What I want to do here is somewhat unusual as I have never done it before. But then Brian would have approved, if with his characteristic chuckle that never changed. Very much larger than life, Brian loved being that entity of which there are so very...
The Quarterly Labour Force Survey for 2Q2010 makes for very grim reading indeed, nearly like those daily WW1 casualty lists from the Western Front. During the 2Q2010 another 129 000 FORMAL jobs (the ones that really, really matter) were lost, taking the...
Once we get beyond the World Cup Final, many of us may feel a bit deflated after all the noisy buildup and actual reality. Also, cash registers will have joyfully rung up any profits in hotels, travel, entertainment and television rights. Thereafter it...
By Cees Bruggemans, Chief Economist FNB 28 April 2010 Many things are muddling the Rand outlook this year and next. Will the Rand still firm, or start a new weakening cycle, and can it differ per major currency? The Rand should still firm nearer or even...
Despite rising equity markets last month (our JSE now topping 29300) there apparently will be no respite from global anxiety. How this will influence equity markets, commodity prices and emerging currencies is what exercises the mind. Having supposedly...
There could be a fork in the road ahead shortly. The high road yields a fairly normal global recovery, with no protectionist excesses. The low road could lead (among other things) to currency wars. What would that mean for the Rand (bob-bobbing along...
Our decline into recession was abrupt. We fell deep, perked up late and now surge belatedly in places as we play catch up off sometimes very low bases. Still makes growth performance feel good where it shows. Though expectations about World Cup foreign...
The budget speech laid out a thoughtful approach to the reality we find ourselves in following the global financial crisis of 2008 and the deep recession of 2009 which also left its mark on South Africa. Having maintained his spending growth while his...
Having made the point in an earlier article (On the verge of another nervous breakdown) that the psychological behaviour of crowds can easily lead to uncontrolled generalized panics, there is also the consideration that markets in specific instances can...
With the CPI inflation rate close to the upper part of the 3%-6% target range, the SARB interest rate decision today boiled down to a trade off between the coming Eskom electricity tariff increase (and its uncertain second-round effects which could be...
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