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The late Cees Bruggemans was a colleague, kind of, in the 1980s when he wrote the incredibly popular Rex Column for the Sunday Times. A brilliant economist, he confided a couple decades later that he was only able to retain his sanity by focusing on a narrow group of data. Such had been the complexity explosion..I'm not sure whether Stanlib's Kevin Lings follows the same approach, but from what I've seen he certainly does manage to hone in on the most critical stuff. He did so again yesterday when sending out a note on US house prices, now rising at their fastest rate in at least two decades..___STEADY_PAYWALL___.They're up 20% in the year to end August and have increased by at least 1% per month since July 2020. Lings says this is a consequence of record low interest rates – and worries about the impact this surge will have on inflation. He is by no means alone..Maybe the Bitcoin punters, many of whom are stocking up on the cyber currency as an inflation hedge, are acting rationally after all..More for you today (click on linked headline to access) – .* Tesla is worth $1 trillion, so why the taxpayer subsidies? The Editorial Board of the Wall Street Journal applies some rationality to the valuation of Elon Musk's creation..* The case against those "bullying" businesses into applying mandatory vaccines. NEASA's chief executive Gerhard Papenfus's potent five minute video to business owners (and managers)..* AngloGold strikes back to defend Maria Ramos. The miner backs her against predecessor chair Sipho Pityana who has gone to court over claims Ramos intervened to block his appointment as to lead Absa's board..* If you missed yesterday's BizNews share portfolio update, here's the link to the video recording of the full webinar: https://youtu.be/r95R6El3BVU .NB FOR YOUR WALL STREET JOURNAL ACCESS….As a Premium subscriber you are entitled to full membership of wsj.com (normal price $29 a month). Be sure to action your access through the Premium link on the BizNews website. Because of The Wall Street Journal's credential requirements, be sure to create a password which has at least 8 characters and includes at least one letter and one number – NB it MAY NOT contain any special characters (ie #, !, @ etc). To maintain access to WSJ.com, you MUST enter our partner's website via BizNews Premium at least once a month. A final PS, if you had previously signed up for WSJ you'll need to clear the cookies from your device. Our help desk can assist – support@biznews.com..If you'd like to help sustain our independent voice, why not share the love by making a gift that keeps giving? Click here to access the BizNews Premium subscription signup form, and be sure tick the relevant box. At R100 a month and inclusive of full membership of The Wall Street Journal, it's a mind-expanding gift at an incredibly modest price.

Premium: Inflation returns

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