WORLDVIEW: Brutal honesty from the IMF, S&P and Moody’s

Politicians soften harsh realities with pretty words. External agencies like the IMF aren't bound by the same desire to shield us from difficult truths.
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Politicians, whose main goal is always to remain in power, tend to soften harsh realities with pretty words. We've seen this a lot in the Brexit process – no UK politician seems willing to clearly state the trade-offs Britain must make as it tries to negotiate a new relationship with the EU. Instead, they have been assuring voters that they can have their cake and eat it too.

South African politicians are not immune to the lure of gently misleading voters. Many leading political voices have been in denial about the country's economic crisis, and only a rare few politicians – Tito Mboweni foremost among them – have been willing to be blunt about the challenges SA faces.

Local asset managers and economists show a similar reluctance to ring the warning bells. As Magnus Heystek has pointed out, those who manage domestic assets have little incentive to warn people against investing domestically.

___STEADY_PAYWALL___

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