Classic Business

Writing in his seminal work, The General Theory of Employment, Interest, and Money, 1936,  John Maynard Keynes, observed that “The ideas of economists and political philosophers, both when they are right and when they are wrong, are more powerful than is commonly understood. Indeed, the world is ruled by little else.

In the continuing debate about how to end poverty and build prosperity in South Africa, ideologues in the ruling party have put forward powerfully seductive, often conflicting and ultimately destructive economic ideas. These ideas have been thrust into the public arena, central planning, master plans, the current favourite of Trade Industry and Competition Minister Ebrahim Patel, and the developmental state, to name but a few…and the stagnant economy should be proof of these ideas toxicity to the economy, but, instead, often we just see the ANC lean on its hold of the levers of state power to double down.

The battle of ideas is a phrase that will long be associated with the Institute of Race Relations under the leadership of Frans Cronje, who announced his retirement as CEO of the Institute at the end of 2021 recently.

Michael Avery sat down with Cronje to reflect on his tenure and what the ANC’s National Democratic Revolution means for the chances of economic reform under President Ramaphosa.

Natascha Viljoen, CEO

Peter Mountford, CEO

Paul Victor, CFO Sasol

Dario Milo, Partner Webber Wentzel

Amelia Beattie ,CEO

Dale Hutcheson, Portfolio Manager and Senior Investment Analyst at Absa Asset Management

And

Greg Katzenellenbogen, senior portfolio manager at Sanlam Private Wealth

Warwick Lucas, CIO of Galileo Asset Management &

Prof Raymond Parsons, from School of Business and Governance at North West University

During the peak of the first wave last year a study conducted by an academic consortium which became known as NIDS CRAM offered policymakers unrivalled almost real time insights into the impacts of the coronavirus lockdown on households across the country.

Yesterday Wave 3 was published and the findings are equally fascinating as the bounce back in jobs has been as impressive as the fall was frightening.

More than 2-million South Africans found work between June and October 2020, according to the latest round of data from the Nids-Cram survey. But hunger — and child hunger in particular — persists.

Michael Avery hosted two of the lead researchers Nic Spaull, an economist at Stellenbosch University and Reza Daniels, Associate Professor in the School of Economics at the University of Cape Town (UCT), as well as Rudi Dicks, Head of the Project Management Office inside the Presidency, for a roundtable about how this will guide government policymaking in anticipation of possible third and even fourth waves.

Henk Langenhoven, Chief Economist at the Chamber of Mines

David Holland of Fractal Value Advisors and Adjunct Professor at the University of Cape Town Business School

And Peter Leon, respected mining law expert, partner at law firm Herbert Smith Freehills and the global co-chair of its Africa Group