Affluent European voters allowed authoritarian-led Russia to exploit their ideals and trust. This led to a war which triggered devastating sanctions. Similarly ruthless exploitation of voter trust has wrecked SA’s economy. How should we respond? As our governing party benefits politically from the fiscal windfall of high commodity prices, the ANC now appears even less…Continue reading Why the Ukrainian crisis is relevant to SA
Author: Shawn Hagedorn
An up-to-date worldview appreciates how ideals are being exploited
Illiberal Russian and Chinese leaders exploit how open societies overzealously embrace key ideals. South Africa’s dismal economic prospects reflect our elected leaders promoting ideals which their policies prevent us from achieving. The leaders of G-7 and many other nations have been overly confident that free trade creates middle class societies which then foment robust democracies.…Continue reading An up-to-date worldview appreciates how ideals are being exploited
What BIG debates tell us about dependency on handouts
Young South Africans could become lifelong liabilities, when they should be central to modernising our economy Our basic income grant (BIG) debates are irrational. They reflect twisted politics dismissing today’s core economic development success drivers. Rather than endorse deceitfully contrived social justice arguments, we are morally obligated to confront why our BIG debates depict a…Continue reading What BIG debates tell us about dependency on handouts
How focusing on solutions provides a fresh perspective
The ANC and EFF being excluded from a 2024 coalition government would be a great leap forward. Yet this will remain both unlikely and insufficient in the absence of a robust growth plan. Behavioural economists, like Nobel Laureate and best-selling author Daniel Kahneman, spotlight how the ‘status quo’ bias creates resistance to change at the…Continue reading How focusing on solutions provides a fresh perspective
Why SA ignores today’s prosperity-inducing free lunch
Few societies have ever been able to fund abundant imports through extracting below-ground riches. Such geological free lunches have recently given way to today’s prosperity-inducing free lunches – which South Africa ignores. We should better understand how broad prosperity is achieved in the 21st century, as a majority of our young adults are unemployed, poor…Continue reading Why SA ignores today’s prosperity-inducing free lunch
Time for ESG managers to reassess tools to cut poverty
Investors should consider how private equity practitioners have improved companies’ governance The popularity of environmental, social and governance (ESG) funds has surged to the point where their tools should be freshly reappraised. Specifically, can they sharply reduce poverty in, and around, SA? Investors outpaced governments in discouraging investments in fossil fuel production last year. As…Continue reading Time for ESG managers to reassess tools to cut poverty
Why SA leads in politics of polarisation
Over-prioritising redistribution entrenches poverty. This legitimises racial discrimination which stokes sufficient polarisation to cripple accountability. The pandemic has tested many organisations, with most failing to meet expectations. Conversely, a handful of pharmaceutical companies have vastly exceeded expectations. That these companies remain generally underappreciated shows how accountability can be enfeebled by subjectively indulging values. While countless…Continue reading Why SA leads in politics of polarisation
SA politics versus the global economy
By Shawn Hagedorn -Dec 15, 2021 Daily Friend Digital technologies are accelerating the globalisation of services. Is this the area where investors can best spur growth and jobs in SA? Our policies reflect the preferences of unionists, Marxists, and cronies who dream of creating black industrialists and abundant well-paid factory jobs. Meanwhile, services have long been the…Continue reading SA politics versus the global economy
Break in ANC’s electoral hegemony may mark a turning point
If the 2024 elections don’t provoke sweeping policy pivots, expect decades of economic doldrums 07 DECEMBER 2021 Business Day It is hard to imagine that we could one day view 2021 as having been a good year for SA, never mind volatility in popular metrics such as GDP and related debt ratios. Are we closer…Continue reading Break in ANC’s electoral hegemony may mark a turning point
Why 2029 now looms large
-Nov 29, 2021 Daily Friend The interests of the ANC’s top leaders and those in line to succeed them now diverge sharply. This should make political and economic reforms less elusive. As the ANC’s political machinery is the central impediment to much-needed economic reforms, it has become a major electoral liability for the party. The…Continue reading Why 2029 now looms large