The South African Civil Society Information Service
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
A nonprofit news agency promoting social justice. Seeking answers to the question:
How do we make democracy work for the poor?
We've all heard about how important inflation targeting is for the health of our economies. But inflation targeting is a hotly contested monetary policy instrument. Some question whether it is an appropriate tool to deal with food inflation and oil price hikes. Are they correct to hold this view?
Saliem Fakir Head of the Living Planet Unit at World Wildlife Fund argues that South Africa has perhaps taken a conservative role in the way that it has managed the economy. The relationship...
Glenn Ashton -
The state has become a major driver of inflation. Our state owned port, railway, road, power and airport authorities have each increased prices at rates that far exceed our targeted or actual inflation rate. Consequently these so-called State Owned Enterprises (SOEs) collectively fuel further downstream inflation.
How does it benefit South Africa if government fiscal policy, supposedly focused on inflation targeting as a key fiscal instrument, is ignored, not only in the breach but in...
Glenn Ashton -
Inflation is generally described as too much money chasing too few goods. This is based upon a central tenet of economics, which states that as goods become scarce they become more valuable, and vice versa. Humbug, I say.
We have recently seen a steady rise in levels of consumer inflation in South Africa. A major driver of inflation has not been properly identified in the media, by economists or even amongst those whose aim is to regulate national economic policy, is the influence of the...
Saliem Fakir -
To say that inflation targeting as a monetary policy instrument has reached a dead end, is an understatement. It was Jeremy Cronin, the South African Communist Party (SACP) leader, who poignantly noted that perhaps the Governor of the Reserve Bank, Tito Mboweni, was overdoing things and that a new vision for economic stimulation is long overdue.
Cronin, the SACP and COSATU have for a long time been told to shut up by the Mbeki camp but have of late become more vocal and strident following...
