Some crazy stuff is happening in the UK right now. Enough to nudge RW Johnson away from local issues for a while and pen his superb analysis of the Tory party under Liz Truss, an obvious Margaret Thatcher wanna-be. His assessment is on Politicsweb – here’s the link: https://www.politicsweb.co.za/opinion/the-tories-from-decline-to-collapse.
Whatever their likely variances on execution, where new British PM and Maggie are similar is self-confidence in their ideas. Despite last Friday’s announcement causing an almost 5% drop in the UK’s ‘share price’ (taking the pound down 20% against the Dollar for 2022), Ms Truss was back on the hustings yesterday, defending her proposed £45bn in unfunded tax cuts.
In interviews with local BBC stations aired yesterday – an interesting diversion from using the national platform – she vowed to stick with her plan, breaking her silence since Friday’s controversial announcement. But as the interview started, so did a renewed selloff in the Pound, a thumbs down from London’s establishment on Trussonomics which former US Treasury secretary Larry Summers branded “naïve and wishful thinking.”
___STEADY_PAYWALL___Truss told local radio listeners that “We are cutting taxes across the board because we were facing the highest tax burden on Britain in 70 years.” She maintains this will get the economy going again and stave off an economic recession. Maybe. The smart money, though, reckons she’s got it badly wrong. Ditto RWJ, admittedly a lifelong Labourite.
More for you to read today:
- Investors Fear Bond-Market Turmoil Is Entering a New Phase. Even in a year of outsize bond moves, the past week has stood out.
- NATO Formally Blames Sabotage for Nord Stream Pipeline Damage. Military alliance says it would be prepared to defend its infrastructure from attacks, in a ratcheting up of tensions between Russia and the West.
- Electric Shock, Extortion and Slave Labor: How Russia Ran a Detention Camp in Occupied Ukraine. In Russia’s FSB intelligence service facility in Vovchansk, prisoners could buy their freedom—while penniless Sri Lankan students were kept in bondage.
- The Science-Backed Strategies That Will Actually Help You Eat Better. Many of the strategies that you think will work don’t. Here are the surprising things that do.
Interviews with Capitec CEO Gerrie Fourie are usually a treat – and this one is no exception. It kicks off with Fourie’s perspective on the stock’s R30bn market cap drop after a Trading Update three weeks ago and moves through to Interim Results released today which included details of the latest strategic initiatives. Leading these is a massively disruptive move into the mobile phone market where Capitec this week launched a 50% cheaper alternative to over 8m clients who already buy data and airtime through the bank. Also in the spotlight is the impending relaunch of Mercantile Bank as Capitec Business Bank – spearheaded by a simplified, low cost offering for SMEs.
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