Yesterday, I called a good friend for some advice. After sharing, he added there could always be a chance he is mistaken and no hard feelings if I did the opposite. That’s always an option if the facts change. But in this instance I’d asked for counsel based on direct experience. So to ignore his feedback would make me guilty of having wasted his time – so shouldn’t have called in the first place.
That principle applies equally to last week’s questions I asked you and other BizNews Premium members to answer. A good part of my weekend was spent working through 238 responses received so far (a statistically sound sample, thank you). Particular attention was given to thoughts members shared in the comment boxes, often in considerable depth.
Read also: Alec Hogg: Donāt be slack ā big opportunity in Slackās irrational reverse
These inputs will alter, quite significantly, the roadmap for Premium we had pencilled in for the way ahead. Expressing gratitude doesn’t start to explain my appreciation. Look out for a detailed outline on the plan very soon.
___STEADY_PAYWALL___
The exercise was also a poignant reminder of the inestimable value of feedback. Often what appears to make sense from one’s bubble can look idiotic when bounced off those willing to provide honest feedback. In this case that including the person who said they never read Rational Perspective (see below). Hopefully it was just a keyboard!
PS: If you haven’t yet completed the short survey and still want to help – it’s still open. Here’s the link:Ā https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/X5KRWP6Ā
For your attention today…….
Webinar Alert –Ā
– The format of our Monday noontime member-only webinar is changing today. Apart from covering the investment news of the past week, we’ll also focus properly on a company in the news by having its CEO in the hot seat. Today David Shapiro and I will be joined by Aspen CEO Stephen Saad; with Prof Adrian Saville (founder of Cannon Asset Managers) the other guest. Here’s the format we’ll follow today – with your questions remaining a critical part of the programme:
(Noon to 12:15): David, Adrian and I will discuss the past week’s investment-related news, including questions from attendees.
(12:15 to 12:45): Focus on Aspen with Stephen Saad as the three of us and attendees pose questions.
(12:45 to 1pm): David and Adrian will unpack what we have just heard and provide perspective.
If you haven’t signed up yet for the members-only Rational Radio webinar, here’s the link:
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6730147365502274830
– If you thought it was just a co-incidence that weekend newspapers exposed how leaders of the “bad ANC” went on a State-funded junket to Zim, it’s time to tapĀ into the Cyril Ramaphosa biography. The expose’Ā has CR’s fingerprints all over it – reflecting a carefully constructed plan coming together it did when he built the country’s most powerful trade union. Ramaphosa’s journey with the NUM is the focus of the latest episode of the audiobook – listen to Chapter Seven here:Ā https://iono.fm/e/923795
– We’ve been getting excellent feedback on the Alec Hogg Show and have some super guests lined up. The latestĀ featuresĀ founder of Tasha’s Anastasia Sideris.Ā Here’s the link:Ā https://iono.fm/e/922286
Tailpiece………that R46-million cost per life of the lockdown….
One of our members took issue with me over my workings (published here last week) which concluded every lockdown-saved life had cost the country R46m. So I went back to the source, Stats SA, and pulled out the official Table (below). It shows at 2010 constant prices, the seasonally adjusted, annualised GDP for April to June was R2.617bn, down R512bn from the first quarter’s R3.129bn. That “constant 2010 money” translates into R845bn worth of GDP lost in 2020 terms, north of my initial rough calculation of R750bn. We’ll only know the exact cost to GDP of the lockdown when Stats SA provides the updates in the quarters to come (and after Discovery’s total of 16 000 lives saved is further interrogated). But for the moment that R46-million per life saved still looks to be a pretty solid calculation.
