Unemployment is either “frictional” or “structural”. In textbooks the definitions are precise, but for this article: Frictional means one is likely to get a job fairly quickly through job searching Structural means …
Have we reached the end of the road for redistribution in South Africa? Recent publications by the World Bank and the South African Communist Party (SACP) suggest that the time …
Read moreHow the SACP and World Bank Agree on Policies that Restrain Redistribution in South Africa
Presidents’ relish shorthand descriptions of the agenda they are implementing. In Jacob Zuma’s first term of office, the term “faster change” played that role. Bureaucrats and politicians quickly took up …
Read moreIs the ANC Serious about ‘Radical Economic Transformation’?
“A rising tide lifts all boats.” This aphorism means that in a growing economy everyone benefits, and by extension that government’s role is to focus on the macroeconomic environment. Moreover, …
Read moreNDP Inadequate to the Task of Addressing South Africa’s Inequality
The fisticuffs around the concept of a “Second Transition” have defined debates in the run-up to the African National Congress (ANC) national policy conference. The drafters of The Second Transition: …
Read moreWe’re Running Out of Time: The Interminable 50-Year Vision of the ANC’s Second Transition
Mzansi 2030: The clarion call within the ruling party congress is “Masupatsela.” The report from the secretariat is depressing. It tells us that once upon a time, an astute minister …
Read moreThe National Development Plan will End Poverty in South Africa by 2030 – Really?
Imagination is absent in the conventional spaces of South Africa’s economic growth path. Conventional wisdom equates increasing economic growth to around 7%, as an important target. In political speak, the …
Read moreSouth Africa’s Economic Growth Path and the Limits of Imagination
Dear Ministers, Patel, Davies and Gordhan Consider this letter a criticism that nevertheless appreciates the value of your recent work on creating the building blocks for a new development path …
Read moreAn Open Letter to Ministers Patel, Davies and Gordhan
A central message from government since the 2009 elections is that the “economy needs coordination.” To this end, in addition to the already existing National Treasury and the Department of …
Read moreIs a Coordinating Role for the Department of Economic Development Enough?