The latter would, for example, include the introduction of capital gains tax for the sake of a more equitable tax system, or the carbon emissions tax on motor vehicles to incentivise people to drive...
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