BRICS’s two autocratic leaders, Presidents Xi and Putin, can see that despite the ANC crushing the lifetime-prospects for a majority of the next generation of South Africans, the party can still project legitimacy globally and domestically. It is because public opinion is so malleable, and many centres of influence so indulgent of identity politics and…Continue reading BRICS and illegitimate legitimacy

As this week’s Sandton shindig will not benefit ordinary South Africans, its vacuous pageantry must inspire a reality check. The ANC’s destructive economic stewardship traces to incompetence, robust corruption and ideological delusions. At the same time, our ruling party is exceptional at politically exploiting injustices – including those they cause. Countering this begins with objective…Continue reading BRICS versus broad prosperity

Next week’s gathering is not about fighting global injustice but about entrenching ruling elites In 1943 a wheelchair-bound US president embarked on a four-day seaplane journey to meet his UK counterpart. That summit could not end imperialism, but it triggered a devastating wound. The Casablanca Declaration stated that the Allies would not negotiate with any…Continue reading BRICS bloc blocks prosperity for all

Creating perceptions of a new normal is a popular trick among marketers and those seeking to grab and retain power – because it works. For those who are ambitious yet allergic to accountability, becoming either an autocrat or a leftist intellectual are compelling career choices. The first group rewards ruthlessness whereas the second favours those…Continue reading Power grabs left and right

Why did nearly all societies stumble badly when confronting Covid? Why did the virus swiftly mutate in isolated South Africa whereas this country’s stand-offish economy continues to lag adoption of major global developments?  In the recently ended three-decade post-Cold War period, global integration ignited an unprecedented surge in prosperity. While worries of a third world…Continue reading When elites block growth

Shawn Hagedorn says the constitutional order now represents an existential threat to the ANC Prioritising black oligarchs Common among the flurry of comments following Rheul Khoza’s recent speech at the Black Management Forum (BMF) is the presumption that our democratic era will endure. We should interrogate that presumption and then freshly consider Khoza’s views. If,…Continue reading Rheul Khoza’s oligarch model

Cold War II sets the stage to integrate the people in Africa into the global economy. The integrators will be a motley crew of determined, individualistic collaborators. Trying to spot large-scale opportunities without keen situational awareness is reckless and fated to fail. Our government’s interpretation of global trends is as inept as its economic stewardship.…Continue reading Beyond permission-based narratives

SA’s deepest economic woes such as entrenched unemployment cannot be remedied without a broad policy reset President Xi Jinping wants to pivot China’s economy to favour domestic-led growth but recent data suggests it is unworkable. For similar reasons, our deepest economic woes can’t be remedied without a broad policy reset.  Countries avoid ultra-elevated youth unemployment as it…Continue reading Ditch localisation policy to create jobs for youth

Despite having a shrinking workforce while being the world’s top manufacturer and exporter, China’s youth unemployment challenges share similarities with ours. The economies of China and South Africa both require profound restructuring. Yet China’s leaders seem as disinclined as ours to provide the policy pivots required. China’s four decades of extraordinary growth relied on an…Continue reading China’s youth unemployment versus ours

In the immediate aftermath of the Second World War, Winston Churchill famously asserted that the US had become the ‘leader of the free world’. As many people believe this era is ending, what should we want to replace it? Countless commentators have criticised a long litany of US foreign policy decisions. Yet such cataloguing can’t…Continue reading Beyond the American century