By Alec Hogg
Saw two sides of the economic coin yesterday. The brighter one is from our partners at Bloomberg, which provides all the evidence you need of the US economy’s market-driven flexibility – and its extraordinary ability to re-adjust after big hits. You can find that story and the images worth a thousand words here.
It’s worth recalling Warren Buffett’s oft-made assertion that by prioritising human initiative, America’s Founding Fathers laid the foundation for the world’s most efficient system of delivering goods and services. The only surprise for rational minds is why citizens elsewhere allow politicians to take them down different paths.
___STEADY_PAYWALL___The darker side of the coin was laid bare in my fascinating interview with Anthea Jeffery, head of the policy unit at the IRR (click here to watch). As in her new book “Countdown to Socialism,’ Jeffery clearly articulates why South Africa’s ruling party has, bizarrely, opted for the inverse of the Buffett-lauded free market system.
In short, it’s because the ANC and, more particularly, its SA Communist Party partner believes socialism “hasn’t been properly tried yet.” So despite all the evidence, they’re sticking with a National Democratic Revolution blueprint formulated by the Soviet Union almost three-quarters of half a century ago. That’s not just arrogant. It’s downright cruel as those making the destructive laws refuse to share in their impact.
Sterkte.
Alec
