Alec Hogg: Facts belie headlines on economic recovery

Information is only as good as the source. As we're seeing once more with the flood of misguided instant pundits telling us what happened in SA last week. Including discredited ideologues who maintain the looting was by victims of poverty – as though none of us saw the hordes of overfed worthies stashing big screen TVs into their motor vehicles (or in one famous case failing to). For me, the most accurate assessment was by GG Alcock whose politically incorrect insights align with what self-protecting communities in KZN went through – here's the link..Media coverage of the looting should remind us how, by definition, headline-seeking reporters focus on extremes. Community protectors like GG and thousands voluntarily doing 2am to 4am graveyard shifts is not "news". Similarly, ongoing headlines about the pandemic distract us from facts revealing the reality of a global economic revival. Here's one that speaks volumes: OPEC members are increasing oil production back to pre-pandemic levels..Anyone who watched SA's Louis Oosthuizen again falling just short of winning his second Golf Major, would realise from crowd scenes that many Brits were slightly ahead of the UK's official Freedom Day. From today, the heavily vaccinated country returns to no-mask, no social distancing pre-pandemic normality. PM Boris Johnson has ditched "government diktat" in favour of Sweden's successful approach of encouraging personal responsibility. Ironically, Johnson is setting the example by self-isolating for 10 days after his health minister tested positive last week. Across the water, the US appears to be favouring a different approach, tightening up on censorship. WSJ columnist Andy Kessler opines that the Biden White House has become an example of "How to be an anticapitalist.".___STEADY_PAYWALL___.On the investment front, one of the pandemic's big winners, Zoom Video Communications, is putting its stratospheric stock rating to good effect. The company, whose share price is up almost five fold from pre-pandemic levels, last night announced the $14.7bn acquisition of software-based call centre business Five9 Inc. The cost of the takeover is in line with what Zoom itself was worth two years ago..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.

Alec Hogg: Facts belie headlines on economic recovery

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